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Alex O'Brien

Goodreads Author

Born

in Ottawa, Canada

Twitter

alexobrienauth1

Genre

Children's, Fiction, Contemporary

Member Since

March 2017

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To celebrate the Year 2000, Alex O’Brien took a leave of absence from his career as a human resources director to write. After an enjoyable and prolific sabbatical, highlighted by winning the lyric category of the USA Songwriting Contest (Drum Machines and Beauty Queens), Alex decided to devote his creative energy to writing permanently and resigned from his executive position. He spent the next fifteen years completing seven novels, a collection of short stories, a writer's memoir, eight plays, three musical books, two collections of poetry, and close to five-hundred song lyrics.

This period brought much success and recognition including honourable mention for a poem and a play in the 2001 Writer’s Digest Writing Competition (In My Garde To celebrate the Year 2000, Alex O’Brien took a leave of absence from his career as a human resources director to write. After an enjoyable and prolific sabbatical, highlighted by winning the lyric category of the USA Songwriting Contest (Drum Machines and Beauty Queens), Alex decided to devote his creative energy to writing permanently and resigned from his executive position. He spent the next fifteen years completing seven novels, a collection of short stories, a writer's memoir, eight plays, three musical books, two collections of poetry, and close to five-hundred song lyrics.

This period brought much success and recognition including honourable mention for a poem and a play in the 2001 Writer’s Digest Writing Competition (In My Garden and Horseshoe Reflections), second place in the singer-songwriter category of the 2002 Dallas Songwriters’ Association Song Contest (Belfast Novels), and finalist status in the lyric category of the 2002 USA Songwriting Contest (I Should Have Stayed). Since then, his musical comedy, Saturday Night on Bourbon Street, has received public readings at the St. Lawrence Theatre in Toronto, showcased by Heretic Productions, and the Stockey Centre for the Performing Arts in Parry Sound, directed by Amanda Gibley of Limelight Theatre, as well as a director’s workshop conducted by the City of Brampton Theatres, coordinated by Scott Lale, the Artistic Director.

In 2006, Alex’s songwriting activities culminated in a publishing deal for eight of his songs co-written by Willie McCulloch and managed by Scot Tex Music Publishing. During this period, Alex also added a Bachelor of Arts in English Literature, with High Honours, to his Bachelor of Commerce and Master of Industrial Relations degrees. Over the past three years, he has taken over thirty MOOCs including How to Write Fiction and How to Write Poetry from the University of Iowa’s esteemed writing program. He lives with his vivacious wife near Parry Sound, Ontario and they have two wonderful children.

The Comeback is Alex's second published novel. It was released by James Lorimer and Company Ltd. Publishers in its Sports Stories series on February 4th, 2020. Alex's first book, The Playmaker, came out a year earlier on February 5th, 2019.

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Alex O'Brien’s books

Average rating: 4.09 · 22 ratings · 4 reviews · 2 distinct works

	The Playmaker really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 15 ratings — 4 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Comeback 4.29 avg rating — 7 ratings — 6 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

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Alex O'Brien's Blog

THE COMEBACK GOODREADS GIVEAWAY

Goodreads Giveaway! On February 5th, 2020, my second middle-grade novel, The Comeback, was published by James Lorimer & Company.

On the surface, fourteen-year-old Chris is pretty average, playing hockey and having friends. But underneath it all, Chris is depressed, full of self-blame and negative thoughts. He quits his hockey team, feeling he has let them down, but his doctor suggests that he shoul Read more of this blog post »

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Published on February 13, 2020 07:17

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Alex is Currently Reading

Alex O'Brien is currently reading

Collected Stories

by William Faulkner

bookshelves: currently-reading, 2024, classics, fiction, literary, short-stories

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Jun 14, 2024 08:34AM

Alex O'Brien is currently reading

Lila: An Inquiry Into Morals (Phaedrus, #2)

by Robert M. Pirsig

bookshelves: currently-reading, 2024, fiction, literary, philosophy

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Apr 19, 2024 11:41AM

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The Histories

by Herodotus

bookshelves: currently-reading

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Feb 13, 2020 07:23AM

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Alex O'Brien wants to read Ottawa: An Illustrated History by John H. Taylor	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
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Alex O'Brien wants to read Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage by Haruki Murakami	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Sep 20, 2024 06:24PM · like · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage by Haruki Murakami. Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage by Haruki Murakami
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Alex O'Brien wants to read [Neapolitan Novels 4 Books Set] (By Elena Ferrante Neapolitan Books):My Brilliant Friend/Story of a New Name/Those Who Leave and Those Who Stay/The Story of the Lost Child by Elena Ferrante	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
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Alex O'Brien is now following William H. Gass Author of In the Heart of the Heart of the Country and Ot...
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Alex O'Brien liked Tina Healey's review of J. R. Booth: "Lumberman, Railroad Builder, Industrialist and Great Canadian":
Aug 26, 2024 05:37PM · see review
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Alex’s Quotes

“A room without books is like a body without a soul.”
― Marcus Tullius Cicero

tags: attributed-no-source, books, simile, soul

133660 likes

“I like nonsense, it wakes up the brain cells. Fantasy is a necessary ingredient in living, It's a way of looking at life through the wrong end of a telescope. Which is what I do, And that enables you to laugh at life's realities.”
― Dr. Seuss

1489 likes

“And once the storm is over, you won’t remember how you made it through, how you managed to survive. You won’t even be sure, whether the storm is really over. But one thing is certain. When you come out of the storm, you won’t be the same person who walked in. That’s what this storm’s all about.”
― Haruki Murakami, Kafka on the Shore

tags: adversity, inspirational, life-lessons, problems, trials

10403 likes

“It was November--the month of crimson sunsets, parting birds, deep, sad hymns of the sea, passionate wind-songs in the pines. Anne roamed through the pineland alleys in the park and, as she said, let that great sweeping wind blow the fogs out of her soul.”
― L. M. Montgomery, Anne of Green Gables

tags: anne-of-the-island

949 likes