About

Brightside Story Studio helps writers craft fiction or memoir. We love working closely with our clients to achieve their writing goals.

Andrea Barton, Founder

Besides running Brightside Story Studio, Andrea is Editorial Head – Adult Nonfiction/Fiction at the literary agency NAC (New Authors Collective). She also writes The Winding Narrative blog.

Her novel, LOST IN LAGOS, was longlisted in the 2021 Hawkeye Publishing Manuscript Development Prize. She’s been shortlisted twice in AWC’s Furious Fiction – Oct 2021 and Nov 2021 – and in Writers Victoria’s Flash Fiction competitions, she was a daily winner in 2019 and 2021 and honorable mention in 2020. She has short stories published in Fenechty Publishing’s Anthology of Short Stories: Autumn 2021, Melbourne University’s Publish or Perish and The Wild Goose Literary e-Journal.

She wrote the Sam and Sue Adventure Series, illustrated by Whitney Van Nuis. With Gail Collins, she compiled, edited and wrote two anthologies about expat adventures Nigerian Gems and Papua New Guinea Pearls. Eight of her stage productions have been produced in Lagos, Nigeria and two were performed at Woodlands Preparatory School in Houston, Texas.

An electrical engineer turned career consultant, Andrea spent 12 years enjoying the exhilaration and dislocation of life as an expat spouse. With her husband and two sons, she lived in Nigeria, USA and Qatar before repatriating to Australia, where she commutes between Melbourne, Sydney and Mansfield. Along the way, she developed a passion for ballroom and Latin dance, helped to build a school, got stuck in the sand (in a 4WD) in both the Doha and Australian deserts (not at the same time) and had a hallucinogenic experience in Peru.

To hear more from Andrea, check out this interview with Louise Ross, author of Women Who Walk, Andrea Interview.

Andrea is represented by NAC literary agency. She is a member of Writers Victoria and the Institute of Professional Editors.