introduce yourself to my readers?
I grew up in the Midwest in the States with four brothers and one sister. I moved out
to the beautiful Pacific Northwest a little over ten years ago. I am a patent attorney
with an engineering background, which is what I spend my days doing when I am not
writing. I have a beautiful wife and amazing two-year-old daughter who cracks me up
daily.
Tell us about your latest work. Why did you write it?
Pieces Like Pottery is literary fiction or contemporary fiction. It’s a collection of short
stories that explores the sorrows of life, but exposes the strength of character and the
kindness we all need to find redemption. Each story touches on very real and very
human emotions and experiences.
I am moved and inspired by people’s real life stories of
overcoming tragedy. Every person has trials in life. Life always presents obstacles and
disappointments. I wanted to examine how individuals overcome these obstacles in a
variety of characters. I toyed with the idea of each of these stories being its own
novel, and I still may expand a couple of them into full length novels, but I settled in
on a collection of linked short stories because it presented the opportunity to have a
range of characters and display that despite how different each character’s life
experience is, we are all connected as human beings. We all suffer and laugh just the
same. My hope is that readers recognize that and are inspired or moved to compassion
through the book.
Do you have any pets?
I do not currently have any pets. I have a two-year-old daughter that is allergic to dogs
and cats. It’s a little bit heart breaking because she absolutely loves dogs and cats. We
walk through downtown Portland (Oregon) everyday and pet the dogs that walk by.
She jumps up and down in excitement. But unfortunately, a pet in the home wouldn’t
work well.
Can you name your worst job? Do you think you learned anything from the
position that you now use in your writing?
I have had more odd jobs than I can count. I worked maintenance at a high school one
summer. One of the tasks was to empty out the 15-year-old water from a boiler in the
basement of the school. The only way to empty it was to syphon the water out through
a narrow tube, but I had to suck the water up through the tube until it reached the
syphon valve that would then automatically start pumping the water out. My co-
worker was supposed to tell me when the dirty boiler water reached the valve, but he
got distracted. I swallowed a mouthful of 15-year-old boiler water. Let me tell you, it
still makes me queasy to this day. I was heaving and retching for quite awhile after
that. I’m not quite sure what I learned from that, though, except that it’s a fairly funny
story.
We all have to work tough jobs so we can continue to do what we love—write. I’ve
worked a lot of writing jobs too—blogger, ghost writer, research assistant, editor,
teacher’s aid, researcher…I didn’t enjoy all of those, but they have all helped me hone
my craft.
Can you give us a silly fact about yourself?
When I was younger, I used to play Star Wars with my three older brothers. My oldest
brother would be Luke Skywalker. My second oldest brother would be Han Solo. My
brother just older than me would be Chewbacca. They would make me be Princess
Leia. I have no idea why I couldn’t have been C-3PO or R2-D2 or even Lando
Calrissian. They always made me be Princess Leia.
What is the biggest factor for you when selecting a book to read?
Most of what I read are via recommendations. I keep a list on my phone of all the
books that have been recommended to me from people I trust. I am lucky enough to
live blocks from the world’s largest used bookstore—Powell’s City of Books. I just
pull out my phone every time I go there and grab a couple selections off of my
recommended list. I think more than anything else, the number one factor for
selecting a book is if it came highly recommended from a trusted source.
Have there been any authors in particular, that inspired your writing?
I feel like this is the question that readers and writers always ask in a judgmental way.
It’s as if your readers are going to judge me by the authors I enjoy. “Oh no, I don’t
agree with that at all. John Grisham? This guy clearly isn’t serious about his
writing.” (I’m smiling if that’s not showing through your computer screen.)
I am constantly inspired by writers, but I made a decision a long time ago not to try to
duplicate any other author’s style. I wanted to find my own voice and have worked
diligently at that. I have a lot of authors that I love, though. A few, in no particular
order: Gertrude Warner, Shell Silverstein, Dr. Seuss, C.S. Lewis, Fyodor
Dostoyevsky, Charles Dickens, F. Scott Fitzgerald, John Grisham, Malcolm Gladwell,
John Buri, Cormac McCarthy, Bill Bryson and Mark Twain. I could probably list
another hundred who’s writing I enjoy with wonderment.
Author Bio:
Dan Buri's first collection of short fiction, Pieces Like Pottery, is an exploration of
heartbreak and redemption that announces the arrival of a new American author. His
writing is uniquely heartfelt and explores the depths of the human struggle and the
human search for meaning in life.
Mr. Buri's non-fiction works have been distributed online and in print, including
publications in Pundit Press, Tree, Summit Avenue Review, American Discovery, and
TC Huddle. The defunct and very well regarded Buris On The Couch, was a He-
Says/She-Says blog musing on the ups and downs of marriage with his wife.
Mr. Buri is an active attorney in the Pacific Northwest and has been recognized by
Intellectual Asset Magazine as one of the World's Top 300 Intellectual Property
Strategists every year since 2010. He lives in Oregon with his wife and two-year-old
daughter.
Pieces Like Pottery Links
Currently at promotional pricing!
http://www.amazon.com/Pieces-Like-Pottery-Stories-Redemption-ebook/dp/B0163NLWDQ/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1444340332&sr=8-1&keywords=pieces+like+pottery
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