Todd Burleson

Two young men. A black bear. Nothing on but our boots.

Absurdity and terror under the Sierra Nevada stars—an unforgettable night when survival and laughter blurred together.

#WildernessTales #BearEncounter #Memoir #Adventure

Naked Except for Our Boots A night of absurdity and terror in the Sierra Nevada

Naked Except for Our Boots
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The half-dome, the mosaics, the light — Union Terminal is more than architecture. It’s memory, story, and timeless design all in one.
A morning alone in Cincinnati’s Art Deco icon.

#Cincinnati #Architecture #ArtDeco #Travel #Photography

Lines and Light: Cincinnati Union Terminal A morning alone with one of America’s greatest Art Deco landmarks.

Lines and Light: Cincinnati Union Terminal
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What happens when you hand over a story you’ve carried for thirteen years?

I’m learning that waiting for feedback is not idle—it’s the work of trust.

Read the full post: Before the Feedback Arrives
#WritingCommunity #AmWriting #BetaReaders #IndieAuthor

Before the Feedback Arrives Trusting others with the story I’ve carried for thirteen years

Before the Feedback Arrives
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A child with butterfly wings, pencil in hand, lost in creation. I sat with coffee and gratitude, realizing I was watching something much bigger than a Saturday morning.

#ChildhoodInnocence #ArtOfNoticing #Gratitude #Photography #Family

Butterfly Wings and Morning Light The innocence of childhood and the art of noticing

Butterfly Wings and Morning Light
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Out of collapse, I built something raw: wires, rage, and brokenness set aflame with light. What I love about it isn’t beauty but honesty—a record of survival.

What have you forged from your own fire?
#Creativity #Resilience #Photography #InnerFire

Painting with Light: The Furnace Within
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Locked in a dead train car. No air, no way out. I screamed at the platforms flying past, pounded with my shoe, and thought: this might be how I die.

Full story: Trapped: Next Stop Humiliation

#Trapped #MemoirMoments #NearMiss #SurvivalStory #HumiliationStation

Trapped Next Stop: Humiliation

Trapped
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Independent publishing has felt like balancing two lives at once—writing the story and building the bridge for it to reach readers.

Here’s what I’ve learned so far.
#IndiePublishing #WritersLife #AmWriting #BookJourney

Everything I’ve Learned So Far About Independent Publishing Why the journey matters as much as the finished book

Everything I’ve Learned So Far About Independent Publishing
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Independent publishing has felt like balancing two lives at once—writing the story and building the bridge for it to reach readers.

Here’s what I’ve learned so far.
#IndiePublishing #WritersLife #AmWriting #BookJourney

Everything I’ve Learned So Far About Independent Publishing Why the journey matters as much as the finished book

Everything I’ve Learned So Far About Independent Publishing
open.substack.com/pub/whereima...

What happens when stone meets sky in perfect balance? My new series, Lines and Light, begins with the Al Noor Mosque in Sharjah, where morning light turned architecture into grace.

#LinesAndLight #Architecture #TravelPhotography #Sharjah #UAE

Lines and Light: Al Noor Mosque, Sharjah Grace in Stone and Sky

Lines and Light: Al Noor Mosque, Sharjah
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The series began in wonder. It ends the same way — but deeper now, shaped by gratitude and perspective.

This is the final chapter of Streets, Squares, and Stories.

#TravelReflection #EasternEurope #Perspective #Storytelling

Streets, Squares, and Stories: What I Brought Home Perspective from a Journey Through Eastern Europe

Streets, Squares, and Stories: What I Brought Home
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In Budapest, a pharmacist slid medicine through an acrylic cylinder. In that simple act, I heard something bigger—kindness flowing across languages, like the Danube itself.
#Budapest #Danube #Kindness #TravelReflections

Streets, Squares, and Stories: A River of Voices Reflections on language, kindness, and the sound of the world flowing by

Streets, Squares, and Stories: A River of Voices
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One daisy stood apart this summer—ordinary yet unforgettable. 🌼 Sometimes the simplest bloom carries the heaviest weight of joy and memory.

Read the full post: Friday Flora: A Summer of Daisies
#FridayFlora #DaisyLove #SimpleBeauty #NatureReflection

Friday Flora: A Summer of Daisies
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A wooden door that felt more like a poem.
A flag carried not in anger, but in honor.
A city suspended between past and present.

Bucharest left me with fragments worth carrying.
#Bucharest #TravelReflections #DefianceAndHope #LastLight

Streets, Squares, and Stories: Bucharest Details, Defiance, and a Day’s Last Light

Streets, Squares, and Stories: Bucharest
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In Bulgaria, I found streets where a single step carried me through centuries. A weathered Moskvitch in Arbanasi. Fortress walls and graffiti in Veliko Tarnovo. History not behind glass, but alive in stone and detail.
#Arbanasi #VelikoTarnovo #LivingHistory #BulgariaTravel

Streets, Squares, and Stories: Arbanasi & Veliko Tarnovo, Bulgaria Two towns, centuries apart, connected by the thread of living history

Streets, Squares, and Stories: Arbanasi & Veliko Tarnovo, Bulgaria
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At Belogradchik, the rocks resembled art pieces dropped into the hills. Step inside, and you find a fortress that holds centuries of stories.

#Belogradchik #DanubeJourney #HiddenGems #TravelWriting

Streets, Squares, and Stories: Fortress in the Rocks Climbing through history in Belogradchik, Bulgaria

Streets, Squares, and Stories: Fortress in the Rocks
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