Ashton J. Campbell
writer · photographer · creator
about Ashton
Ashton J. Campbell writes stories that are gritty, earthy, and a little surreal—shaped by the wild beauty of the Pacific Northwest and the rugged terrains of emotion, identity, and human connection. He’s a trans, gay writer who grew up on the East Coast then moved West, obsessed with forests, fire towers, vintage maps, and the messy, miraculous way people make meaning.
He’s explored a multitude of adventures and creative pursuits: guiding whitewater trips, GS ski racing, road-tripping through the states, gloriously quitting a cubicle job to start his own venture photographing elopements—documenting wild love stories across the remote landscapes of Washington.
Ashton has been writing novels since sixteen—a blend of speculative fiction, literary, and queer romance. He self-published a pocket guide during his college years which somehow funded a 50-day road trip, and more recently released From the Ashes (2022), a poetry chapbook exploring trans-transformation, grief, and re-becoming.
He lives in downtown Seattle with his husband Dale and tiny void Stella (the Post Alley Cat). When he isn’t out in the mountains, you might find him in a quiet café corner or strolling Pike Place Market, people-watching, looking for his next big story—or off in the woods, wondering.
LOOKOUT is his debut novel—coming soon.
about Lookout
Remembering only fragments—a ruined forest, a static-filled radio, a haunting corpse he can no longer name. Strange messages from a neighboring lookout which always seem to call in at just the right time.
Then the Storm. The fire. The crash. The blackout.
Now living in a fractured Seattle, still recovering from geomagnetic and existential catastrophe, Riley Averesch still hasn’t finished the novel he set out to write as a fire lookout years ago.
With the help of a field researcher chasing strange frequencies, he sorts through missing pages of past to weave together threads of mystery—memory, truth, loss, connection. A seemingly impossible tale of a seemingly impossible man—Riley will soon discover what it truly means to be a Lookout.
A haunting literary debut that blends wilderness survival with metaphysical mystery and cosmic grief, LOOKOUT explores the uncharted terrain and resounding steadfastness of human connection in our most isolated and desolate moments.
Genre: Speculative fiction, wilderness adventure
For fans of: The Overstory, Firewatch, Station Eleven, Piranesi, Project Hail Mary, Cloud Atlas
~99,000 words
My work
Lookout
coming soon.
Field Notes
excerpts, poetry, photographs, ramblings, etc.
From the Ashes
$0/name your price