Road Trips, American and Otherwise

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Some time back, a writer interviewed me for a series of short films he was making for the Copyright Alliance,  a group dedicated to preserving common-sense property rights for writers.  Long story short, there are a lot of politicians out there who don't know the difference between copyright and trademark and are under pressure to rewrite the copyright laws anyway.  So the Alliance works to make them aware that a few ill-chosen words could bankrupt a lot of hardworking word-based small businesses such as yours truly.

The writer, Patrick Ross, was journeying across the country, interviewing creative people and while he was at it making his version of the Great American Road Trip.  Most writers feel the urge to do this at least once in their lifetimes, and if they can find a good enough premise for a book a certain percentage of them do so.

I was not, therefore, surprised to learn that Ross had written up his journey and published it as Committed: A Memoir of the Artist's Road.   Nor that he was on an intensely personal, it would be fair to say spiritual, journey in search of resolution for certain difficult aspects of his life and a way forward for his own writing.  Not that he seemed anything other than a pleasant and intelligent man when I met him.  But with age one comes to appreciate the unseen depths of those one meets, and to anticipate the unexpected.

I received a copy of the book today and of course immediately read the short chapter involving myself.  And in it I say at least one thing that is worth a new writer or other creator hearing.  So I am content.  I've dipped into it in a couple of places, and it looks interesting.  I expect to enjoy it.

Ordinarily, I would finish the entire book before posting anything about it.  But I leave for Lublin tomorrow (see below) and won't be back for two weeks.  So, early attention being important to all new books, I thought I'd mention its existence today.  I am, as I said, enjoying it so far.  And it seems like the sort of book a lot of you out there would be interested in.

You can find Patrick Ross's blog, The Artist's Road, with lots of writing advice, here.  You can find his page about the book, with lots of links, here.  And a radio interview here.


And as always . . .

I'm on the road again!  To Lublin, Poland, this time for the Falkon Festival of the Fantastic.  After which, I plan to stay for a bit to explore Warsaw and Krakow.  I'll do my best to keep this blog updated on the usual schedule.  But if there's one thing travel teaches you, it's to make as few unequivocal promises as possible.

So I expect you'll be able to follow my adventures here -- the Good Lord willing and the creek don't rise.

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