At a recent reading someone asked if my decision to tackle RSVP, the 188-mile bike ride from Seattle to Vancouver, Canada, was linked to my recently released novel titled, Biking Uphill. All I could think to reply was that I wish I had the marketing savvy to come up with such a clever idea.
Reality is far less
interesting. The truth is, I've carried Antonia's story for a very long time. I
finally began research in 2007 and started writing what I then called Carolyn & Antonia in early 2012.
While I've always done
some biking, I was never a distance rider or a bike commuter. Summer 2012 friends
invited me to train for RSVP with them. I was too late to register, but I rode more that summer than ever before. My friends
completed RSVP without me, and I ended the summer flying over my handlebars on
a solo ride.
 |
| A rest stop with Luna Girls by artist Lezlie Jane on the West Seattle waterfront. |
When summer 2013 rolled
around, my friends decided they were done with distance riding. I was without a
training partner and the intensity of my weekly rides waned. That same summer, on a
camping trip in August 2013, I received a contract offer from Booktrope Publishing for The Alki Trilogy.
As I shared in Biking ... Insanity? a few weeks back, I now have a new training partner. May and I
are registered and clocking miles in preparation for the August 15-16 ride.
So, all I can say is this.
I was never consciously aware of a connection between Biking Uphill and my own biking. As writers, we write what we know,
and I suppose my life and the life of my characters crossed paths without my
permission.
No comments:
Post a Comment