Rumble Strip World. Voices from the road
Thanks so much to those of you who have engaged with us on social media in the past week as we have mentioned your interviews! We have put up eighteen names so far and next week we will post the next eighteen on Instagram and Twitter.
 
We haven’t finalized the details for publication day on November 24th. One minute, I’m thinking ‘Zoom call, or Crowdcast, Virtual Book Launch’ and the next, I’m feeling so Zoomed, and virtualled out that I’m leaning toward just an email and post or two.
A few years ago, we were thinking of doing a big party as a fundraising event. Quite a few people just felt overwhelmed and exhausted at the idea of one more thing to dress up for and someone suggested we organize a ‘non-event’. Tickets were printed and sold for a certain date when you were supposed to just stay home. We made a ton of money for our worthy cause (I think it was the Red Cross, but it might have been a library board.)
These days I’d love to get an invitation to a regular party but it’s all about Zoom and staying safe now. 
 So, we might try a ‘non-Zoom non-party’. 
 
Reading recommendations
We’re all spending a lot of time reading these days and I’m seeking recommendations on travel books. My favorites are Bill Bryson and Elizabeth Gilbert; I’m also just about to start in on Cross Country by Robert Sullivan. I’d love to hear about the ones you’d recommend I read.
 
Project for Spring 2021
Rumble Strip Books will be releasing an anthology of Legendary Road Trips—a collection of essays by travelers who love to write and who have a story they want to share. Submissions have been coming in, but we are open to more. Please take a look at the guidelines here. https://www.rumblestripbooks.com/legendaryroadtrips.html
If you’re on the website at www.rumblestripbooks.com, you’ll find them on the Anthology Guidelines tab. It’s a non-paying gig, but if your piece is selected, you’ll receive some marketing buzz and a copy of the book in print.
 
Balcony view, instead of a windshield
It seems like you don’t have to go very far to experience a storm this year. Last week, Eta came through. 
 
Featured photo
Storm Watching

Excited to tell you that we’re now set up to take orders for our book about unforgettable moments on memorable road trips. Official publication date is November 24, 2020 but U.S. customers can visit the Blue Norther Bookstore online at the publisher website here to arrange for copies to be mailed the minute the book drops. 
If you are thinking of ordering more than one or two copies, as holiday gifts, it would be a good idea to reserve your books, to make sure they’re sent on the 24th.
 
You can save ten per cent by ordering now, until. November 24th. 
 
The book will only be available online, at the Blue Norther Bookstore. We’ve used Amazon in the past (and other Rumble Strip and WindWord Group books are still available there), but for this new one we’re going to handle the orders directly to ensure as prompt and responsive a turnaround as possible.
 
For Canadian, UK, Asia Pacific, Australian, European, and all other non-U.S. customers: We’ll be handling orders via email, in order to customize shipping and taxes. Please contact admin@windwordgroup.com to let us know what books you want to order and we’ll use an invoicing method.
 
There! That’s enough administration. Back to the exciting part—Rumble Strip World Voices from the Road is almost ready! The book has stories from motorcycle rides in Japan and Thailand, camper van journeys through all of the U.S. national parks, a cross-country drive in a 1963 sports car, and a rock ‘n’ roll band tour on one of the coldest nights of the year. 
 
If you are thinking of ordering in quantity because of the holiday season, please let us know as soon as possible so that we make sure the print run is big enough and we can get the books to you in time. 

Met these two while driving one day in Kentucky.

The windshield view has been blurry these past weeks, thanks to Covid-19 and to the wildfire smoke in California, Oregon, Washington and British Columbia. 
But we've been enjoying #travelmemories, while working on two new books.
The first project is Rumble Strip World: Voices from the Road.
Update! This is a title change.
Thanks so much to those of you who have already done interviews with Gail for this book. Publication date is set for November 24, 2020. 
We are into cover design mode right now, and collecting photographs of vehicles. If you are one of those whose memorable road trip story will be included, and you'd like to see the vehicle you used featured on our cover, ​please email us at admin@windwordgroup.com


The second project is Rumble Strip: Legendary Road Trips
If you have written a story for this collection and sent it in, thank you! We will be evaluating submissions from writers throughout the fall and are aiming for a May 2021 publication date for this Anthology. Submission Guidelines are on the Rumble Strip Books website.                               

Find us on Instagram @rumblestrip books and #rumblestripbooks.
Please follow -- and I'll follow back!

​Rumble Strip Books is a series I started in 2018. It features a travel diary about a personal journey over noteworthy roads in an interesting car. So far, four books have been published: Rumble Strip Canada 150; Rumble Strip USA Off the Interstate; Rumble Strip Europe; and Rumble Strip Benelux (And a Boat). All are available for online ordering at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Indiebound and Bookshop.
 
I’m excited to announce that I have a fifth book underway—Rumble Strip Legendary Road Trips. This one will be an anthology and there will be dozens of voices, not one, and dozens of destinations. I’m inviting travelers to send pieces they've written (300 to 1000 words), so if you’d like to add your story to the collection, please visit the website and take a look at the anthology submission guidelines. 
 
If you know other writers, bloggers, travel diary keepers, or avid reviewers on the hospitality and travel sites, please share this with them so that they can sign up to receive information and updates on the progress of the book and how to submit their stories!