Category: Travel Writing

Posted in Good literary citizen, Literary Community, Travel Writing

5 Reasons to be a Good Literary Citizen

Posted on by Rhonda Wiley-Jones

Reading from my Books Publicly Can Contribute to the Literary Community

Saturday, April 22, 2023, I read from my debut novel, Song of Herself at Comfort, Texas, Public Library’s Read-a-Thon.

I also read from At Home in the World: Travel Stories of Growing Up and Growing Away, my coming-of-age, travel memoir.

The theme of both books assert the transformative nature of travel to build personal and psychological agency, especially for women.

It was also the library’s Authors, Artists, and Artisans (AAA) Day. There were watercolorists, jewelry makers, and authors selling their products. It was a fun community day together.

Yes, you may have noticed that the word itself is spelled differently on various sites. Readathon or read-a-thon. The first is easier to type, the second, easier to read. I’ll use them interchangeably.

5 Reasons why being a good literary citizen is important?

  1. You’ll make new friends, like Catherine Wilde and her three adorable daughters in the photo above. She’s the author of Reclaiming your Inner Sparkle, and the accompanying book, Self Care Journal for Moms: Sparkle Every Day: Prompts & Practices to Effortlessly Infuse your Days with Compassion & Self Love. You will find her online at SoulCareMom.com
  2. Whether you’re a reader or writer, you will learn of books that you would not have found any other way. That’s part of the thrill of it.
  3. To support other writers, even artists and artisans, in their creative endeavors. We work alone, yet our products, whether books or artwork are for the public, the communities in which we live.
  4. To let the world know what you, as writer and creative, have contributed to the world, so they can read and enjoy your work. Also let them know who you are as a person, not just a name on the front of the book.
  5. To bring together those who love to read and those who write, so both can have live discussions about books, themes, and how books and stories have changed our lives.

Posted in adventure, Memoir writing, Travel, Travel Writing, Women traveling

Getting Lost in Dublin

Posted on by Rhonda Wiley-Jones

The Idea of Getting Lost

Getting lost can be a result of traveling into unknown territory. For many travelers and especially travel writers that’s the point of travel—to get lost, find ourselves in unlikely places, and discover something we could not have imagined just hours before. It’s the thrill of the travel writer, even if it is intimidating or scary.

A Travelers’ Tale of Getting Lost

In Ireland years ago, my mom joined my husband and I at his international conference in Dublin. Typically, the host university would have a robust itinerary for spouses and guests. But not this time.

One day Mother and I took the bus from our guesthouse to central downtown. I don’t even recall what we hoped to see or do. But we had shopped (my mother’s favorite hobby), bought a refreshing drink in the midafternoon and decided it was time to head back.

Map Reading Got us Nowhere

Our map did not match where we were. It didn’t resemble where we wanted to go. We walked and walked to find a street location that would give us our bearings to no avail. We laughed at our combined ineptitude. We walked until we were tired. We laughed at a city that seemed incomprehensible to either of us. We walked until we were parched again.

Finally, we waited in the heat of the afternoon, feet swelling at a bus stop.  

A stern bus driver wanted us on or off the bus. I was taking up time out of his route to step onto the bus to ask directions while mom stood on the street. Exasperated, he demanded, “Both of you. Get on. I’ll take you to the right bus stop.”

The Kindness of Strangers

In the end, he took time out of his route (and possibly at the ire of passengers) to get us to the correct bus stop, headed in the right direction back to our guesthouse, almost late for dinner with my husband.

We giggled at how this intimidating driver had given in to two damsels in distress. The kindness of a stranger was our hero in this story. The afternoon in Dublin was mom’s and my most memorable moment of a two-week Ireland trip.

A “Getting Lost” Story in Song of Herself.

You can find my novel, Song of Herself, on Amazon. In the novel you can find specifically the story of the protagonist, Fiona, getting lost in India and how she found her way to shop for a salwar kameez, on pages 166-168.

I believe, you will enjoy the adventure story of one young horsewoman’s journey to India alone to sell her uncle’s quarter horses. What she discovers along the way is the kindness of others and her own resilience to suffer the same obstacles she faced at home and due to her ability to taken the reins of her life succeed in overcoming those challenges.

Posted in adventure, Daily travel meditations, Rolf Potts, Travel Writers, Travel Writing

The Vagabond’s Way by Rolf Potts

Posted on by Rhonda Wiley-Jones

I don’t typically review books on my blog, but this is an exception. I studied travel writing with Rolf Potts through the Santa Fe Workshops in San Miguel de Allende in 2017. I learned a lot from him as he shared his vagabonding days and how to find a good story and then how to craft it into a finely honed travel story.

Potts latest book, The Vagabond’s Way: 366 Meditations on Wanderlust, Discover, and the Art of Travel. He had the pandemic-imposed two years to write this book, while landlocked in Kansas, his home.

The book offers his philosophy on travel, his encouragement to engage the world beyond our own backyard, rather than escape to our fenced or gated communities.

… travel is as much a way of being as it is an act of movement. — Rolf Potts

Potts organizes his book in themes that vaguely follow the hero’s journey: the chance to travel, the decision to take off, the preparation to make one’s way into the world, the experiences of awe and obstacles on the road, overcoming those unexpected obstacles, returning home with a new and extended sense of self.

I haven’t completed the book, of course, because the year has just started, but the sage guidance to encounter the world as we go by being open to our senses, to other people, to ourselves (no demanding advice to do it this way or that way) is his gentle way of sharing his own experience.

What makes our stomach churn with anxiety? What sends gleeful joy pulsing through our bodies? What unexpectedly delights our owns sense of self? These are the questions we should ask ourselves as we sojourn.

But I have started reading for January and already found much to mull, chew on, and consider for future travels. He quotes other writers on each day. Potts pulls from the writing of others to convey his thoughts about travel–from ancients such as Rilke and Seneca to modern-day philosophers such as Ryan Holiday and Maya Angelo. And then he slips in his own mighty perspective of how important travel is to the world and to ourselves.

Indeed, one of the reasons travel can lead to a sense of awakening is that leaving our home habits allows us to see things with eyes undimmed by familiarity. — Rolf Potts

Find a copy of the book to indulge your own need for wanderlust and adventure. When we discover the metaphors of travel and life, we often see they are inseparable. I’m sure you will enjoy Pott’s book.

Let me know what is one of your favorite travel books, recent or ancient.

My Debut Novel, Song of Herself

To read my debut novel, Song of Herself, an epic adventure to India by an Iowa horsewoman, click here.

Please, please, when done with the book, go to Amazon, BookBub, Goodreads, or your favorite reading app to leave a review of the book. I appreciate every assessment of the book for you the reader. It helps know if they are interested in the book. Thanks so very much!!!

Posted in Anthology, Submission of writing, Submitting for Publication, Travel Writing, Women's Fiction, Women's Fiction, Women's Nonfiction, Writing

What’s an Anthology?

Posted on by Rhonda Wiley-Jones

I pose the question, “What’s an anthology?” because I suspect some people may not know. For those who don’t , it is a book of stories, fiction or nonfiction, that have been compiled typically based on a theme, so that various writers can write to the theme.

I just have to share with you that two of my nonfiction writing pieces have been published in an anthology by the Story Circle Network this week. The Network is “by, for, and about women, where women become the authors of their lives. Women’s life stories matter. We’re committed to helping you tell yours.” For all women writers, I wholeheartedly recommend joining this talented and dedicated group of serious women writers.

Just published this week.

The book, Real Women Write: Seeing Through their Eyes, can be found on Amazon. My two stories are “Paying to Pee” and “A Letter to our Insolent Server.” I had fun writing these two stories from my time spent in Mexico. They are self-reflective pieces of trying to be a better world citizen, though I fail at it more often than I want to admit.

The book cover of Seeing Through their Eyes is lovely with soulful stories written by women who are members of the Story Circle Network. The stories are insightful, redemptive, and inspiring. They are also short, life-narrative stories (2-3 pages long) based on the theme of empathy. This book would make a lovely gift for your girlfriends, sisters, moms, and daughters for Christmas.

I am proud to share the pages of these books with the other women writers from the Story Circle Network.

 

 

Writer & Author Rhonda Wiley-Jones
Posted in adventure, Craft of writing, Debut Novel, fiction, Historical Fiction, Travel Writing, Women traveling, Women's Fiction

The Gold Standard of Book Reviews

Posted on by Rhonda Wiley-Jones

I’m thrilled to share with you the book review I received from Kirkus Reviews just last week. Kirkus Reviews are the gold standard for anonymous, fair, unbiased book reviews. Many librarians use their reviews to determine which books they will purchase and shelve. See a partial review of Song of Herself, my debut novel.

… Wiley-Jones packs her narrative with a plethora of captivating themes and images that expose Fiona and readers to India’s cultures, religions, and styles (Women “wrapped their silhouettes with sarees in every color from ruby red to sapphire blue, and marigold to lemon yellow”) as well as the building Indian resentment toward British imperialism. Then there is the chaos of Calcutta, which the author describes in vivid detail, capturing the city’s history, topography, sounds, smells, and foods. Fiona is a complex character who repeatedly turns to Walt Whitman’s Leaves of Grass for inspiration and guidance in her search for her own center. …

… An engaging period drama overflowing with historical tidbits.

Consider buying a copy for a Christmas gift of the book, Song of Herself !

Paperback: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1639885501

Ebook: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BDK7Q54J/

Recently my friend Marge wrote me,

“I just finished your book and loved it. It was a page turner! I loved the character development and learned so much. All your hard work paid off! Thank you for the adventure. I loved the ending!!”

If you have read the book, please leave a short review of two or three sentences on Amazon.