So here’s a little inside scoop — and this is just for you, as a thank you for reading this blog. Don’t tell anyone else. Unless, you know, they seem like nice people who probably wouldn’t tell anyone else.
I have an idea for my next book. And no, it’s not about walking across the continent. Well … not specifically about that.
The idea is hinted at in this blog’s subtitle: “a wandering storyteller in search of an audience.” You see, one of the things I have in common with the other Abner (i.e., Abner the character in the book) is that we both have a story to tell, and not enough opportunities to tell it. We are both trying to find a way to reach a wider audience. In my case, that’s what this tour is all about. But if you’ve read The Legend of Pedestrio, you know Abner the character has a different way of looking at things. And for him, that wider audience means only one thing: Glory.
(The above link is supposed to point to Episode 211 of my Tall Tales & Shaggy Dogs soundcast. Can’t tell if it’s working. One of the disadvantages of posting blogs from the road. But here’s a summary: Glory (to Abner) is that legendary city where all your dreams come true and everybody recognizes you as the greatest living storyteller — and possibly the greatest ever).
Anyway, I think it would be fun to write a book about Abner’s adventures on the road to Glory. We’ll see how that works out. But in the meantime, I’ve got my own road to walk.
The journey so far has gone well: good weather, no major health issues, and a really unexpected bonus: discovering this Canalway Trail, which gets me away from traffic and all the uncertainty that road walking entails.
On the other hand, the search for a wider audience has been slow-going. I hoped to be telling tales at bookstores and libraries every few days, and that just hasn’t worked out. I’m also … well, not exactly an extrovert. It’s hard for me to tell folks what I’m doing, even though I know that’s the only way this whole thing is gonna work. So, in addition to the physical journey, there’s that inner journey as well.
And it is absolutely not lost on me that one of my literary heroes, Christopher Moore (Lamb, Fluke, Noir, The Serpent of Venice) is beginning a book tour TODAY for his latest masterpiece, Razzmatazz. In my world (this is Abner the author speaking, not Abner the character), Christopher Moore has reached Glory. He is quite possibly the greatest living writer of comic novels (with the exception of Bull Garlington, although Chris Moore is obviously more famous). I’ve got nothing but respect for Christopher Moore. I just think it’s … kind of funny that he gets flown hitherin yawn on an eight-city book tour with 200 people in the audience at every stop, while I’m out here trying to make connections one reader at a time.
Grist for the mill, whatever that means.
Anyway, thanks for reading. This blog is slowly beginning to pick up new readers, and not to get all maudlin about it, but that’s one of the things that keeps me going. So please, feel free to comment: what would you like to see more of? The geographical journey, i.e., history, landscape, normal travel blog stuff? The physical journey, a.k.a., the blister-and-mosquito report? The storyteller’s journey, parts of which might be stretched in order to make a good yarn? Or something else? Let me know.
Oh, and buy my book. And buy Christopher Moore’s book too. But buy mine more: https://abnerserd.com/books.
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