Why This Road

December 14, 2020 /

Wayward Souls, book #1 in my new Souls of the Road series is out now in ebook! (And will be in print very soon.)

I don’t know what put it into my head, but a couple years ago, I suddenly realized I had never driven Route 66.

To be fair, there are a lot of routes and highways and freeways and byways I’ve never driven. But the Route–the Route–I’d never driven that. As a matter of fact, when I started asking people, no one I knew had driven the entire old Route 66.

I may have become a little obsessed with it. How much of the old Route was still drivable? What could you see from the old days? Which things made driving the Route unique and memorable?

I asked my husband if he’d drive it with me. He, being a man always up for an adventure, said yes. We picked our time of year (September) our mode of travel (fly into Chicago, rent a car and drive all the way to Santa Monica) and did it!

We drove the entire Route, following the old roads (sometimes paved, sometimes dirt tracks through the desert) all the way across America.

It was wonderful, and challenging, and exciting, and eye-opening. We saw parts of America we’d never seen before, traveled to horizons we didn’t know we’d be delighted to discover.

But there was this one moment in Illinois. It was night, humid and quiet. We were picking our way to the next small town, trying to make sense of the directions in the dark. Somehow, we ended up stopped in front of a graveyard.

Right then, a song came on the radio: Cupid by Sam Cooke. Bits of story, people, and the Route fell together in my head. This book, that had been a glimmer of an idea, started forming into a full world. My lonely lovers. The lost road. Time slipping like ghosts through the graveyard. Hope. Magic. Old myths and ancient gods. All right there for me, on this road.

So I wrote Wayward Souls. It is filled with the magic of old Route 66. The small forgotten places, the wide, endless skies, and the rumble of wheels over dark paths where there air still carries a spark of magic.

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4 Comments

  • Anne
    December 14, 2020 at 2:06 pm

    Sounds great, unfortunately, my book money has been used for next year & part of 2022. My hot water heater deciding to spring leaks, having to replace some flooring & water pressure regulator. When it rains it pours & being on a fixed income this was not in the budget. LoL

  • Shelley Johnson
    December 14, 2020 at 5:10 pm

    I cannot wait to read this book! In 2012 my husband and I drove the old route (or as much as you could navigate through safley). It was a magical and eye opening adventure one we hope to take again. I am glad you were inspired and look forward to losing myself in Wayward Souls!

  • Jon E Brulloths
    December 23, 2020 at 8:50 pm

    I’ve just bought the book and I’m really looking forward to reading it!

    I love your work, Ms. Monk.

    I do have a question about the third book in your Age of Steam series — the final volume is no longer available as an ebook. :(( What happened, and can we expect a new edition anytime soon? I have the first 2 books…as ebooks, and I’d like to have the 3rd in the same format.

    Thanks and I wish you health, happiness, and joyous holidays and New Year!

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