Talking Books with Al & Sunny Lockwood Author of CRUISING THE MISSISSIPPI #Interview

Al and Sunny Lockwood have traveled by foot, car, rail, air and cruise ship. They’ve camped in national parks, hiked mountain trails, photographed springtime flowers in Death Valley and wintry surf along the rugged beaches of Northern California.

They’ve watched July 4th fireworks over Lake Tahoe, explored New Mexico’s Taos Pueblo and ridden the Great Smoky Mountains Railroad through forests ablaze with autumn colors.

They’ve ridden the amazing Falkirk Wheel in Scotland, the Flam Railway in Norway and Ushuaia’s train at the end of the world.

They’ve photographed Gibraltare’s Barbary apes and Gentoo Penguins frolicking in the surf on Falkland Island beaches.

From North Carolina’s Outer Banks to New Orleans’ Bourbon Street and Nashville’s Grand Ole Opry, Al and Sunny love to wander and wonder and enjoy.

Everywhere they go, they capture unforgettable moments with their cameras and notebooks, moments to share with their readers. Their work has been published in magazines and newspapers. It has been recognized with awards from the National Federation of Press Women, the California Newspaper Publishers Association, the Wishing Shelf Book Awards, Seven Sisters Book Awards, and The Independent Author Network Book Awards.

“We write to encourage others to travel, to take a break from their ordinary routine and discover the many rewards of traveling with your eyes wide open,” Sunny said. “Go somewhere new, even if it’s only in the next county. And have fun exploring the sites, the sounds and flavors of the place. You’ll be amazed at how much fun you’ll have.”

Al added, “We also write to share the wonder of our own travels. To help you feel what it’s like to be on a cruise ship, or wandering the back alleys of Venice, Italy. We hope our books give readers a real sense of our travel adventures.”

When did you come up with the idea to write your book, CRUISING THE MISSISSIPPI?

This cruise was so much fun, and so educational that we knew from the start we'd write about it. My husband and I are both retired and are doing a lot of traveling. Until our Mississippi Cruise, we'd mainly traveled in Europe.

But one afternoon as I was just tooling around online, I stumbled upon an opportunity Al and I had never thought of -- a river cruise in the U.S. And not just any river, but the mighty Mississippi! The industrial-strength watercourse backbone of our country.

Who is your publisher and how did you find them or did you self-publish?

We self published through Gatekeeper Press. I found Gatekeeper Press online. They handled the cover design, and distribution of the paperback. I published the ebook through Amazon's KDP program.

Do you believe a book cover plays an important role in the selling process?

Yes. A good looking cover can draw the attention of book browsers. Then it's the responsibility of the writer to keep the browser reading, as they glance through the pages of the book. We pay for professional book designers. And we do our best to write compelling stories that will keep readers turning our pages.

How hard was it to write a book like this and do you have any tips that you could pass on which would make the journey easier for other writers?

We have written other travel memoirs, hoping our readers enjoy our journeys as much as we do! We take lots of photographs, and lots of notes. And every evening we write what we discovered that day, and what we loved most. We're especially open to surprises ... things we didn't expect, but which bring the journey alive. We had a huge surprise on our Mississippi River cruise, when we discovered one of the entertainers on board had a close connection to my family. Those are the kinds of unexpected things that make a trip special!

Taking lots of photos and notes helps keep the trip immediate when we sit down to organize and write about it.

What other books are you working on and when will they be published?

We're finishing up a book entitled: Cruising from Boston to Montreal. It's about a wonderful cruise trip we took through the Canadian Maritimes and up the St. Lawrence River. This was another close to home cruise that turned out to be wonderful in all sorts of ways.

What's one fact about your Mississippi cruise that would surprise people?

How our stop at Nottaway Plantation House was like a magic carpet transporting us 150 years into the past ... The huge home, the people all in period dress, the surrounding fields, and our paddlewheeler parked beside the levee. You could just imagine the life that went on there, from the slave quarters to the river. It was an amazing experience. One we hope we captured in our book.

Any final words?

We write about our travels to encourage others to make their travel dreams come true. A lot of times people sort of day dream about travel, but never really take the trip. We want them to take that trip, to make their dream a reality. Travel is good for the heart, the mind and the soul. So we hope our book inspires readers to travel. That's our goal.

Title: CRUISING THE MISSISSIPPI: FROM NEW ORLEANS TO MEMPHIS ON A GENUINE PADDLEWHEELER
Author: Al & Sunny Lockwood
Publisher: Front Porch Publishing
Pages: 185
Genre: Travel Memoir

If you love travel, beauty, history, fabulous food, and genuine old-fashioned fun, you’ll love this amazing paddle wheel adventure along the mighty Mississippi River.

From a vibrant New Orleans’ Jazz concert at famous Preservation Hall, to the largest plantation mansion on the Mississippi (Nottoway Plantation), to eye-opening Civil War battlegrounds, this lively travel memoir brings American history and Southern culture to life.

The paddlewheeler itself is an enchanting antebellum masterpiece. Period furnishings. Tiffany lamps. An authentic steam calliope. And a huge front porch with comfy rocking chairs where you can relax and enjoy the natural wonder of America’s greatest waterway.

Riverside cities offer their own unique attractions, steeped in history and plantation grandeur.

In this warm and personal travel memoir you’ll learn things about America you never knew before.

PRAISE

“Cruising the Mississippi gives the reader a genuine sense that they are also on board the American Queen, exploring the small towns that line the river and luxuriating in an atmosphere that exudes the glories of a bygone era.”
— 5-stars Readers’ Favorite Book Review
“If it’s a ‘you are there’ experiential survey of the paddlewheeler environment that is desired, along with . . . Mississippi history and culture . . . then there could be no better virtual tour than Cruising the Mississippi.”
–D. Donovan, Senior Reviewer, MidwestBook Review
“Without ever boring the reader, the authors present . . . many absorbing facts and events that simply jump off the page. From the luxury . . .of travelling on a paddlewheeler to the history of the river and many of the exciting spots they travel to . . . . I was thoroughly engaged to the last page.”
–Wishing Shelf Book Review