Since my last post, life has been full throttle on two fronts—creative and literal. The book I co-authored with Joan Lunden is available for preorder!

I wrote about working with Joan and answer some FAQs about the process on my newsletter, Narrative Mileage with Tamela Rich.

On the Buckskin Rides Again side, the serialization is rolling steadily along on Substack, where readers are riding shotgun through 4,820 miles of memory, family, and the open road.

Dispatches this quarter took us from North Carolina to Phoenix through windstorms, alien encounters, and a few roadside reckonings. I’m now past the series’ halfway mark, and each week’s release reminds me how writing in real time keeps a story alive and evolving.

Meanwhile, my next book project—Along the Ohio—is taking shape. It’s the working title for my travel-history exploration of the Ohio River, America’s longest and only visible slavery border. I spent much of Q3 mapping, researching, and visiting river towns, learning how each community tells (and sometimes hides) its own history. The project is under contract with the University of Illinois Press and will be published as part of their 3 Field Books imprint.

Here’s to long rides, layered histories, and the stories still waiting downstream.