Queen of the Road

One of our very own, & fellow shrink (only with a "D" instead of my "A" after the "M", ahem..), Doreen Orion had her book debut this month. I've had the privilege to not only interview her, but read her book and offer up a review.

I hope you all check it out! It's a great book to bring on summer vacation or a trip to the beach.

Writer Kat aka Reader Mom Amazon Review:
"I'm a Mom with no chance for vacation. So picking up this book was like a vicarious escape, complete with a martini & husband who does the dishes. Doreen Orion, in her book - Queen of the Road has captured the wild adventure of living on a bus and wrapped it up in page after page of laughs. She uses her flaws and foibles openly to draw in the reader, making it seem as though we are right there with her. Bus Butt and all. As the story unfolds, she shifts from self proclaimed Princess and shoe worshipper to someone who appreciates a night sky and no-TV dinners, reminding us that there is more to life than this crazy game we live in."

Interview with Doreen Orion

WK: You say that your husband suggested this year-long road trip but you’re the one who wrote the story. At what point in the journey did you realize there was a book in all of it?

DO: I actually thought there would be a story before we even left, although I had no idea how life-changing the trip would end up being. I assumed I would just write a humorous travel memoir. I hope I've done that, but also included the transformational aspects of the trip - all of us changed for the better during our journey - Tim, me, even the pets. I hope this ends up being inspirational for readers, as well. As the dedication of the book reads, "To anyone searching for his or her inner bus. You don't need your own driver (but it doesn't hurt)."

I was very lucky to have started blogging at the start of our trip, not to mention take all the notes I did throughout it. When I quote conversations in the book, I'm not relying on memory; whenever Tim and I had a funny exchange, I wrote it right down (much to his chagrin at times). I even took notes on what various tour guides said. (One even asked if he needed a lawyer.)

WK: Queen of the Road is your second book. Your first was about a very troubling situation. What was it like writing this book? Was one easier to write than the other?

DO: QUEEN OF THE ROAD was much easier to write than I KNOW YOU REALLY LOVE ME. The latter was about my being stalked for years by a former patient. It was a very difficult situation. The "bus thing" on the other hand was pure joy to experience (punctuated by terror, since I did develop a bus phobia) once I got over my initial, shall we say, "reluctance": Tim came home one day and completely out of the blue announced he wanted to "chuck it all" and travel around the country in a converted bus for a year. I demanded, "Why can't you be like a normal husband in a midlife crisis and have an affair or buy a Corvette?" Then informed him, "I will never, ever, EVER live on a bus." Even though we're both psychiatrists, he's obviously the better one.

WK: What came first, the chicken or the egg? Have you always wanted to write or did your adventures lead you to write?

DO: Growing up in Great Neck, NY (as my husband says, a “princess from the Island of Long”), I loved to write and could always be counted on to take creative license where none was called for. (To whit, the Ode to Geometry I foisted on my eighth grade math teacher.) It just never occurred to me to try to make a living at it. So, what was a Jewish only child to do? Why, go to medical school, of course.I didn’t write for years (thus sparing my medical school classmates and instructors Ode to Diseases of the Bowel). Then, the OJ trial hit and I heard an "expert" say, "Well, just because he stalked Nichole, doesn't mean he killed her." At that point, I had been stalked for six years and it occured to me that there was an incredible dearth of knowledge about stalking. So, I decided to write a book about my experience and use it as a jumping off point to discuss various aspects of stalking - the laws, what victims can do, the psychology of stalkers. I loved the experience of writing the book and I was hooked.

WK: Any thoughts on your next project?

DO: Yes. But, all I can say is that I doubt it will involve a bus, or shoes, or martini recipes (unfortunately in each case).

WK: What words of advice do you have for aspiring authors?

DO: Make sure you love to write. Don't do it for fame, glory and especially not money. Because I get this question so often, I have some tips for aspirting writers on my website, www.queenoftheroadthebook.com