Extraordinary, Inspiring Journeys

On 8th April I made a comment on Twitter that marathon season was upon us again (who knew that days later, the world would be shaken by events in Boston?), and directed those who love running marathons to a book I commissioned for Summersdale by author Phil Hewitt called KEEP ON RUNNING - a great book that has kept on selling since it was published a year ago.

Phil, aka @marathon_addict, tweeted in reply: 'Have you got a marathon in you somewhere, Jen?' Shudder - nope, not for me! You may catch me running down the beach with the dog, but rarely much farther than that. To be honest, I'd no sooner run a marathon than ski 'ALONE IN ANTARCTICA' like Felicity Aston, an upcoming Summersdale book I've worked on recently. 

      So why do I love working on these books?

Many of the books I commission and edit for Summersdale are extraordinary journeys - whether it's Phil Harwood's CANOEING THE CONGO, which speaks for itself (ha!), or Emma Woolf's AN APPLE A DAY, her journey of recovery from anorexia. They are memoirs of people who did something extraordinary - in Phil's case, running a heck of a lot of marathons, in Felicity's case, becoming the first woman to ski solo across Antarctica - and can communicate what that experience did to them, what it felt like, and what they learned. They are all inspiring, and we take away something important from each. 

Because I have recently finished working on ALONE IN ANTARCTICA, the message is still with me - I won't give away the ending of the book, but it applies to all of us, whatever trials and tribulations we are facing in life. The week after I finished working on it, I was going through some personal difficulties myself, and I tried to remember her words. 

Do you like to read inspiring journeys? What's the most inspiring journey you've read? Are there any Summersdale books you've found inspiring? I'd love to hear what you, as readers, look for.

Have you made an inspiring journey yourself, and can you write about it?