Tag Camino Sunrise

Reg and Sue Take to the Airwaves

Reg Spittle 1 Comment

It may be too early to save places on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for us, but Sue and I have made our television debut.

Stephen Long, host of The Writing Life, a series that airs on a McMinnville (near Portland) Comcast community station, invited us to his show. He had read Camino Sunrise: Walking With My Shadows before walking the Camino himself and posed questions about our experiences and the book.

Steve made us feel at home, just like we felt after just one day on our first distance trail in Spain so many miles ago. Sue and I invite you to join us by clicking on the link below. No retakes were offered, so all our words were final answers.

Actually, it was my second TV appearance; I had a very small lip-syncing role on an episode of the hit series Solid Gold in the early 1980s.

My Camino Book: Is This Really Happening?

Reg Spittle 2 Comments

I was warned. The vast majority of books from indie authors find few readers beyond family and friends and have a short shelf life.

Almost six years after my first book, Camino Sunrise: Walking With My Shadows, was published, it is finding new readers in surging numbers in several countries, especially the United States and the United Kingdom. One wrote me a note:

“My friend and I so enjoyed your book Camino Sunrise. I have read endless books written by pilgrims, but yours provided me with an entirely new set of information. Thank you for all I learned from you and Sue with your beautiful book.”

Another posted a review:

“Not only did I love trekking the Camino through the eyes of Reg and Sue, I so appreciated Reg’s candid and very personal reflections on a difficult childhood, bullying and lack of confidence. I too find myself looking critically through the rear-view mirror of my life. I’m inspired now to bravely find my own Camino challenge.”

The number of new readers is inspiring as I finish work on my third book about my journey with Sue on the John Muir Trail through California’s Sierra Nevada wilderness. My second book, Trippin’ Through My 60s: When Adventure Calls, the Trails of Europe Answer, is also gaining renewed attention. It transports readers to Scotland’s West Highland Way, the Alps’ Tour du Mont Blanc, Italy’s Way of St. Francis, and England’s South West Coast Path.

It is an honor to know people choose to read my books. Above all, I hope my love of distance trekking will encourage others to give it a try, like I did–grudgingly–on the Camino de Santiago, my first trek. Or maybe they will experience adventure from their armchairs.

Both books are available on Amazon in ebook, paperback, and audiobook formats. If you are a Kindle Unlimited member, you can read it free. The paperback can also be ordered online through Barnes and Noble and Powell’s Bookstore in Portland.

I am gratified that readers have invalidated the predictions about indie publishing, at least in my case. When I left the working world in 2012, I would never have guessed that distance trekking would play a leading role in my life. And to think that people would one day read about my adventures. I am still coming to terms with that concept, but it has left me grateful beyond measure.