In my latest book, A Pedal Pilgrimage in the Nordics, I have attempted a number of things in my writing. I have introduced historical flashbacks to add a different angle to the narrative. I envisioned these as dreams between the daylight cycling. When I bicycle tour it is often my night dreams that are as important to the experience as the daytime cycling. My dreams get much more intense and epic when I experience fresh stimuli in new places. I will leave it to the reader to decide if that worked and if they got what I was trying to achieve.

The other thing I was aiming for was a richer, more entailed narrative. I wanted to tell the story through the context of history, geography, science, politics, literature, philosophy, religion, and spirituality. Again, you be the judge if that worked or not; personally, I am satisfied with the results; it more than met my goals.

I also wanted to see how my inner thoughts bounced against the experience of the world around me and with the personal stories of people I met. There were lots of examples of synchronicity, particularly in Helsinki.

This book is not just a travelogue; I didn't want to write another of that genre. I wanted to break the rules of genre and be free in making the book what I wanted it to be. In some respects, the book is a novel in its structure and premise, even though it doesn't purport to be fiction. The only thing fictional was that I needed to change people's names so as to protect their privacy. In any case, what I have written I have written. I won't be offering the book free as I have done before, the sole exception being for those who supported me in in its creation, through their moral support.

The real enjoyment of writing comes in its execution and in its aftermath, ie how readers respond to it. I am looking forward to that aspect now.