Just Answering Questions

Got a question, like “What the hell is happening?” Ask it here!

NOTE: As of 8:00 CST, I have over 100 responses, so I have to shut the questions down! Thank you for your thoughtful submissions. It is great to see so many folks engaged. I will read them all and answer as many as I can later this week. Stay tuned!

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Hello readers! It is time for our monthly Q & A. This will be the last written Q & A I do for a while, because I’m getting ready for the release of my new book, The Last American Road Trip, on April 1.

The book is available for preorder at any major or independent bookstore in print, eBook, and audiobook. Autographed copies are available here! You can read rave reviews at Kirkus and Publishers Weekly.

If you like the history and travel articles on this newsletter, you will love The Last American Road Trip: a memoir of my travels with my children around the United States as it collapses between 2016 and 2024. If you’re struggling with conflicting feelings of grief, love, and rage over America, this is the book for you.

I put my whole heart on the page. Your support is greatly appreciated.

I am going on tour starting in April and will post dates and venues soon. Hopefully I’m coming to your city, and you’ll get a chance to talk to me in person. But if not, this Q & A is a great opportunity to share what’s on your mind.

For those new to this feature, here’s how it works:

1) To ask a question, join as a paying subscriber, and post your question in the comments section below.

2) I will answer your questions in a separate article that will run a few days later.

3) The article with the answers in it will be open to everyone. In other words, you need to be a paying subscriber to submit a question, but not to read the Q & A.

I call this feature “Just Answering Questions” because there are many topics that, if I were to broach them out of the blue, would be like throwing a bomb into your inbox. If you’ve read my books, you know they cover disturbing ground. This way, you choose the topic — and hey, I’m just answering questions!

If you are already a paying subscriber, you are all set — you can submit a question in the comments section below!

If you’re not a paying subscriber, this is a great reason to become one. In addition to getting a personal response, your support keeps this newsletter going. I have kept my newsletter free and it will stay free. Voluntary paying subscribers make it possible for me to keep writing and for readers who cannot afford to pay to read everything. I am very grateful to paying subscribers and I offer this Q & A as a thank you!

Note: The last Q & A was so popular I had to shut it down hours later. This time I’m planning to leave it up a little longer, and answer as many questions as I can, reflecting the most popular topics and the ones on which I’m best informed. I may not get to all of them, but I’ll try!

Talk to you soon!

The Devil’s Courthouse, photographed on the Blue Ridge Parkway in 2020. But we know where the real one is.