Live from the Road [Kindle Edition]

P.C. Zick (Author)

Book Description

Enlightenment on Route 66 - Humorous, Painful, Rewarding

Live from the Road takes the reader on an often humorous, yet harrowing, journey as Meg Newton and Sally Sutton seek a change in the mundane routine of their lives. Joined by their daughters, they set off on a journey of salvation enhanced by the glories of the Mother Road.

Along the way, they are joined by a Chicago bluesman, a Pakistani liquor storeowner from
Illinois, a Marine from Missouri, a gun-toting momma from Oklahoma, and a motel clerk from New Mexico.

Death, divorce, and deception help to reveal the inner journey taking place under the blazing desert sun as a Route 66 motel owner reads the Bhagavad-Gita and an eagle provides the sign they've all been seeking.

Enlightenment comes tiptoeing in at dawn in a Tucumcari laundromat, while singing karaoke at a bar in Gallup, New Mexico, and during dinner at the Roadkill Cafe in Seligman, Arizona.

The trip isn't always easy as laughter turns to tears and back again. However, the four women's lives will never be the same after the road leads them to their hearts - the true destination for these road warriors.

Editorial Reviews

Review

I really enjoyed this book, which was the chosen book for our Book Club discussion this month. It was funny yet heartbreaking. It made me get up and go hug my children a few times. -Goodreads review

What a quirky, nonsensical, gorgeous, joyful, sad bit of inspiration! And if you can't understand that, then you're in the best position to read this fun novel! Plan to laugh, cry, sing, be confused...and amazed at what this author has to say! I'm still not convinced that it did not include an angel character, you know, like Touched by an Angel, by the name of Lollapalooza...even if she did die during the trip... by Glenda A. Bixler, Amazon VINE Voice

From the Author

I've always loved road trip books, such as On the Road by Jack Kerouac and Travels with Charley by John Steinbeck. I've always loved to travel. Then in 2007, my girlfriend and I hatched the idea of taking a trip down Route 66 all the way from Chicago to L.A. Our daughters, both in their twenties, asked to join us. Off we went on our adventure. The trip was a blast and everything we did seemed to be infused with meaning and serendipity. Of course, I kept a journal about the places we visited, and when I came home I began working on the novel. Even though there are four women (mothers and daughters) who travel together in Live from the Road and the setting is real, the rest is my imagination about what could have happened interspersed with a few sparks from the real trip. I took reality and blew it up as big as the fiberglass giants we saw on the road. I enjoyed writing the book almost as much as taking the trip because Route 66 is a road that writes itself.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• File Size: 479 KB
• Print Length: 268 pages
• Simultaneous Device Usage: Unlimited
• Publisher: P.C. Zick (May 13, 2012)
• Sold by: Amazon Digital Services, Inc.
• Language: English
• ASIN: B00839H5QW
• Text-to-Speech: Enabled
• X-Ray: Enabled
• Lending: Enabled
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #217,627 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Need to Get Away From It All? Read This Book! January 14, 2013

By Glenda A Bixler VINE™ VOICE

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

What a quirky, nonsensical, gorgeous, joyful, sad bit of inspiration! And if you can't understand that, then you're in the best position to read this fun novel! Plan to laugh, cry, sing, be confused...and amazed at what this author has to say! I'm still not convinced that it did not include an angel character, you know, like Touched by an Angel, by the name of Lollapalooza...even if she did die during the trip...

Trip? Yes, the trip taken by two best friends and their daughters. They started from Chicago and were heading to L.A., traveling the old Route 66 for as much as they could. At first the two friends were going to go, then their daughters decided that they wanted to go, especially, when they learned that there was to be auditions in L.A. if they planned their trip right. CC was a singer; Ramona wanted to be an actress, but also sang... In fact the four all sang and looked for Karaoke bars each night when they stopped...to practice! As well as to give each audience a show they would remember.

Meg narrated most of the story, and kept a journal, naturally, since she was a journalist. She and Sally her best friend had talked about the trip since Meg needed to settle some past issues that she'd been internally hanging on to, including the death of her son. Essentially, she had closed him off inside and was not able to face his loss... And CC had been hurting also, as if losing her mother as well...

As they started, they dressed up their van with Route 66 signs and declared themselves the Road Warriors, with even a solemn (!!!) group hand sharing as they left certain areas...

I have to say, I would love to have been traveling with them!

And others felt the same way!... So as the Warriors met people along the way and told them about their trip, their destination... well, you guessed it, they either joined them right then or caught up with them later (on Route 66 of course so it wasn't hard to find them!) They even met a couple on their way to get married--and everybody later became their wedding party!

Seriously, there is no way to describe what was encountered on that trip! You just have to experience it!

One of the things Sally had planned for the trip was to bring her father's remains back to where he had wanted to stay...so a wake with fireworks took place! They picked up Laramie at that stop, when she came running with her shotgun on hearing the fireworks... Later, Sally was the one who was comforted by Meg as she received word that her husband had left her...and so much more!

A couple went along for the music auditions, but most just had that look...you know...the one that says you just need to do something crazy??? Need to get away? Read Live From the Road and you just might be making your own plans! Wish I could go with you! Hey, wait a minute...This book was just like I was there, including the hugging and crying with the Road Warriors! Waaaaayyy Cool Book! Come listen to the music along with my thoughts at Book Reader's Heaven...

GABixlerReviews Read more ›

21 of 24 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A fun ride that you will not want to miss! July 8, 2012

By Alle Wells

Format:Kindle Edition

Best friends, Sally and Meg, take a detour in mid-life along Route 66 with their young adult daughters. Meg, who is still mourning over the death of her son, hardly recognizes CC, her grown-up baby girl, when they meet at the airport. Boosted by Sally's optimism and her daughter, Ramona's, enthusiasm and research of the adventures along Route 66, the four women take off on a fun ride that you will not want to miss.

Along the Mother Road, we join an eclectic caravan of colorful characters which include historians, entertainers, cowboys, and mystics. Listen to CC sing her way through the desert and watch Sally plant a deadly kiss on a Coyote. Meg's heart heals when Ramona reveals a well-kept secret. Their journey brings adventure, fulfillment, closure to the past tragedies, and enlightenment for the future.

19 of 22 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A Trip Worth Taking May 29, 2012

By Marisella Veiga

Format:Kindle Edition

This novel is a spirited travel story. It is packed with humor, understanding, and difficult conflicts. What is more, it is sprinkled with insights,love and no love. If you're looking for a fun read that shares nuggets of wisdom, this is the book for you.

My hat goes off to P.C. Zick!
Marisella Veiga

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Well written with some excellent characters June 30, 2012

By Dogs & Horses VINE™ VOICE

Format:Kindle Edition

Live From the Road was a pretty good read, I read it at the suggestion of a friend who just loved it. I think there were some excellent characters here - Looza and Slick come to mind first and the former Marine definately. This was a look at four women related by birth and friendship as they traveled down Route 66 and the changes each one undergoes during the trip. It was well written and flowed nicely for the most part. There were a couple of points that I felt were random deviations from the overall point of the story and took away from the existential angst the women were trying to come to grips with. Overall, if you're looking for a feel good, fun romp of a roadtrip, this book probably isn't what you want, but if you want a more indepth view into the lives of four pretty regular women coming to terms with age, loss and love, then Live From The Road is a good pick.

12 of 14 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Has movie written all over it! August 29, 2012

By JoAnn Dugovich

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

I too, took my time reading this adventure. I knew from the opening chapters it was going to take my breath away. I could easily picture the different places the characters visited and even could hear their conversations. I felt their sadness and their giddyness. The ending chapters were crazy and totally unpredictable! I could not put the book down for the final 8 chapters! To write a book like this with so much dialogue, I take my cowboy hat off to PC Zick. The story flowed effortlessly like it was inspired by Divine guidance.. Get this story to a screenwriter!

12 of 14 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars More Than Just a Trip May 30, 2012

By Linda Turner

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

I just finished "Live From the Road" after a marathon read because I couldn't put it down. I am absolutely stunned at the insight and depth of the novel. Ms. Zick hit the nail on the head on so many of her observations, describing them in such a wonderful way. I had to keep a note pad beside me so I could write the location number of some of the better items I wanted to read again. The over-whelming best was the description of when the doctor told Meg that she was aging. How beautifully that was put! This novel simply cries out to become a movie -- I can't wait!

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Enjoy the Ride on Route 66 July 18, 2012

By Diane Rapp

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

When I began reading this book, I assumed it might be a travel story about the places visited. Thankfully the engaging story dragged me into the lives of these four women from the first chapter, and I became one of their stragglers on the adventure. Two best friends (Sally and Meg) decide to take a trip along the old Route 66 from Chicago to L.A., and their daughters (Ramona and CC) go along for the ride. Of course the daughters have ulterior motives. They plan to enter a talent contest in L.A. or I'm sure they'd never agree to travel with their moms!

No one expected that this road trip would be more than a pleasant ride through the country. The four women stop at interesting road side attractions, but they also explore their pasts and their relationships during the journey. Their excitement about traveling Route 66 is contagious and the "Road Warriors" eventually attract a caravan of cars that follow them across country. The crazy characters they meet are odd, funny, and absolutely outrageous.

I once traveled with my grown daughter for three months, doing research for a Caribbean guide book. During that trip I saw my daughter as an adult, a woman who I was proud to know. The four women in this book laughed and cried together (many times), told secrets that kept them apart, and examined failed relationships with the men in their lives. It's a well-told story that cuts away the layers to get to the core of personal realities, serious stuff.

Lucky for readers, it's not all serious. We get to watch while they shoot grandpa's ashes off in a bottle rocket, meet Looza, the lady whose husband brought an alligator to bed, and laugh at the "kiss of death...." The author creates her own platitudes like:"You're not lost if you travel the direction you're going," or "Don't trust a man who wears a white cowboy hat, because he's hiding something." She also creates memorable characters with personal stories worth exploring. Travel Route 66 with these women and enjoy the ride. Read more ›

More About the Author

P.C. Zick began her writing career in 1998 as a journalist. She's won various awards for her essays, columns, editorials, articles, and fiction. She describes herself as a "storyteller" no matter the genre.

She's published four works of fiction and one nonfiction book. Prior to 2010, she wrote under the name Patricia C. Behnke.

She was born in Michigan and moved to Florida in 1980. She now resides in Pennsylvania with her husband Robert.

Her fiction contains the elements most dear to her heart, ranging from love to the environment. She believes in living lightly upon this earth with love, laughter, and passion.

"This is one of the most exciting times to be an author," Ms. Zick says. "I'm honored to be a part of the revolution in writing and publishing."