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michaeldterry
03-11-2009, 06:34 PM
I've just finished reading Queen of the Road by POG's own Doreen Orion. It is a delightful read full of humor and experiences that we can all relate to!

While the writing style often comes across as "tongue in cheek", the honesty and sincerity of the writer is unmistakable.

Queen of the Road, subtitled:The True Tale of 47 States, 22,000 Miles, 200 Shoes, 2 Cats, 1 Poodle, a Husband, is available in paperback from Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble, Borders, and other major booksellers. The book's ISBN (unique identifier number) is: 9780767928533

The book's synopsis on barnesandnoble.com reads:

A pampered Long Island princess hits the road in a converted bus with her wilderness-loving husband, travels the country for one year, and brings it all hilariously to life in this offbeat and romantic memoir.

Doreen and Tim are married psychiatrists with a twist: She’s a self-proclaimed Long Island princess, grouchy couch potato, and shoe addict. He's an affable, though driven, outdoorsman. When Tim suggests “chucking it all” to travel cross-country in a converted bus, Doreen asks, “Why can’t you be like a normal husband in a midlife crisis and have an affair or buy a Corvette?” But she soon shocks them both, agreeing to set forth with their sixty-pound dog, two querulous cats—and no agenda—in a 340-square-foot bus.

Queen of the Road is Doreen’s offbeat and romantic tale about refusing to settle; about choosing the unconventional road with all the misadventures it brings (fire, flood, armed robbery, and finding themselves in a nudist RV park, to name just a few). The marvelous places they visit and delightful people they encounter have a life-changing effect on all the travelers, as Doreen grows to appreciate the simple life, Tim mellows, and even the pets pull together. Best of all, readers get to go along for the ride through forty-seven states in this often hilarious and always entertaining memoir, in which a boisterous marriage of polar opposites becomes stronger than ever.

At 272 pages, plus appendices, Queen of the Road is just long enough to make you really sad that you've reached the end of the adventure (which, of course, compels you to read the appendices in hope of a final smile or chuckle).

I highly recommend this book to any bus nut, bus phobic, phobic nut, or "normal" person who reads at or above a fifth grade level. You will enjoy it in spite of yourself!

If you've already read Queen of the Road, post your personal review here. If you haven't read it yet - what are you waiting for?!?

QueenOfTheRoad
03-11-2009, 09:44 PM
Thanks so much, Michael! Of course, I agree with everything he said - especially the last sentence.

Seriously, the book is already in 6th printing, due to wonderful word-of-mouth, including on this forum, so thanks so much to everyone!

If anyone ever wants a personalized, signed bookplate for yourself, a friend, neighbor, enemy (I'm not particular), just email me (doreen@doreenorion.com) with the name and address and I'll send it/them right out. And, for the ladies (or sensitive gents), I've been calling in to book clubs all over the country since QUEEN OF THE ROAD came out (Borders chose it as a Featured Book Club pick) and it's been tons of fun (at least for me), so feel free to email if you'd like to set that up.

We're in the process of putting our house on the market in order to full time, so if you ever see us rolling down the road, please say hello - or run for your life, whichever seems appropriate.

Again, thanks so much, everyone!

michaeldterry
03-12-2009, 03:55 PM
We're in the process of putting our house on the market in order to full time, so if you ever see us rolling down the road, please say hello - or run for your life, whichever seems appropriate.


Doreen,

With full timing in your future, will you be learning to drive the bus to give Tim a break now and then? I taught my resident bus phobic to drive ours and now she loves it! She still gets nervous when the highway narrows with construction barriers on both sides (no matter which of us is driving), but I can't blame her for that! Sometimes, it seems that there is about an inch clearance on each side - particularly late at night!

Vita has taken to driving the bus like a duck to water and, in fact, did almost half the driving on our recent trek from Atlanta, GA to Dallas, TX and back.

If you haven't already, get behind the wheel and give it a try! I can almost guarantee that you will like the perspective from the left seat better than the co-pilot seat.

Think about it this way - there's probably another book to be written outlining your transition from bus phobic to full out bus nut!

Best Regards,
Michael

QueenOfTheRoad
03-12-2009, 04:21 PM
Vita is clearly a braver woman than I and you, sir, are a much braver man than my husband!