Blog Archives
Overcoming Our Fears And Challenges
Pedaling West follows a recently unemployed and single woman who decides to ride her bike across the country in the middle of a pandemic. What was the inspiration for the setup of your story?
For my previous two published books, I backdated the stories to avoid the issues associated with COVID-19-mandated protocol during the era. Finally, for Pedaling West, I decided to take the pandemic on. I hoped the book would resonate with readers because of the interesting characters and exciting story, but also because of our common challenges with COVID-19.
Carrie suffers several blows to her self-confidence and through this ride rediscovers her own inner strength. What were some driving ideals behind your character’s development?
My goal was to create a character with whom many could identify, who had a full basket of recognizable qualities and familiar flaws. Metaphorically, Carrie represents each of us who uses our unique talents and skills to stumble forward positively, overcoming our fears and challenges, to create successful lives. Like Carrie, we usually find we don’t have to do everything ourselves. Others will help us if we take the initiative to ask.
What were some themes that were important for you to explore in this book?
The imperative for determination and resilience.
The critical nature of our human connection to each other and the common bonds we share.
The power, beauty, and majesty of nature versus the fragility of its environment.
What is the next book that you are working on and when will it be available?
At my publisher’s urging, I plan to follow up Pedaling West, with another crime fiction novel featuring the partnership of agents Marina Butnari and Doug Hill. After the escapades of Pedaling West, they are back to addressing the most heinous criminal activity in our world: human trafficking. Crime unfortunately creates staggering wealth and power which makes the battle between good and evil much closer than it should be. The working title for the novel is “All In.”
Author Links: Amazon | GoodReads | Website
Yet dangers lurk that she’d never anticipated. During Carrie’s idyllic journey across the continent, her greatest danger comes not from her encounters with angry animals, road hazards, or the elements. Something much worse stalks her—something much too human.
EVOLVED PUBLISHING PRESENTS a novel that’s part literary suspense, part women’s fiction, part crime thriller, part travel fiction, and one hundred percent fun. A young woman’s journey of adventure becomes one of profound self-discovery.
Pedaling West
It’s no exaggeration that life can change in the blink of an eye, and no one knows that better than Carrie Brinkley. IT Manager of Pilgrim Burgers, LLC, Carrie, is shocked to find her position is being eliminated. Doubtful as to her boss’s real intentions, she heads home only to receive a citation for an expired inspection sticker on her way. But, unfortunately, her string of bad luck doesn’t end there. Her boyfriend Trey is waiting in her driveway to announce that he is leaving town to return to Alabama and consequently breaking up with her. All Carrie wants at this point is to run away from it all, and when her bike calls, she answers.
Pedaling West, by E.A. Coe, follows the journey of one woman impacted in multiple ways by the 2020 pandemic. The face of the world, as Carrie Brinkley knows it, has changed, and she wants more than anything to run away from it all. So she concocts a plan to bike across the country, and even her parents’ words of wisdom can’t stop her from setting out to cover the nation from coast to coast between June and October.
Carrie’s story is unique in many ways yet typical of far too many others since 2020. Coe does a fantastic job of covering the mania that ensued when COVID-19 hit the United States. From misused funds to the countless ways our day-to-day lives changed at the drop of a hat, Coe covers it all in a short amount of time.
Carrie is a true force. She represents strength and determination on an entirely different level. Coe’s depiction of a woman on a mission is one to behold. As Carrie encounters one roadblock after another on her journey west, she meets each head-on and with renewed confidence. Her character development is unmatched. Though Coe’s story is fiction, I can easily picture this as a true story and one that would definitely inspire much-need confidence during the pandemic.
There exists within Coe’s writing an ideal amount of intrigue and mystery. It is difficult to peg Pedaling West as part of any one genre–it contains all the best parts of several. I enjoyed the blend of current events, action sequences, and the focus on Carrie’s character development throughout the book.
We won’t soon tire of reading about the many ways COVID has impacted our world, and E.A. Coe has gifted readers with a fantastic version of events in one neat package. I highly recommend Coe’s work to any mystery fan who appreciates a novel grounded in current events and is driven by a strong female main character.
Pages: 366 | ASIN: B0BTM1KRWF
LITERARY TITAN 