Andra Watkins Archives - Michael Carnell

Finally, finally, finally. The book To Live Forever: An Afterlife Journey of Meriwether Lewis by my buddy Andra Watkins is now available. I have watched the creation of this book, the work of getting it published, and now the wonder of the final product.

To Live Forever is a journey into a little girl’s future that also explores the past of not only Meriwether Lewis, but the historic Natchez Trace as well. Following the none-to-friendly divorce of her parents, young Emmaline Cagney must run away from a situation at home that has gone from bad to worse. Along the way she picks up the help of the wandering spirit of Meriwether Lewis – of Lewis and Clarke fame – and a host of other characters both modern and folkloric. From the sultry sway of New Orleans to the icon country of Nashville, the reader is taken on their own journey of exploration into some of the most interesting characters in America’s past. Told from the few points of Lewis, Emmaline, and “the Judge” (one of those unsavory characters you will love to hate), the story unfolds at a quickening rate to an explosive climax.

I stared upward at the motionless ceiling fan. A faint glow filtered in the open bedroom door from the nightlight in the hall and reflected down off the still blades. It was four in the morning, my head was pounding, and there was a dull throb in my ear meaning that almost assuredly my infection was back. Great. To top it all off I was trying to come to grips with the dream I just woke from which involved performer Amanda Palmer, her husband and writer Neil Gaiman, a mysterious collection of architectural ruins in a coast line not far from a train station, and a small mysterious decaying skull.

That was how I woke up this morning. I blame it all on the far ranging discussions of the previous evening. Well maybe not the earache, but who really knows.

So let’s go with the previous evening. If I lay the blame there, I can transfer a good amount of it to my friend Andra Watkins. Whenever we get together the discussions take unusual turns, and last night was no different. Her first book, “To Live Forever: An Afterlife Journey of Meriwether Lewis”, is about to be published and so our conversations naturally centered on that. Topics ranged from author interview questions to publishing formats to the effect paper quality has on the reading experience. The most lively discussion though was around the premise of her book in general, shall we say a post-death do-over.

To Live Forever – A Novel By Andra Watkins

Blame It On Andra