Review: American Nomads by N.L. McLaughlin – A 2022 Indie Author Review Selection
Description • The Review • Author Interview • More About the Author
Description (from Amazon.com)
Beth always daydreamed of being popular. Of living a life filled with fun, travel, and adventure. A life without rules or expectations. A life worthy of sharing online. These hopes and aspirations were nothing more than distant dreams until a chance encounter with a young drifter.
Beautiful, outgoing, and brimming with confidence, River is everything Beth wishes she could be. She introduces Beth to her tight-knit family of misfits and vagabonds; Zac, the strong, watchful protector; Cash, a charismatic con man always ready with a witty remark; Finn, feral is the word the others used to describe him. His disdain for outsiders is a barrier for most; and Teague, thoughtful and calm with his funny Cajun accent, he is the light against Finn’s darkness.
Enthralled by their stories of adventure and travel, when they invite Beth to come along, she jumps at the chance.
They show her a world of hidden beauty, petty theft, cheap whiskey and limitless freedom. A world where the next grand adventure is only a train hop away. A world without safety, where darkness roams freely, unrestrained by rules or authorities. When all hell breaks loose, Beth wonders if she made a horrible mistake. Who are these people? Was she really safe with them? Would she be willing to give up her budding online fame for safety?
The Review
There are interesting subcultures of the country, cultures we don’t see very often except as a brief mention on the news or when stopped at a light near a bridge and seeing the remnants of someone’s open-air bedroom. In American Nomads by N.L. McLaughlin, we are given a front row seat to one such subculture–drifters–through the eyes of young woman who seeks more out of life.
American Nomads is a character-based novel set in a world many of us have never seen yet exists right under our noses. Beth seeks adventure and joins in with a cast of characters, a rogue band of ruffians as my grandma would have said. There is a journey to a goal, one that is immediately set up in the beginning of the novel, but as it slowly unfolds we are brought into the lives of the unknown. Through Beth, we become immersed in this world and get to know our companions along the way.
In many ways, this story reminded me of Faulkner and Steinbeck, books that I read when I was younger and made me wonder what life would be like to ride the rails or travel unfettered cross-country. And Laughlin’s writing is incredible. I was immediately pulled into the scenes and connected with each of the characters as they moved from place to place. American Nomads is well researched, and if you’re interested in pulling back the veil to see what life might be like for young drifters on the road, then this book is for you. I look forward to reading the sequel, Lost Boys, which I immediately picked up.
Available at Amazon: https://amzn.to/43maOMG
Author Interview
American Nomads is set among a subculture of society that is often glorified in literature/movies but vilified by society. Why do you think there is a disconnect between the two?
I think it’s because these drifters are true renegades. It takes a certain kind of person to willingly trade the comforts and safety of modern life for the discomfort and adrenaline of living without rules or boundaries. The people who I’ve met who have chosen this lifestyle, all share a deep sense of antipathy for mainstream life. They’re restless, always searching. In another time, they would’ve been the explorers, the travelers who visited villages, telling tales of foreign people and places.
As for the rest of society, most people need a sense of purpose. They need safety and rules in order to be happy. I think the more a person needs structure in their lives, the more they revile those who don’t.
This is where I shrug and say “I’m still trying to work it out.”
Fictional locations are typically based on an author’s experience with real life. How many of the locations in American Nomads have you visited?
All of them. From the hidden lime caves in the Hill Country, to the gorgeous spectacle that is the Milky Way glowing bright and colorful in the night sky over Big Bend, I’ve spent time admiring all of them. The city of Denton was my home for well over a decade, the people who live there will always be like family to me.
I like to visit an area I’m writing about. I need to engage all my senses. The scent of the air, the sounds of nature, which, oddly enough are different in many subtle ways from one place to another. By immersing myself in the sights, scents and sounds of an area, I can convey how special it is to my readers, and hopefully do it some justice.
What kind of research did you do for the novel outside of what you already knew?
Lots and lots of talking and listening to people that most would cross the street to avoid.
As you touched on earlier, drifters have been a subculture for as long as any of us can remember. I’ve always found them fascinating, largely due to my reading as a teen. Over the years, I never passed up an opportunity to talk with and listen to their stories whenever the opportunity arose. I’ve met some interesting people along the way. It was their stories that educated me to the realities of their lifestyle, they also gave me a deeper understanding to the type of person who would choose such a lifestyle.
The entire time while writing American Nomads, fate would bring the most fascinating people my way. It was as though the universe wanted me to write this story.
Once, while writing alone at a coffee shop in AZ, I ran into a group of elderly veterans. They had seen my compass tattoo which led them to inquire whether or not I had served in the military. One of them, his name was Michael, a Korean War vet, asked me what I was working on. I told him it was a story about a group of train hoppers.
He smiled and then said, clear as day,“Nothing behind me, everything ahead of me, as is ever so on the road.”
My mind was blown. This sweet little elderly man just quoted Kerouac to me. Michael went on to tell me the story of a young man from NYC, who had served in the Korean War and returned home a couple years later, only to find himself working at the docks, trying to figure out what to do with the rest of his life. He didn’t think he had many options. One day he stumbled across a recently published book that changed everything. Michael smiled at me and said, “I think we both know what book that was.” He read that book from cover to cover, underlining quotes and marking pages. He was fascinated by the story, adventure and people.
According to Michael, drifters would wander in and out of the docks all the time. He became fascinated by them. One day, a young fellow, about Michael’s age came through. Over the course of the next week or so, they would share lunch and stories. By the end of the week, the two of them were riding the rails, heading south toward Houston. Michael hopped trains for nearly a year after that, before heading back home to settle down and start a family. The light in his eyes as he told me his story that day, was electric.
There’s a post about the encounter on my IG way back in 2017. Yes, it took me a few years to get the American Nomads story right.
Seriously, the stories of the people who stumbled into my path while writing American Nomads, could be a book all their own.
Do you have a writing routine?
I’ve found that early morning is the best time for me to write, this is when I have the most alone time. I’ll play the same song over and over until it becomes a sort of white noise, then the words flow. I realize how weird this sounds, but, it works for me. Each scene has its own song.
I’m a fan of easter eggs in movies and novels. Did you have any in this one?
I love Easter eggs too. The dog eared paperback that Finn gives Beth to read, is Jack Kerouac’s, On the Road. It’s an homage to both Kerouac and Michael. The photo that Finn used as a bookmark, comes into play in book three and four.
Cash’s tattoo artistry is a tip of the hat to another former train hopper I met who worked as a piercer/tattoo artist when he wasn’t hopping trains.
Did you edit out anything you wish you would have kept in?
I can honestly say there is nothing.
How has this writing journey been for you?
I learned a lot while writing this book. When I started out, I didn’t know what my voice was. It took me a while to find it and then embrace it. Once that was done, the rest fell into place. I feel like I finally know who I am as a writer, and the direction that is best for me to go in.
Lost Boys is a sequel to American Nomads with Book 3 coming out soon. Can you give us a little teaser as to what to expect in the third novel?
There’s so much coming.
Imagine a roller coaster ride, Book one (American Nomads) is the beginning of the ride. This would be the light hearted, filled with anticipation trip to the top. Book two (Lost Boys) is when the ride arrives at the peak, it slowly angles downward, rolling head first. As it gains speed, your belly flips and flops. For the first time, you worry how this ride will end. In Book three (Imaginary Dragons) you’re plunging down the tracks at mach speed, the wind whips at your face, tears weep from your eyes and your belly is doing flip flops as you struggle to contain a scream.
More About the Author
Nancy was born and raised in Massachusetts. After serving in the USMC, she returned home and went to college. Not long after, she moved to California and married. Six kids and multiple moves around the US later, she and her family call Texas home.
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