Help Me Board The Train

Over the past few weeks, dozens of friends, family, colleagues and connections have emailed, messaged, and posted to me about the new Amtrak Writer-in Residence program. Hey, I’m on board with that! I’ve written on an Amtrak train before and I’ll be happy to do it again!

I’m gratified that so many people thought of me when they heard about the Amtrak residency. I guess it makes sense since my debut work of fiction, Tracks: A Novel in Stories is set on an Amtrak train traveling from Baltimore to Chicago. And my book has been called a virtual love letter to train travel. It’s all about the passengers on the train and how they connect and touch one another in unexpected ways. But it’s very much a pro-train travel book.

Although I wrote Tracks before ever taking the Cardinal line from Baltimore to Chicago, I did do some editing of the manuscript while on the rails—doing research to make sure I had the details correct. And getting a feel for what such a long-distance voyage on Amtrak’s Cardinal was like. I’d love to do it again.

So if you have a moment, help me get back on board the train. Tell Amtrak you think I’d make a good candidate for their new writer-in-residence program. It’s in its infancy and there is no set application process as of yet. Those who have been granted residencies thus far have done so after being discovered by Amtrak on social media.

I’m not asking you to write a letter or even an email. Just a quick tweet with @Amtrak or Facebook post on the www.facebook.com/Amtrak page. Or a short message by Facebook, Twitter, or email telling Amtrak “Eric D. Goodman, who already wrote a book set on an Amtrak train, would be a perfect candidate for the Amtrak Writer-in-Residence program.”

And if I make it, I’ll tweet and post and message you all along the ride as I work on my next novel.

You may be interested in getting on board yourself. Learn more about Amtrak’s Writer-in-Residence program at www.thewire.com/culture/2014/02/inside-amtraks-absolutely-awesome-plan-give-free-rides-writers/358332/.