Book: The Adventures of Mr. Brightside.
Q1. Hello Sir, can you please introduce yourself? Readers would love to know more about you.
My name is Ryan Jacobson and I have been a middle school English and Geography teacher for the past 17 years. I live in the beautiful coastal town of Westerly, Rhode Island and in the summer months I bartend on the beach. Back in 2018-2019 I took a year off of teaching and bartending to travel around the world and write my first travel memoir, “The Adventures of Mr. Brightside.”
Q2. What were the key challenges you faced while writing “The Adventure Of Mr. Brightside?”
The biggest challenges when writing “The Adventures of Mr. Brightside” was narrowing down all of the memorable moments I experienced when traveling around the world to just 36 short stories. Also, another challenge was accurately portraying just how beautiful the world can be. Sometimes there are literally no words to describe some of the wonders of the world.
Q3. What books or authors have most influenced your own writing?
“The Catcher in the Rye” by JD Salinger has always been my favorite book, and Salinger’s use of hyperbole, sarcasm and exaggeration has always made me laugh, even after reading it dozens of times. More recently, David Sedaris is the level of humor I strive for. Also, of course, I would be remiss if I did not mention the late, great, Anthony Bourdain, and my all time favorite author, Ernest Hemingway.
Q4. What’s your favorite spot to visit in your own country? And what makes it so special to you?
My favorite spot in the United States to visit is Key West, Florida. I love how laid back it is, how friendly the people are, and how much it is intertwined with the life of Hemingway. There is a solid chance I may end up going to Key West to write the sequel to “The Adventures of Mr. Brightside.”
Q5. Is there lots to do before you drive in and start writing a book?
Specifically with a travel memoir, the obvious first step is to actually get the travel experiences and make sure the stories are there to write about. Planning a year of traveling around the world on three very different budgets is almost, itself, a year’s worth of work.
Q6. How long did it take you to write “The Adventures of Mr. Brightside?”
After the year of travel was complete, it took me about six months to write the actual book, and about three months of editing and re-editing.
Q7. On what all platforms readers can find “The Adventures of Mr. Brightside” book to buy?
I sell exclusively with Amazon (both the hard copy and the Kindle version.)
Q8. Tell us about the process of coming up with the book cover and the title “The Adventures of Mr. Brightside.”
The title is two-fold. First, when traveling around the world on very specific budgets for an entire year, things can occasionally get a little stressful… plans fall through, transportation delays and cancellations, traffic, language barriers, and getting lost are things that you come to expect when long-term traveling. Getting frustrated and/or panicking about these unfortunate situations only escalates the problems and causes additional problems in the process.
I have learned to take (the vast majority) of travel mishaps in stride, and look on the bright side of things.. That I am fortunate enough to be traveling around this beautiful world.
Secondly, the song “Mr. Brightside,” by the band The Killers, is my anthem.
On the cover I wanted to portray the three budget levels I traveled in, so I included an example of each accommodation type that represented each budget.
Q9. When writing a book how do you keep things fresh, for both your readers and also yourself?
While writing “The Adventures of Mr. Brightside,” I kept things fresh for the reader and myself but trying to include fun or interesting tidbits of information I discovered while researching each destination… also humor, and the “mystery” of how each chapter ends, and how I somehow miraculously survive each encounter tends to keep the reader on their toes.
Q10. Are there any secrets from the book (that aren’t in the blurb), you can share with your readers?
The theme of the book ends up being much more of a how to avoid traveling the world, than a how to travel the world reference. I basically sacrifice my body in more ways than one to help the reader learn what they should NOT do when visiting each of the countries. It’s more of a “do as I say, not as I do,” memoir.
Book Is Available On Amazon
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