Today we’d like to introduce you to Julian Bishop.
Hi Julian, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
I was born in Plymouth, England, and raised in farming communities in Devon (think Iowa but without the excitement of Presidential caucuses). My wife comes from the same village. I have had many different careers. I started life as an economist in the UK, in the British equivalent of The Federal Reserve Bank and the US Department of the Treasury. I subsequently worked in several international roles for a large consulting company before joining the telecoms industry. We’ve lived on three continents and traveled to well over 100 countries.
I believe our rural backgrounds have propelled us to travel as much as possible, and now that our children are in college (Go Bulldogs) – we have a long list of places that we want to see or revisit.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
I’ve written this answer solely about the challenges of writing my first book: “I found the book surprisingly easy to write. I wrote a couple of thousand words each morning and completed the research for the next day’s writing during the rest of the day. At the end of six weeks, I had finished the first draft.
I had a few weeks of respite from writing while a development editor reviewed the draft book and then began the long editing process. I would suffer the occasional bout of self-doubt, but minutes later would find myself laughing at something I had written. Another editor proofread the book, and I learned that my understanding of hyphens was sub-optimal.
In contrast, the audiobook was much more difficult than I thought it would be. I could barely read a couple of paragraphs without making some sort of mistake in pronunciation or intonation, let alone 116,000 words! Thank goodness for the audio editor; he made me sound somewhat articulate. I also had to do a whole new set of research. How exactly do you pronounce Sacagawea’s name and what did Mark Twain sound like? [For those who are interested in these two questions, Sacagewea should be pronounced with a hard ‘g’ or even a ‘k,’ meaning that her name translates to Bird Woman, rather than the less flattering Boat Launcher. Mark Twain’s voice was never recorded; however, there is a sound recording of a long-time neighbor impersonating him]
With covid restrictions, it is difficult to connect directly with readers at book signings and readings. Luckily, Zoom has enabled book clubs to continue, and I’ve loved connecting with readers at these events. One thing that has surprised me is how much Americans have enjoyed the book. I wrote the book primarily for two audiences: immigrants to America who want to understand their new country better and others with a strong interest in the USA. Reviews from Americans have been as strong as from any other group. Americans seem to like to hear how others see them and are enthralled by how American culture developed in the way it did. Also, it turns out that many Americans did not listen as attentively to 13 years of civics classes as they might have. Many Americans have told me that they welcomed the basic primer on American history, which runs through the book.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
I am not an expert in anything but I do know something about a broad set of interests. I like to find connections between these seemingly specialized and distinct areas. I explore two American Journeys in my debut book, High, Wide, and Handsome. The first is the journey of the USA from its founding to the present day; the second, my family’s journey, as we travel coast-to-coast across America and contemplate whether we truly want to be American.
In a world where America’s political leaders are widely ridiculed around the world, the book acts as an antidote to the narrative that everything American is broken. Plot spoiler – Bishop and his family were sworn in as US citizens serendipitously on the exact date of the book’s launch.
The book has received fantastic reviews. The only bad review to date was from an audiobook listener, who complained that ‘daughter #2’ supported a domestic terror group. Fortunately for my sensitivities, this same reviewer thought that the production was worthy of a 5/5 rating. Oh, and the domestic terror group in question was Black Lives Matters. Naively, I thought that one of the most American things one could do is to exercise one’s first amendment rights of assembly. This American reviewer obviously thought differently.
I am planning a second book, The Final Five, in which we will travel to the five US states that we have not yet visited and explore these states in more detail.
Are there any apps, books, podcasts, blogs or other resources you think our readers should check out?
I (foolishly) decided to write my book in American English rather than my native British English. You will be amazed at how many differences there are. I became good friends with the 17th edition of the Chicago Manual of Style.
Pricing:
- Paperback $14.99
- eBook $4.99
Contact Info:
- Email: Julianxbishop@gmail.com
- Website: https://www.julian-bishop.com/
- Instagram: @julianxbishop
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/julian.bishop.1238
- Twitter: @julianxbishop
- SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/julian-bishop-570002622
- Other: https://amzn.to/3e6K9NJ
