The Making of Seven Maps

Allow me to list some details about the book and share images of its creation.

The book took 10 years to write.
There have been 17 drafts.
I would write every day: in the morning before going out or later that night. Between drafts the manuscript has to “rest.”
The book is narrative non-fiction, meaning it reads like a novel instead of a memoir or biography.
The word count is 124,000. It was cut down from the original manuscript of 270,000 words.
The book is meant to be read twice to extract everything, unless you have exceptional memory.
Each of the seven maps marks a major turning point in the experience.
I almost died in the High Sierra mountains in 2017 from athletes’ heart but came back to finish the book.

Here is a collection of pictures throughout the writing process as I’ve moved over the years. These are the desks I’ve worked at.

Training for a thru-hike