Tag Archives: author

Bike travel author holds virtual book talk

Even the pandemic can’t stop world motorcycle travel author Heather Ellis.

The Aussie rider will share her inspirational travel experiences by motorcycle through Africa and the Silk Road on an online author talk at 11am next Saturday (12 Dec 2020) through the Snowy Monaro Regional Library.

“‘I really miss speaking in person, but due to COVID, libraries still can’t hold author talks,”  says the two-time book author.

“The great thing about being on Zoom is people can attend from anywhere, learn about my travels and ask questions. 

“Hopefully, we can all be back to travelling again next year.”

Heather is the author of two travel memoirs: Ubuntu: One Woman’s Motorcycle Odyssey Across Africa (Black Inc., 2016) and Timeless On The Silk Road: An Odyssey From London to Hanoi (Phonte Publishing, 2019).

Ubuntu details Heather’s epic motorcycle journey from south to north Africa from 1993 to 1994. Timeless On The Silk Road is about her solo motorcycle odyssey along the fabled Silk Roads of antiquity. 

Both her memoirs are filled with survival-against-the-odds adventures that unfold as deeply spiritual journeys of personal growth that resonate with all who read her books. Both books are listed as bestsellers on Amazon.

Heather’s background includes time as a child living on a sheep station in Australia’s outback where she learnt to ride a motorcycle, made friends with the local Aboriginal children and developed a love of the desert. 

Years later, while working as a radiation safety technician at a uranium mine, Heather realised her ambition to travel the world by motorcycle. 

WYLD Electric Chopper

First Africa, then Central Asia and has plans to ride the Americas and beyond in later years.

Ubuntu: One Woman's Motorcycle Odyssey Across Africa by Heather Ellis epic
Heather on her African adventure

After her travels, Heather worked as a journalist for News Ltd and for international development agency Plan International. 

She is a professional public speaker and is presently working in communications while exploring her emerging passion for screenwriting. 

Heather lives in the Yarra Valley, near Melbourne, with her three teenage boys.

MEAP independent Heather Ellis non her Thruxton millions online survey
MEAP independent Heather Ellis on her Thruxton
  • What: From Africa To The Silk Road – Virtual Author Talk
  • When: 11am AEDT (Sydney, Australia), Saturday, 12 December 2020
  • How: Click here to register. This presentation will be broadcast online using Zoom. When you register you will receive the link to join.

Source: MotorbikeWriter.com

Harley affair is a real-life true love story

If you are interested in reading a true love story with motorcycles as a central theme, check out Mary Jane Black’s debut novel, “She Rode a Harley”.

The 256-page book is a tale of abuse, true love and loss. It is published by She Writes Press and goes on sale in October 2019.

You can pre-order the paperback at $US16.95 and Kindle at $US9.95 from Amazon.

Harley build is a true love story

True love

“She Rode a Harley”  starts with the school teacher’s account of her escape from an abusive marriage.

Mary Jane then meets and falls in love with Dwayne on a blind date.

Dwayne, a biker since he was 13, teaches her how to save herself by believing in her own strength, power, and individuality.

Harley build is a true love story
Mary Jane

They marry and Dwayne also teaches Mary Jane how to build and ride a Harley.

On our wedding day, Dwayne and I made a vow to love each other until death and to buy a Harley together,” Mary Jane says.

“Within a year we bought and rebuilt together our first Harley, a 1980 Shovelhead. It’s called that because the top of the motor looks like an upside-down shovel.

“Eventually, Dwayne brought home my first Harley which was a police Road King. Hesitant at first, I loved the feeling when the large motorcycle rumbled beneath me as we danced down the highway.

“Even though I don’t own a Harley now, I still see myself as a biker, a Harley rider.”

The bike becomes a symbol for Mary Jane’s newfound independence and strength.

Tragedy strikes

Mary Jane ends up following the white lines with Dwayne through 15 years of marriage.

Traveling together, they learn to be partners, both on and off the road, until Dwayne is diagnosed with pancreatic cancer.

Mary Jane writes of caregiving, and the joy and pain inherent in a love meant to last.

She not only has to take on a new role as caretaker, but also bike mechanic.

The story I tell of my marriage to Dwayne was building inside of me from the moment we sat in a doctor’s office and received his cancer diagnosis,” Mary Jane says.

“We had a remarkable love story. know everyone probably says that. However, we were both over 40 and love had almost wrecked both of us before we got together.

“I escaped an abusive relationship before I met him.

“At my first memoir workshop three years after Dwayne’s death, the dam inside me broke, and I wrote the first essay for the memoir. By the time I went home, I had three essays completed. 

In the pages of my book, Dwayne lives again. I want my readers to meet this remarkable man, for them to join us on the incredible road trip that was our life together.”

Source: MotorbikeWriter.com