Michael N. McGregor

Author: Michael N. McGregor

  • AN ISLAND TO MYSELF Comes Out Today!

    AN ISLAND TO MYSELF Comes Out Today!

    My second book to come out in 2025, An Island to Myself: The Place of Solitude in an Active Life, makes its debut today! This is an especially personal book for me, a memoir about the important ways solitude has affected me and sustained me through the past 40 years.

    An Island to Myself begins with the two months I spent in almost total solitude on the island of Patmos 40 years ago, a time that changed my life. It continues with shorter chapters on my later encounters with solitude on other islands, in nature, in libraries, in a retreat center, and in a small park with my mother at the end of her life. Along the way, it offers quotes from writers and spiritual leaders as well as my thoughts on what periods of solitude can offer to all who live active lives. Its last section follows me as I return to Patmos to spend two weeks in solitude as an older man, exploring how my views of the island, solitude, and myself have changed.

    For those in the Seattle area, we’ll be celebrating the book’s release with an event at Third Place Books in the Ravenna District (6504 20th Ave. NE) at 7 p.m. tonight.

    Other events are scheduled over the coming weeks and months on Bainbridge Island (this Thursday at 6:30 at Eagle Harbor Book Co.) and in Portland, Minneapolis, Denver, Bellingham, Boston, and New York.

    In a pre-publication review, Kristine Morris of Foreword Reviews called An Island to Myself “a musing memoir…about using the practice of solitude to develop personal authenticity and enhanced creativity” and “a satisfying memoir about a transformative search for meaning among the small, often overlooked everyday moments.”

    Patrick Hannon, priest, professor, and author of Sacrament: Personal Encounters with Memories, Wounds, Dreams, and Unruly Hearts, describes the book this way:

    “In this inspiring and hope-filled journey into the heart of solitude, McGregor takes us to the hinterlands of grace, and in the healing silence of a still heart and mind, we discover the antidote to a loneliness that plagues many of us these days, fed by consumption, competition, and a tendency to commodify relationships.”

    Here’s a quote from the book’s first section:

    I’m learning again and again in my time alone that solitude is never for yourself only. It is always also for others. By taking this time to learn about myself, quiet the voices inside and out, and elevate awareness of what’s more truly in me and around me, I unleash energy and understanding that will emanate from my words and actions wherever I go. (p. 38)

    An Island to Myself: The Place of Solitude in an Active Life is available at independent bookstores everywhere and, in the U.S., online at the following sites:

    Indiepubs (20% discount)

    Bookshop.org

    Amazon

    Click here to read more about the book. And here for a list of upcoming events related to it.

  • Upcoming Events to Celebrate ‘An Island to Myself’ Release

    Upcoming Events to Celebrate ‘An Island to Myself’ Release

    An Island to Myself: The Place of Solitude in an Active Life will be published on May 13! And a number of events are coming up to celebrate its entry into the world.

    First up is the official release–at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, May 13, at Third Place Books in Seattle’s Ravenna district (6504 20th Ave. NE). I’ll be talking about my experiences with solitude, going back 40 years, and how they became a book. We had a great crowd at Third Place for my previous book, The Last Grand Tour, in February. I’m hoping to see a lot of friends and readers there again.

    Next up will be another return: to the lovely Eagle Harbor Book Co. (157 Winslow Way E.)on Bainbridge Island, WA. I’ll be flying solo at that one two. It begins at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, May 15. Eagle Harbor is just a brief (and beautiful) ferry ride from downtown Seattle and then a short walk up the street.

    The third of my four kickoff events will be held at Broadway Books in Portland, OR, on Tuesday, May 20. This one begins at 6 p.m. I’m especially excited for this one because I’ll be conversation with David Naimon, host of the popular and fascinating literary podcast Between the Covers.

    This early flourish will end with an appearance at 7 p.m. on Thursday, June 5, at Content Bookstore (314 Division St. S) in Northfield, MN. This one will be a special treat: I’ll be in conversation with the wonderful novelist and memoirist Kaethe Schwehn.

    I’ll take a short break from book events after that to lead a 10-day workshop at the Collegeville Institute in Minnesota and speak at the International Thomas Merton Society conference in Colorado.

    Then we’ll wrap up June with the following appearances:

    2 p.m., Sunday, June 22, at Tattered Cover Book Store in downtown Denver (2526 E Colfax Ave.). At this one, I’ll be in conversation with Judith Valente, talking about both of our new books. Hers is called The Italian Soul: How to Savor the Full Joys of Life.

    7 p.m., Wednesday, June 25, at St. Andre Bessette (601 W Burnside St.) in Portland, OR. In my return to Portland, I’ll appear in conversation with author, priest, and University of Portland professor Pat Hannon.

    4 p.m., Saturday, June 28, at Village Books (1200 11th St.) in Bellingham, WA. We had a great crowd when I appeared there with The Last Grand Tour too. This time I’ll be in conversation with Western Washington University English professor Laura Laffrado.

    Other events are coming in the fall. Check my Upcoming Events page for the latest news.

    I hope to see you at a bookstore somewhere!

    Read a review of An Island to Myself on the Foreword Reviews site.

    Here’s the publisher’s description:

    An Island to Myself: The Place of Solitude in an Active Life

    The power of solitude to deepen a life.

    In his twenties, Michael N. McGregor traveled to the remote Greek island of Patmos to spend two winter months alone, 6,000 miles from home. It was a time before cellphones and the internet, when even a phone call was costly. Although he expected his solitude to be meaningful, he wasn’t prepared for how it would change him.

    Before his island days, McGregor had spent years reporting on the world’s poor and months on the road. As he settled into days of rigorous writing, evening walks through fierce wind, and nights full of memories, dreams and spiritual encounters, he learned that solitude can be difficult and even dangerous, but also awe-inspiring and life-altering.

    When he returned to his active life, McGregor sought solitude wherever he could—in nature, in libraries, in silent spaces—before returning to Patmos forty years later to repeat his youthful experiment.

    “Solitude is one of the most misunderstood words in the English language. Many of us would prefer to avoid being alone. But when we allow solitude to take us by the hand, we realize it is a guide, a doorway we step through to discover the most consequential person in our life: our self. As we follow along in this page-turner of a book—from the Greek island of Patmos to the San Juan Islands, Whidbey Island, and a myriad of other places McGregor has experienced solitude—we start to understand that being still is also a way to keep moving, to keep going deeper into the discovery of our true purpose and being.”

    —Judith Valente, former faith and values correspondent for PBS-TV, author of The Art of Pausing and How to Be

  • I’ll be the Featured Author in Tonight’s Cascadia Writers-in-Conversation Event

    I’ll be the Featured Author in Tonight’s Cascadia Writers-in-Conversation Event

    My new book, An Island to Myself: The Place of Solitude in an Active Life, won’t officially be released until next Tuesday, May 13, but the first event focused on it will take place tonight. I’ll be the featured author in the Writers-in-Conversation series at the Cascadia Art Museum in Edmonds, WA.

    I established the Writers-in-Conversation series last year to focus on Northwest authors, many of whom haven’t received the attention they deserve. Normally, I choose them and interview them. For the last event in our first season, however, the museum has asked me to be interviewed. And the museum’s executive director, Sally Ralston, will do the interviewing.

    You’ll find a write-up about the evening and my writing career on WritingtheNorthwest.com. To read more about the Writers-in-Conversation series and/or purchase tickets, click here.

    About the series in 2024-25

    In the first year of the series (August 2024-present), I’ve interviewed novelists Sharma Shields and Debra Magpie Earling, science writer Clayton Page Aldern, memoirist and journalist Putsata Reang, poet and memoirist Jessica Gigot, illustrator and children’s author Julie Kim, conversation advocate and nonfiction writer Mónica Guzmán, and fiction writer E. Lily Yu.

    We’ll be taking a summer break, but the series will return on September 11, featuring an exciting author from Oregon whose name will be revealed soon.

    If you live in the Seattle area, I hope to see you at the museum tonight!

    The Cascadia Art Museum is the only museum dedicated to artists and their works from the Pacific Northwest. Focused on visual art and design from 1860 to 1970, it is committed to the belief that recognizing previously neglected artists who made significant contributions to the region’s cultural identity gives us a fuller and more comprehensive understanding of Northwest art history. The Writers-in-Conversation series signals the museum’s desire to highlight underappreciated NW artists in literature as well.

  • THE LAST GRAND TOUR’s Launch a Huge Success!

    THE LAST GRAND TOUR’s Launch a Huge Success!

    The Last Grand Tour‘s entrance into the world came on January 28, and its first two weeks have been far more successful than I or my publisher hoped.

    On launch day, I returned to Portland State University for the first time since retiring (in 2017) from 17 years of teaching in the creative writing program there. The reason for my return was a panel discussion with my publisher (Mike Schepps), editor (Molly Simas), and book designer (Olivia Croom Hammerman) titled “From Manuscript to Marketplace: The Last Grand Tour’s Collaborative Journey.” We had a lovely turnout, with current and former students, faculty, and community members.

    That evening, I appeared at Powell’s Books in downtown Portland with documentary filmmaker Brian Lindstrom interviewing me. The place was packed, with friends from many parts of my life attending, some of whom I hadn’t seen in years. A Powell’s representative told me there were 80 people there, and they sold so many books, my publisher had to run out for more.

    That same day, Portland author Suzy Vitello released an interview with me about The Last Grand Tour on her Substack, “Let’s Talk About Writing.” You can read it here.

    Two days later, on January 30, I was back in the Seattle area at the Edmonds Bookshop, where 50 people showed up to hear my good friend and fellow European guide Gene Openshaw interview me.

    Then, this past Thursday, Sylvia and I traveled up to snowy Bellingham, where the turnout was smaller but still filled the event space. Gene Openshaw was my partner on stage again and the conversation range even more widely, thanks to some great audience questions. We talked about everything from post-Wall European freedom to Romanticism to my development as a writer and how a fiction writer creates an imagined world.

    The next event on the Last Grand Tour tour will be the book’s Seattle launch at Third Place Books in Ravenna at 7 p.m. this coming Tuesday, November 11. Click on the image below for more details.

  • Substack Interview with Michael N. McGregor about His New Novel: The Last Grand Tour

    Michael N. McGregor Talks about His New Novel

    The other day, Suzy Vitello, author of the marvelous Northwest-set novel Bitterroot, interviewed me about my new novel, The Last Grand Tour, for her popular Substack newsletter, Let’s Talk About Writing.

    Among the questions and answers was the following exchange:

    SV: You chose to filter this story through one character: Joe. How did you navigate and pace the sprinkling of secrets that Joe (and the reader) would uncover by novel’s end?

    MNM: I started by mimicking a tour guide’s experiences. When a group shows up, you know nothing about them. Over two or three weeks, however, as you spend days and nights with them, you learn more and more. You hear their stories, observe their actions, listen to their words. Along the way, you try to assemble a picture of them from pieces that emerge in somewhat random order.

    A novel can’t be entirely random, though. So I took advantage of the fact that people tend to reveal themselves most at tense moments, especially when traveling. While some of those moments are shared, most are highly personal. Rudy, for example, reacts to being in the city where Hitler gained power. Felicity opens up when she visits a city she always wanted to sing in. And Tonia talks about her past when she returns to a place she went with her husband.

    Photo by Nicolas Chometowski on Unsplash

    Because Joe is present for each of these revelations but doesn’t have the context necessary to understand them fully, he tries to make sense of them by putting them together with what he already knows. His limited knowledge forces the reader to assemble the bigger story too, deciding along the way whether Joe’s version of things is correct or not. This allows for dramatic reversals. Again and again in the book Joe begins to believe something is true, only to learn or observe something else that makes him see things differently.

    The revelations and reversals cause us, as readers, to pay closer attention, challenging our own suppositions of what is true. As our views shift of the various characters, including Joe himself, we find ourselves working down through the onion layers, hoping to reach the core before the tour reaches Venice.

    You can read the full interview here.

  • THE LAST GRAND TOUR One of Kirkus Reviews’ “Best Indie Books of January”

    THE LAST GRAND TOUR One of Kirkus Reviews’ “Best Indie Books of January”

    Kirkus Reviews sent out its list of the “Best Indie Books of January” this morning and The Last Grand Tour was one of just three novels (and six books in total) on it.

    You can view the whole list here and read Kirkus‘s starred review of The Last Grand Tour here.

    This honor comes just 13 days before the novel’s release on January 28. On that day, Powell’s Books in downtown Portland, OR, will be hosting the book’s launch. At the event, I’ll be in conversation with the brilliant documentary filmmaker Brian Lindstrom. Brian’s latest film is the fascinating “Lost Angel: The Genius of Judee Sill.” Click on the title to watch a trailer for it.

    A huge thank you to Powell’s for hosting this celebration!

    A few hours before the Powell’s event–at 3 p.m. on the 28th–I’ll be participating in a panel discussion at my old university, Portland State, called “From Manuscript to Marketplace: The Last Grand Tour’s Collaborative Journey.”

    Here are the details:

    Panel Discussion, From Manuscript to Marketplace: The Last Grand Tour’s Collaborative Journey

    Tuesday, Jan. 28 | 3pm | FMH 302

    Discussion with PSU Creative Writing alumni from local small press Korza Books and Professor Emeritus Michael N. McGregor about their collaborative work to prepare McGregor’s Kirkus-starred and highly acclaimed debut novel, The Last Grand Tour, for its release that day. Michael and the Korza staff will give attendees an inside look at the journey from manuscript to published book, focusing on the practical steps of manuscript evaluation, revision and editing, cover and page design, promotion and marketing, and more.

    My co-panelists will be Korza Books founder and editor Michael Schepps, editor Molly Simas, and book designer Olivia Croom Hammerman.

    Thank you to the PSU Creative Writing program for hosting us!

  • Willamette Week Newspaper Features THE LAST GRAND TOUR as One of Four “Standout New Books by Pacific Northwest Writers”

    The Last Grand Tour is one of just four new “standout” books featured in Oregon Winter, Willamette Week‘s annual winter activity magazine. The guide can be picked up for free at locations all around Portland, OR.

    In an article titled “These Standout New Books by Pacific Northwest Writers Will Transport You This Winter,” WW writer Michelle Kicherer recommends Lidia Yuknavitch’s memoir Reading the Waves, John Larison’s novel The Ancients, Judy Nahum’s poetry collection I Have Wrestled with the Way Clouds Weep, and The Last Grand Tour for “cozying up indoors this winter.”

    “The Last Grand Tour,” Kicherer writes, “offers a grand escape this winter that might make you grateful to be home under a blanket.”

    You can read the full article online here.

    Thank you, Willamette Week!

  • A Celebration of the Triumph of Freedom Over Tyranny

    The festive atmosphere as the Wall came down in 1989 (image courtesy of Wikipedia)

    Thirty-five years ago today, I stood in my apartment in Seattle and watched images like this on my TV with tears in my eyes. I’d been in East Berlin just weeks before and seen new friends there shy away from Checkpoint Charlie, the crossing point to the West, while I passed through freely. My tears were tears of joy for them.

    My forthcoming novel, The Last Grand Tour (publication date: January 28, 2025), takes place in Germany and nearby countries in the years right after the Wall fell, when there was hope and even belief everywhere that freedom would always eventually triumph over tyranny.

    1989 was an extraordinary year, and that day, November 9, when the Wall came down, was the most extraordinary of all.

  • “Vivid and Sweeping…a Gripping, Entertaining, and Ultimately Transporting Novel”

    A beautiful new endorsement of THE LAST GRAND TOUR by Chelsea Bieker, author of the new breakout bestseller MADWOMAN.

    “[Bieker’s] writing is raw, breathlessly confessional, brilliant in its depiction of the long shadows cast by domestic violence, the constant tension carried by survivors.”

    – The New York Times Book Review

    You can pre-order my novel by clicking here:

    https://bookshop.org/a/84534/9781957024103

    And order Chelsea’s wonderful book by clicking here:

    https://bookshop.org/a/84534/9780316573290

    Or ask for these books at your favorite independent bookstore!

  • Book Launch for THE LAST GRAND TOUR at Powell’s Books on January 28!

    The publication-day launch for The Last Grand Tour is set for 7 p.m. on Tuesday, January 28, 2025, at Powell’s Books in downtown Portland!

    I hope you’ll be there!

    If you can’t come, you can pre-order the book from Powell’s and they’ll send you a signed copy right after the event. Just click here.

    I’m delighted to have documentary filmmaker Brian Lindstrom interviewing me that night. A few months ago, I attended a pre-release showing of Brian’s latest film, Lost Angel: The Genius of Judee Sill, and was blown away. It’s a thoroughly fascinating look at the difficult times of a terrifically talented singer-songwriter whose name and songs might have become as common as those of Joni Mitchell or James Taylor if her life had gone differently.

    Lost Angel is available on Apple TV+ and Amazon Prime. And Brian’s earlier documentary, Alien Boy: The Life and Death of James Chasse, is available on Kanopy. He is currently working on a documentary about the marathon program at MacLaren Youth Correctional Facility in Woodburn, OR, and a follow-up to his 2016 film Mothering Inside about the Family Preservation Project at Coffee Creek Correctional Facility in Wilsonville, OR.

    I hope you’ll come out on January 28 to celebrate the release of The Last Grand Tour into the world!