11 Aug Me 4.0

I first set up a website in March, 2001, on the eve of publishing Walking the Bible. I did it because I had the vague notion that authors should have websites and in the hopes that it might make it easier to communicate with readers. It changed my life. Not just my career, my life life.

Suddenly writing, which has largely been a one-way source of interacting with the world, became a two-way source. Readers began to write, at first a trickle, then much larger. They wrote the most moving stories of their encounters with my work, their discussion groups, their dreams of someday making some of the journeys I made. They sent symphonies they had composed, poems they had written, photographs they had taken. They were young, they were dying, they were awake in the middle of the night, they were stopped by the side of the road.

To be sure, some were angry. Some would have canceled their subscriptions – you know, back when people had subscriptions – or would have asked for their weekend back if I could give it. Some found me annoying, or not to their faith, or some words I can’t print (but they could!). But mostly, people were warm, wanted a connection, and encouraged me to keep going. For a writer in lonely room on a sometimes empty road, those wishes were the best kind. Thank you.

This is the fourth iteration of this site and it’s designed to keep that conversation going in some new and exciting ways. After some time off working on a new book, and dealing with a family matter over the last year, I am coming back with a burst of enthusiasm, momentum, and excitement. I will be publishing two books in the next nine months. The first, America’s Prophet: Moses and the American Story, goes on sale October 6. It tells the little-known story of one figure has inspired more Americans than any other. You can read a description of the book here, see some videos of Moses here, and see the 20 plus cities where I’ll be speaking about the book this fall here.

This new redesign features some familiar features: A bio, a description of my books, a list of speaking events, downloadable discussion guides. It also features a way to email me. In the eight years I’ve had a site, I am proud to report that I have personally answered every email that I’ve received. Sometimes it takes me a while (and more often than you think, people enter the wrong email address), but I promise you’ll hear back from me.

I’ve also introduced some new features. For the first time, I now have a small library of magazine articles I’ve published in the last decade or so, including many of the articles I wrote for Gourmet. I also have a collection of videos of me from around the web, and another of Moses. More will be coming soon. Finally, in an attempt to consolidate and facilitate the many conversations that take place about my work into one place, I’ve started a page on Facebook. You can connect to it here, or via the link at the bottom of this page. I also have an account at Twitter. I hope you’ll join conversation and encourage others to do so.

Thanks for visiting, for adding thoughts of your own, and for reading. I hope to see you on the road this fall.

Until then, happy travels.

Bruce Feiler

PS: Special thanks to Shawn Nicholls for all his help in launching this new site.