Behind the Scenes: The Love Story

In this small series of articles, author Nil Eriksen tells how he laid out the book “Rocky Mountain Railroad Odyssey” and what is behind the story. He starts with the romantic side of the novel.

From the very beginning, it was clear that the protagonist, Erik, is on a quest as he travels around the United States. He is not taking an ordinary vacation, he could have flown to the Mediterranean for that. Instead, together with his friend, he begins a journey across the USA, from Chicago to San Francisco. This is followed by further journeys through the USA and Canada. Erik is on a quest because he is lonely. At home, his last relationship has fallen apart, and he has taken refuge in his work. But it no longer fulfills him as much as it did in the beginning.

That’s why he’s on fire when he meets an attractive, fun-loving and very likeable woman in the USA. He experiences a lot with her, and the two also have much in common. But contrary to what was expected, they don’t fall in love with each other. Don’t worry: Erik will still meet the love of his life. However that takes time, and until then, he has to feel the loneliness and, as hard as it is for him, he has to endure it and continue his journey.

When he finally meets the love of his life after a detour, he’s out of his mind. His whole life seems to turn upside down when he travels through the western USA together with her. Now he really seems to have found what he has been looking for all these months. As harmonious as the two are together, happiness seems to be fixed. But unfortunately, things are to turn out differently: She leaves him and has reasons for it, but Erik doesn’t know them. He has to go through a deep valley before the story can unravel. That, in broad strokes so as not to give too much away, is the romantic side of the novel. It’s about passion, about the search for fulfillment, about love, which both eventually find. Along the way, obstacles must be overcome that are not predictable.

This love story is one of the two sides of this novel, the other is the travel story. I hope I was able to make you a little curious about the book, which is currently, in July 2023, in the final stage. Hopefully, it won’t be long before you can read the story.

Best regards, Nils Eriksen.