Every Tuesday, get to know a bit about the stories behind the books you love, and discover your next favourite novel.

Sabitha: We’ve got something a bit different today! Mike Oswald joins us to talk about his nonfiction—useful guides to the US National Parks. Mike, what inspired you to write these books?

Mike: After getting mugged and cut (oddly, just the pinky fingers, nothing too serious), I found myself at a crossroads: return to doing someone else’s work or try to chart my own path. I chose the latter. While exploring Acadia National Park, I flipped over a copy of Nat Geo’s U.S. National Parks Guide and read “Our #1 selling title.” I thought, “I think I can make something better.”

Sabitha: It sounds pretty serious! So you self-published your passion project?

Mike: I made a book in InDesign and rather than pitch it, I thought, “Why can’t I find a printer and distributor to work with?” It’s taken some time (and trial and error), but now I feel like I’ve forged some great distributor/printer relationships.

Sabitha: And you started your working life as an engineer?

Mike: Yeah, I don’t know how this happened either, but I’m pretty sure a lot of readers think about writing at some point.

Sabitha: So you’re a reader as well as a writer! What book do you tell all your friends to read?

Mike: Probably The Death and Life of the Great Lakes.

Sabitha: When you took up writing, was there any music that inspired you?

Mike: Unfortunately they’re no longer together, but Jared and the Mill made a bunch

of songs that have kept me going through the years.

Sabitha:  If you could pick any author to read your books, who would you want to read it?

Mike: Oh my gosh, it would be torture, so I better keep this answer to myself.

Sabitha: From authors to readers—who is your ideal reader?

Mike: Inquisitive, curious, anyone who wants to make their time and money count while exploring the U.S. National Parks.

Sabitha: There’s a saying that we’re, “Loving the parks to death.” Are we doing that?

Mike: Well, we are and we aren’t. Humans never step foot on the vast majority of park land. The National Park Service protects about 85 million acres of land and something like 0.015% of that is developed as trails. Roads are probably a similarly tiny fraction of total park land. So, there’s plenty of public land in the United Sates, especially if you add in Forest Service land (193 million acres) and Bureau of Land Management land (245 million acres). The problem is, a handful of parks receive more visitors than they can comfortably accommodate a few months each year. Arches, Glacier, and Rocky Mountain national parks instituted timed-entry permit requirements to limit visitation, and, by most accounts, it’s made overall visitor experiences better, but, as you can imagine, it also upsets others. I guess the bottom line is, if you’re thinking about going to any of the “flagship” National Parks, you should do a little planning. Whether that’s purchasing a guidebook or scrolling the internet, that’s up to you 🙂

Sabitha: Thanks for sharing your books and your process. We’re looking forward to reading! Where can the Night Beats community find you and your books?

Mike: You can find Your Guide to the National Parks, National Park Maps, and The Dayhiker’s Guide to the National Parks on Amazon. I’m on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

Sabitha: I have one last special request. In addition to all your human fans, I’ve heard you count two horses among your biggest supporters. Could you show us some photos of them reviewing their books?

Mike: Very happy to complete that assignment, Sabitha!