Columbia, South Carolina, 1:51am.

Night train from Raleigh to Miami, through the South. Talking with a chemical engineer John from Oklahoma, by way of New York who has climbed the Seven Sisters, highest peaks on each continent. Sipping wine in the viewing compartment, doing it in style. He is working on a thriller about climbing, as well as five other book projects.




















Start talking with the conductor, who majored in journalism and says his favorite works tend toward Fyodor Dostoyevsky and Leo Tolstoy. He starts talking about the crazy things he has seen, which he says could fill a novel. A man taking a crowbar to his skull and then running through the train compartment, claiming he has AIDS and will infect the whole car. A woman who starts talking in tongues and sticking pins in a voodoo doll. When the female conductor asks her what is up, informs her that the doll is her. I ask Anthony why he doesn't write a book about his experiences, he says "I make a hell of a lot more as a conductor, unless you write for GQ or something."

Stopped in Columbia, South Carolina, 1:51am.

"Want some coffee bubba?"

"Sure, I've got another 100 pages of Arisugawa Park to revise, before I get some sleep."

"It's strong. Hope you like it black."


#endurancewriter