Pryce, Lois 1973–

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Pryce, Lois 1973–

PERSONAL:

Born 1973; married.

ADDRESSES:

Home—London, England. Agent—Faye Bender Literary Agency, 337 W. 76th St., #E1, New York, NY 10023. E-mail—[email protected].

CAREER:

Writer. Worked for Virgin Megastore as specialist music buyer for London's Oxford Street store; for record labels and production companies; and as a product manager at the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC).

WRITINGS:

Lois on the Loose: One Woman, One Motorcycle, 20,000 Miles across the Americas (memoir), Thomas Dunne Books/St. Martin's Press (New York, NY), 2007.

SIDELIGHTS:

Lois Pryce had an office job with the British Broadcasting Corporation when, finding herself bored, decided to take an epic motorcycle trip. "I thought, ‘I can't work at the BBC for ever," the author told Benedicte Page in an interview in the Bookseller. "I fancy an adventure, I've always had itchy feet, and when I was 22 I bought a boat to live on, so I do like silly adventures." The result is her adventure memoir Lois on the Loose: One Woman, One Motorcycle, 20,000 Miles across the Americas. Called "part memoir, part travelogue, part motorcycle-babe grandstanding" by Ina Hughs in a review in the Knoxville News Sentinel, the memoir follows Pryce as she buys a dirt bike, debates and finally settles on a touring route, and then sets off on her trip from Anchorage, Alaska, to Ushuaia, Argentina. The author describes the various landscapes and adventures she encounters as well as the people she meets along the way, especially those who help her when she finds herself in difficult predicaments. Black-and-white photographs are included. In the review in the Knoxville News Sentinel, Hughs noted "the colorful language, the funny and poignant stories, and the feisty spirit that shines on every page." A Publishers Weekly contributor wrote: "Armchair travelers will delight in this funny, vivid account and—almost—wish they'd done it themselves."

Pryce told CA: "I have read books all my life, and always enjoyed writing stories when I was at school. It never occurred to me until recently that I could do it as my job!

"Although I am an avid reader, there is no writer that has particularly influenced me, except maybe Spike Milligan—his World War II diaries are hilarious and touching and showed me that you can apply humor to every situation.

"I used to write at the end of the day. Now I do it first thing in the morning. It usually starts off with a lot of staring at a blank screen, then scribbling down some notes, making far too many cups of tea before actually getting on with it. It seems I have to wade through mud for an hour and then it starts to flow."

When asked the most surprising thing she has learned as a writer, Pryce said: "That when it's flowing I get an almost drug-like high!

"I hope [my books] will encourage adventure."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

BOOKS

Pryce, Lois, Lois on the Loose: One Woman, One Motorcycle, 20,000 Miles across the Americas, Thomas Dunne Books/St. Martin's Press (New York, NY), 2007.

PERIODICALS

Booklist, February 1, 2007, Sarah Watstein, review of Lois on the Loose, p. 18.

Bookseller, April 29, 2005, "Biker Babe Sells Travel Memoir to Arrow," p. 11; November 3, 2006, Benedicte Page, "Time for Adventure: Lois Pryce Got Bored of the Office—So She Took Off across South America on a Motorbike Instead," interview with author, p. 23.

Knoxville News Sentinel, April 15, 2007, Ina Hughs, "This Read Takes You on a Ride."

Publishers Weekly, December 11, 2006, review of Lois on the Loose, p. 55.