Jim, a brooding, self-absorbed hobo is traveling the country, obsessed with the belief that his father is the famous (and dead?) rock legend Jim Morrison. Sorrie is an intelligent, but non-streetwise teenage girl who is fleeing her controlling and abusive parents. The pair meet and in a cross-country odyssey overcome obstacles before them, and with one another, in "Travels with Jim," the debut novel by Jill Evans.

Evans joins host Tory Gates to discuss the conditions that brought Jim and Sorrie about, and also her own upbringing and life, which played a part in this unique work. With roots firmly in Long Island, New York and Northeast Pennsylvania, Evans discusses her Polish and Italian backgrounds, the interactions with her family and the examples set for her as she pursued her own work.

Jill Evans earned a bachelor's degree from Stony Brook University and an MFA with a concentration in writing from Lindenwood University. Her articles have appeared in publications that include Newsday and the East Hampton Star. She also teaches memoir and creative writing at Suffolk County Community College on Long Island.