Finding Bishop Castle: A Road Trip to Recovery

From Tricia Lewis of Recovery Happy Hour: "Finding Bishop Castle makes you want to reconsider ever being thoughtless about enjoying the simple moments in life. It's impossible not to cheer for Jeff as you watch him face his past, rediscover hope, and climb his way back to victory."

Travel with Jeff and Tammy on a single day’s playful journey into sobriety. Twenty-one months into recovery, hangover-free, with a schedule void, they set out to confirm questionable regional folklore: Bishop Castle. Is it real? The road trip winds them deep into the Colorado mountains where each moment of the voyage allows Jeff to reflect on his crippling drinking history. Heartache, jail, and near-death intersect with joyful exuberance in this inspirational account of what it truly means to find freedom. A triumph for addiction recovery memoirs, not landing the author into a cold circle of plastic chairs but instead delivering him into a world of spontaneous fun he could never have predicted during active addiction. Whether you are in recovery, sober-curious, actively using, or a support partner, you will not find a more endearing tale of love and perseverance than in the day Jeff and Tammy spend Finding Bishop Castle.

"...your words very literally hit some notes that created melodies in my brain that haven't vanished. Some of the songs you wrote to me are sad, guilt-ridden tunes of shame and time wasted, while others are so uplifting, hopeful, and empowering. You truly captured every note on the scale.' - Cyndi P.

From the Author: Finding Bishop Castle is a snapshot of a single-day post-recovery at 21 months of sobriety. The narrative focuses on alcohol specifically, but is applicable to addiction in general. The story works its way through a single day’s spontaneous events between my wife and me and uses each moment as a scaffolding to chronicle my backstory and drinking history. It is my hope that, through my heartfelt and entertaining narrative, the reader who might be questioning their drinking practices will find an inspirational contrast between the freedom of my sobriety and the tragic history of my addiction. Not a swollen drunk-a-log of disastrous events, the day we found Bishop Castle was the day it clicked for us that the alternative to disaster is what people truly needed to hear: a spectacular day that could not have happened had I been in active addiction.

My book will strike a familiar chord not only with recovery communities but also with the support partners of those addicted. Beyond just a drinking memoir focused on myself, Finding Bishop Castle is a love story. Throughout its pages is an intimate look at how healthy empathy and support from my wife transformed a stagnant existence of addiction into a vibrant life in recovery. Alcohol use is increasingly chic. Whether it is young adults flirting in their post-teen years, mom’s groups combining wine with yoga and painting classes, or men’s Beers with Business leads groups, alcohol remains an acceptable social conductor in any demographic. While Finding Bishop Castle does not condemn alcohol’s popularity, it directs an offering of guidance to those who wrestle with difficulties inside those societal parameters. As alcohol use remains popular, so will the need for inspirational content to provide alternate examples of exceptional living that can exist beyond substance abuse.

Lastly, because I have not participated in traditional or formal recovery programs, the book lacks the rigidity of a dogmatic program. It is a wide-open, tolerant hug to those who need to be introduced to recovery without the heavy hand of “group thought” telling them exactly how to do it.