"Adventures in Pen Land" presents the call to the writing life as one of joy and opportunity rather than angst and longing.

Author Marianne Gingher traces the circuitous and potholed road to the publication of a first novel, "Bobby Rex's Greatest Hit" -- a slice of teenage Americana acclaimed as "funny, richly detailed, often charming" (The New York Times), "a rich and evocative portrait of an era" (Library Journal) -- as she follows the trajectory of her writing life from its earliest inklings.

In an all-new episode of UNC-TV's local literary series "North Carolina Bookwatch with D.G. Martin," premiering Sunday, Aug. 30, at 5 p.m., Gingher invites viewers along on a raucous tour of soul-sucking jobs, marriage, and a teaching career, with accompanying disquisitions on blasphemous reading preferences, '60s pop culture, writing workshops, and other amusing detours and distractions on the way to publication.

She also shares her keen insights into the role of a Southern writer in American literary culture, the experience of writing as a mother, and the process of novel-writing as compared to a lengthy family car trip.

Featuring guest appearances by other writers such as Fred Chappell, Max Steele, and Annie Dillard plus cameos by the likes of Patty Hearst, Richard Nixon, and Bon Jovi, "Adventures in Pen Land" celebrates writing as a form of play that Gingher has never outgrown. The lighthearted illustrations by novelist Daniel Wallace (author of "Big Fish") serve to reinforce this refreshing message as they depict one writer and her imagination growing up together.

"Adventures in Pen Land" conveys a writer's sheer doggedness, with a few bones of advice tossed in along the way. Candid and irreverent, but always humane, this memoir is must reading for fans of Southern literature, students of creative writing, and anyone who can't resist the treat of reading about a writer's resilience and dedication to her craft.

For additional information about series guests and airdates, plus links to the Bookwatch blog and online book club, visit www.unctv.org/ncbookwatch.