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~ BOOK SPOTLIGHT SHOWCASE ~

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One Wrong Turn at a Time: How We Navigated Fifty States, Forty-Five Years & One Marriage by Jan Heidrich-Rice
Hosted by Itsy Bitsy Book Bits
Genre – Non-Fiction, Memoir
Cover Designer – Elizabeth Mackey


Imagine a road trip where wrong turns aren’t mistakes – they’re the entire point of the journey. Picture two people, two hearts, and one beat-up map, all crammed into a car that’s seen more miles and adventures than most marriages see years.
One Wrong Turn at a Time isn’t just a travel memoir – it’s a love letter written in road dust, laugh lines, and unexpected detours. He lives for the open road. She tolerates it with a raised eyebrow and a well-packed emergency snack kit. Together, they transform ordinary pit stops into extraordinary memories, transforming life’s potholes and detours into a hilarious, heart-warming tapestry of connection. From roadside diners to unexpected encounters, their story proves that the most remarkable journeys aren’t measured in miles, but in moments of unexpected magic and shared laughter.
This isn’t a guidebook. This is real life – messy, unpredictable, and beautifully imperfect. It’s about growing older together, finding humor in the wrong turns, and discovering that the most spectacular view is often right beside you, riding shotgun.






Jan Heidrich-Rice wrote her first paid piece for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, “Advice: Better to Give than to Get.” It spotlighted all the unsolicited advice that comes a woman’s way when she enters the world of motherhood.
After growing up in the Great Lakes state and graduating from Central Michigan University with a teaching degree, Jan moved with her husband to beautiful Boulder, Colorado, where they remained for twelve years. Eventually, the pull of extended family—and, in Jan’s case, the water—lured them to Georgia.
Disenchanted with the changes she experienced in teaching through the years, she returned to school to earn a Master’s degree in applied and creative writing from Kennesaw State University. Torn between a passion to create and a desire to help pay kids’ college tuition, Jan put her skills to work in the grants and resource development arena. She felt blessed to lend a voice to “work that matters.” Yet one of her true passions—aside from her family, gardening, and the water—continued to be creative writing.
Through the years, in addition to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Jan’s work has appeared in Quilt Magazine, I Do for Brides, and The Atlanta Lawyer. Her short story “Murder on Lake Allatoona” was part of a Sisters in Crime anthology, Mystery, Atlanta Style, produced by Ladybug Press.
Today, she works as a full-time creative writer. Much of her writing focuses on family—almost always complex, often untraditional, and, inevitably, a beautiful mess. Her essays capture the wonder and humor of everyday life, at home and on the road, and her fiction often unwinds in small towns surrounded by lush lake settings, much like she experienced growing up in Michigan and now in Georgia.
