Enjoy the Ride!

Enjoy the Ride! is an autobiographical book written from inside prison by William Shawn Tillman. In direct, unadorned language, Tillman recounts a life shaped by neglect, addiction, homelessness, and constant movement—train hopping, hitchhiking, stolen cars, temporary jobs, and long stretches of instability.

The book traces his childhood, years of substance use, and the experiences that led to incarceration, alongside moments of beauty, faith, and connection. Tillman writes without self-pity or justification, offering a clear account of survival, responsibility, and reflection shaped by time spent looking back while serving his sentence.

The book includes a foreword by writer Karleigh Frisbie Brogan and illustrations by artist Virgil Shaw. Enjoy the Ride! is part of the Same Time series, published by Some People Press.

Some People Press publishes autobiographical books by formerly incarcerated writers, as well as books on art and other subjects. The press challenges the idea that only certain people—with the right educations, experiences, and connections—can be published authors. The process does not require prior writing experience; instead, it works with existing skills and knowledge by asking people to write what they know. Writers develop their work at their own pace with the support of peers, visiting artists and writers, and regular meetings with project leaders.

Many of the writers whose work appears in the Same Time series have taken part in the autobiographical writing and publishing project at Columbia River Correctional Institution, a minimum-security prison in Northeast Portland, Oregon. During weekly classes, participants workshop their writing with fellow writers and visiting authors, publishers, and artists.

William Shawn Tillman is a writer from California who began writing his autobiography while incarcerated. His work was developed through the autobiographical writing and publishing project at Columbia River Correctional Institution in Northeast Portland, Oregon. Enjoy the Ride! is his first book.

Karleigh Frisbie Brogan is the author of Holding: A Memoir About Mothers, Drugs, and Other Comforts. She was a 2024 OregonLiterary Fellow and the recipient of the 2023 George Pascoe Miller Scholarship and a 2022 Rona Jaffe Scholarship for the Bread LoafWriters' Conference. She is from Santa Rosa, California, and currently resides in Portland, Oregon.