FAIRHOPE — Life had stopped. Writing gigs dried up. Sean Dietrich was bored, stuck at home and essentially unemployed.

His COVID-19 story is a familiar one.

Dietrich, best known as columnist, novelist, and podcast host, Sean of the South, decided to take a 350-mile bike trip with his wife with his newfound free time.

The journey turned into a life lesson and the subject of Dietrich's latest release, "You are my Sunshine: A story of Love, Promises, and a Really Long Bike Ride."

The point, Deitrich said, is to inspire his audiences to try things that are new, uncomfortable and even frightening.

"You really can do a lot of things that might not be in your wheelhouse," Dietrich said. "You can approach things that might scare you a little bit, disarm them and find new facets of your personality and new little things you like.

"It sounds so trite but keeping that sort of adventure, even just a tiny little bit of it in your daily life can really be extraordinary for your mental health."

The bike adventure gave Deitrich a renewed sense of love for the outdoors, something he knew he enjoyed but had quite literally wandered away from over the years.

"We've been hiking a lot more since we finished," he said. "I've learned that I need that time out there. I hike now a few times a week if I can.

"Without the pandemic I don't think I would have gone that direction," he said. "It took the world coming to a standstill for me to have that insane idea."

He said he hopes other people will be inspired to find what they love and have left behind.

"The pandemic kind of killed off the things that weren't working or that were exhausting and left us wondering why we were spending time doing them," he said. "In other ways it kind of added a new gravity to some of the things we knew we loved."

Deitrich will perform on Tuesday at Page & Palette as part performer, part storyteller to promote "You are my Sunshine."

The in-person visits are a ritual Deitrich said he missed the most during the COVID-19 shutdowns.

"It's a chance to connect with fans, tell stories and hug their necks and make them laugh," he said. "Writing for me has always been a way to connect with people and seeing them face to face is a whole lot different than emails and letters. It's just kind of a fun time."