The last couple weeks have been fantastically Where You Are-ful. We hung out with Tao Lin and his burrowing lunar hamsters with Sheila Heti and her re-imagined every day decision maker I Ching, and Joe Dunthorne and his literary landscape map with Geoff Dyer and his Cheltenham childhood map before black screens sent Geoff into a technological ether.

Yes, our first venture into the world of double-act Google Hangouts with authors, viewers, and us – via New York, Toronto, London – to talk about our latest book of maps Where You Are, was a fitting mashup of hanging out and hanging up, personal readings and map pointing, Twitter questions and unexpected answers.

Sheila and Tao chose to read each others’ maps and Joe read from and got lost folding out his. Joe admitted to telling lies, especially around everyday fine dining instead of the suffering artist’s cheap and simple meals. Sheila explained how she consulting the I Ching about whether she should even do the I Ching, and used Google Translate to make sure she pronounced Tao’s hamster character “Ryokan” just right. And while we’re on hamsters, Tao told us that hamsters have always been easy for him to draw, “even when they’re happy or sad”.

Two Google Hangouts with very nearly two double acts (Geoff really was there in spirit), talking about and reading from wildly different and personal maps, that will no doubt leave you feeling completely lost.

It was fun. Watch this space for more around Where You Are. We’re scheming already.

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PS. Answer: Yes, Joe and Tao draw their maps themselves. And Sheila had talented illustrator Ted Mineo as her trusted I Ching partner.