Gorman became engrossed in the hobby after learning that his website, DaveGorman.com, contained a Googlewhack (Francophile namesakes). Because Are You Dave Gorman? was such a success, Random House commissioned him to write a novel as in fiction. So Gorman accepted the money and got to work on, well, Googlewhacking.
"I thought it'd take only 20 minutes," Gorman says of his first attempt. "Four hours later, I found a Googlewhack, and I started corresponding with the guy whose site it was."
Things got heavy when a friend challenged Gorman to track down, in person, ten Googlewhack-owners. At first, Gorman declined. But that all changed one night after a bottle of tequila and more prodding from his friends. "I don't know what happened after that," Gorman recalls, sort of. "All I know is I woke up the next morning at Heathrow airport with a ticket to Washington."
Before he knew it, Gorman had been around the globe. He met his friends' challenge, but another remained unfulfilled the novel he owed Random House. Gorman's only option was to pay back the money. And he did after some 150 performances of Googlewhack Adventure, which, ironically, is now available in book form. Go ahead, Google it.