Uncharted Review Copies

Well, it’s getting closer and closer to Uncharted: Story for a Shipwright’s release date—October 1^st. I don’t want to wait until the last minute in case some of you reading this might like to receive an advance copy and write a review (yeah, part of a blog tour). If you’re interested, just click on the link below and fill out the form. Rhemalda Publishing will send you everything you need!

For those of you who don’t know what Uncharted is about, here’s the cover copy:

When a peculiar young woman shows up at the Wesley House Bed and Breakfast with a battered suitcase and stories to tell, shipwright Sam Wesley isn’t sure if she’s incredibly imaginative or just plain delusional. He soon realizes that Marlena is like no other woman he has ever met. Her strange behavior and far-fetched tales of shipwrecks and survival are a fresh breeze in Sam’s stagnant life.

Sam isn’t the only one enchanted by Marlena. With his best friend putting the moves on her and a man from her past coming back into her life, the competition for Marlena’s heart is fierce. In the midst of it all, a misunderstanding sends Marlena running, and by the time Sam learns what his heart really wants, it may be too late to win her back.

Review eBook Copies Available Upon Request

If you would like to host an eBook giveaway in connection with your book review, Rhemalda Publishing would be happy to provide eBook copies in .pdf, .epub, or .mobi to your giveaway winners.

Research, Olympic Style

One of the cool things about writing a novel is doing the research. I like researching. I've learned a lot and have met some interesting people. In fact, sometimes research can end up being life altering! Like, what if after researching Uncharted, Story for a Shipwright, I learned how to build a boat and then changed my vocation to shipwright! 

Well, that didn’t happen, but in the course of my gadding about the internet, I became acquainted with an author whose research led her to the Olympics, and I don’t mean as a spectator. I met Carol Newman Cronin over two years ago when I submitted a few lines of Uncharted—then known as Story for a Shipwright—on MissSnark’s First Victim. Carol left a kind and helpful comment so I followed her over to one of her Websites (she has several) which featured a nautical theme (what’s not to love!) and from there, I found her middle grade novels, Oliver's Surprise and Cape Cod Surprise.

Maaike Bernstrom Photography

From time to time, I would lurk, checking in to she what she was up to. Last year, I found that Carol had completed an adult novel, Game of Sails, anOlympic Love Story. The logline intrigued me: The story is about two opposites who team up for the sole purpose of making it to the Olympics—and then try hard not to fall in love. I then read an excerpt and knew I had to finish the story.

I snooped around her Website a little more and found out that as part of her research for Game of Sails, Carol helped on the race committee for the 1996 Olympic Trials. That's impressive enough—I mean, talk about getting into your research!—but soon thereafter, she won the next Trials she attended. 

Then, in 2000 she decided to put together her own Olympic campaign. Of course, she would have to put her writing on hold for four years, but after she returned from the 2004 Games in Athens, she had collected all the research she needed and finally completed Game of Sails! Imagine that! “Research” that would land you in the Olympics!

I read Game of Sails and loved it, not only the story, but her apt writing. I don’t normally post reviews on Amazon (or here, for that matter—a blog post for another time), but I enjoyed it so much, I just had to. My review is here. You don't need to know the difference between a tack and a jibe to feel the tension she creates in a sailboat, to experience the elation of victory and shed tears of defeat.

So, how’s that for the practical application of research!

—In addition to writing novels and sailing, Carol also writes articles for assorted boating magazines.

UNCHARTED logline

As I get closer to Uncharted’s release date (October 1), I’ve been thinking more about my logline—what I’ll say when someone asks “What’s it about?” I had one that I tried out on a few people—“It’s about a reserved New England shipwright and a spear-fishing young woman who is either delusional or may hold the key to his family’s mysterious past”— but it seemed convoluted when it came out and was met by a fair amount of squinting.

So, I’ve been reading in Blake Snyder’s Save the Cat about the importance of summing up “What is it?” in one sentence. I’m not sure if my new logline contains much irony (as he recommends), but this is what I’ve come up with:

“A peculiar young woman, whose stories of shipwreck and survival, capsizes the ordinary life of a reserved New England shipwright.”

Yeah, it’s still a mouthful, but it rolls off my tongue a little easier. And if I my audience doesn’t squint at that, I can add, “Even though she’s likely delusional, he might fall in love with her, but he’ll have to compete with his womanizing best friend.”

Oh, and just so you know what I’m working with, here’s the official cover copy:

When a peculiar young woman shows up at the Wesley House Bed and Breakfast with a battered suitcase and stories to tell, shipwright Sam Wesley isn’t sure if she’s incredibly imaginative or just plain delusional. He soon realizes that Marlena is like no other woman he has ever met. Her strange behavior and far-fetched tales of shipwrecks and survival are a fresh breeze in Sam’s stagnant life.

Sam isn’t the only one enchanted by Marlena. With his best friend putting the moves on her and a man from her past coming back into her life, the competition for Marlena’s heart is fierce. In the midst of it all, a misunderstanding sends Marlena running, and by the time Sam learns what his heart really wants, it may be too late to win her back.

This cover copy puts more emphasis on the romantic aspect of the story, which I originally toned down to make it more appealing to both genders. But the fact is, although quite a few men have enjoyed it (there’s enough adventure and manly stuff mixed in to draw male readers), the Women’s fiction audience is my target. And yeah, it’s a love story on many levels.

So, what do you think? Does the logline grab you? Any suggestions?

I Had a Crush on Gilligan

Yes, it’s true, back when I was seven or eight, when most girls swooned over one of The Monkees, I had a thing for Gilligan. It always bothered me that all their foiled attempts to get off the island were somehow Gilligan’s fault. I was naïve enough to believe that one day, they would be rescued and I always felt a tinge of disappointment at the end of every episode of Gilligan’s Island.

Thus began my fascination with stories of uncharted islands and survival. As a kid, I loved Swiss Family Robinson and any other story that centered around that theme. It wasn’t until Castaway (with Tom Hanks) hit the big screen that the seeds of Uncharted Story for a Shipwright germinated. If I could actually manage to wash ashore on an uninhabited island in the middle of nowhere and still be alive, would I be able to survive with nothing but natural resources? What inner resources could I draw on?

Realistically, I didn’t think I would do too well—I mean, with enough determination and time, I could probably start a fire and cook some crabs. I might even be able to remember some of the principles involved with water condensation and collection, but I didn’t think I’d last very long. Now, after having researched shipwrecks and survival, I might be slightly more competent, but not much….Unless…unless someone had been on the island before me! What if someone had left behind some useful things—and not only things, but a few instructions! Now I’m cookin’! Imagining myself under such aided circumstances seemed like cheating in my little fantasy, but…what if…what if I turned out to be pregnant! Holy granola! That would add a huge complication. Now my imagination had shot past a sprout and began to bloom.

So, now you know the soil upon which the seeds of  UNCHARTED sprouted.