The world's best Caribbean boat bum

I mentioned before that I'm writing new trilogy of Ron Anejo stories (tropical mysteries with a twist). While you wait, you can listen to the original story. The audiobook is available for free right now... first come, first served. And sign up for my newsletter to learn when the new books are available.

Caribbean Dreaming

I'm working on a trilogy of cozy mysteries featuring my old friend Ron Añejo, the world's best Caribbean boat bum. It wasn't his idea to become a detective... but circumstances make for odd outcomes. And, while Ron will take on the job with his usual enthusiasm and optimism, he doesn't know much about it. That means he'll bring his own style to the task of finding the killer--for better or worse.

Caribbean Dreaming by Dagny Sellorin

The stories all take place in my favorite place in the world--the fictional island of Kayakoo in the lesser Antilles. If the name sounds vaguely familiar, well, it's not far from the name of the real island it's based on. And if that isn't enough of a clue for you, here is a map of the island, showing the prominent features mentioned in the story.

What the map doesn't show is that the stories involves old wooden boats, a little Caribbean Obeah (Voodoo) and some shady development deals. In short, nothing you won't find all the time in the Caribbean.

Listening in

I'm about halfway through the draft of the first of the new stories featuring the world's best Caribbean boat bum, Ron Anejo. While I'm working on those, I wanted to make sure everyone knows that the original story is available in audio as well as ebook and print. Paul Aulridge did a fine job of bringing the story to life and if you prefer listening to reading, give it a try.

And the cover art is by Dagny.

Back to the Caribbean

My friend and colleague, J. Lee Porter and I have finished the first draft of book two in the Bipats series: CRYPTO CITIZENS. It follows on the heels of CRYPTO SHRUGGED and looks at the ramifications of smart cities, surveillance capitalism, and of course, blockchain technology. It is a story of global intrigue and the fight for individual freedom. This story takes place in Mumbai, Ecuador, Singapore, Mexico, Venezuela, and Somalia, as well as the US and Europe and even out on the oceans.

We are working through the manuscript, and when it's done it will go to the editor and so on, but expect to get it out this year.

We are hoping to find someone who is interested in this struggle to find a meaningful balance between the implementation of technology and maintaining our individuality to write an introduction. To that end, we are reaching out to some key people. Unfortunately, key people can be difficult to reach, and it is an uphill battle to get them to read unpublished books. But it was ever so.

Meantime, I'm working on a trilogy of mystery stories that feature my favorite fictional character, Ron Anejo... the hero of my THE LEGEND OF RON ANEJO. He's still in the islands, based on the mythical island of Kayakoo at the lower end of the Lesser Antilles, and sailing his old Danish fishing boat, MeinGott. Even his dog Groucho gets involved when, in the first book, a land developer from Miami is killed. The working title for this one is Death by Jumbie Eyes. And if you don't know what jumbie eyes are, they are also called crab-eyed seeds and used in Obeah, the offshoot of voodoo practiced in the Caribbean.

It will be a fun story. I hope to have all three ready to go midyear.

Fall has fell -- staying fluid

September always sounds like fall... school starts (has already started in some places) and even though it still feels a lot like summer... the year is flitting away. The ninth month of twelve is already being consumed. It gives me a feeling much like knowing the next to last of some treat I've squirreled away is being eaten.

It's a good time to regroup and rethink. I like this time for doing that better than the year end. All such milestones are as artificial as our Gregorian calendar anyway and this avoids the end of year crush.

So I think about what I'm doing and, sometimes more importantly, how I'm going about trying to achieve my goals. It's an important bit of navel gazing to periodically simply ask: "Is my life going the way I want and what can I do to improve things? What can I do better?

I'm not much at scorekeeping, mind you. This isn't an exercise of seeing if I've met my goals... it's simply a look around to see if I'm on course or if some unnoticed current has set me down and taken me on a longer path. If so, maybe I can correct. Or maybe, the deviation is a good thing.

Years ago, we made our first night crossing on Float Street, going from Grenada (Mt. Hartman Bay) to Trinidad. For the entire night the prevailing wind and current tried to send us to Venezuela. At the time we had no intention of going there, so we fought it, even though it made the passage rough, our skinny boat rocking all night in the high swells.

We were making the passage to do work on the boat, and had our faces and minds set on getting there. That's an example of rigid thinking. We made it fine, and as you see below, we hauled out and did a lot of work on the boat. Too much, probably.

Float Street hauled out at Peake's in Trinidad

Later, when we sailed to Venezuela from Trinidad, we loved it there and found it a better place to haul out (at Plout's in Cumana, where all the good fishing boats go). Going there is the first place, not fighting the power of the universe, but listening to it, might have been a better way to go. But you never know ahead of time.

The Voice

Writers are commonly told that they need to find their own voice, a way to express their unique vision of the world. That's true. Who wants to sound like everyone else? What reader wants to read someone who doesn't show a personal flair?

It's less often mentioned that an author needs to find the right voice for a particular story. Every story puts its own demands on the writer. He or she is faced with selecting the parts that matter and portraying them in an interesting, effective way (with the reader getting to decide if it is interesting; the effective part is the writer's call.) That can be easy, or hard.

When I wrote THE LEGEND OF RON ANEJO (available at Amazon and everywhere else), the voice was simple enough. The story is intended to be mostly humorous and it's based, loosely (playing free with reality) on real events and people who chose to live around, in, or on boats in the Caribbean. Dagny and I were among them on our boat, and what I saw, the people I met intrigued and amused me and I wanted to capture that life. I took the role of a naive narrator relaying the antics of people around him and the world he was swept up into. Never mind that in the more real world, the one most people live in, I was directly involved. Some might say even an instigator. But nothing was ever proven and we were never caught. I mean charged.

For the book, I took a step back and told the story, focusing on the aspects that I found (dare I say it?) exciting and funny.

Jammed into the mangroves in Carriacou for a hurricane

That was relatively easy. As you can see by the photo above, at times we were all rather cheek and jowl. That provided a ready source of story material for sure. (There was, however, a rather mobile hurricane party in the mangroves that didn't make the book... maybe another time.)

The book I'm writing now is quite different. It's a serious attempt to deal with some issues that I wonder about. What they are, specifically, isn't the difficulty. The challenge is finding a way to address "issues" (see, it's an important word, warranting quotes and everything) with screwing up a perfectly good story. It's a balance between a desire to be a good storyteller and a good writer, which aren't necessarily the same thing. Most successful thriller writers are excellent storytellers. Few do much in the way of elegant or interesting writing.

There's a difference.

Finding that balance, the right approach to this story, is what currently is filling my white boards (yes, plural. I have three) with multiple colored notes, admonitions to self, and various bits and pieces of what I consider good writing. The basic story is powerful and bittersweet. This time it takes place in a border town--in Cambodia.

It's a fun struggle and that kind of challenge is one worth taking on.

A Superstitious Man

I recently collected some of my songs that related to my travels in the Caribbean together and I've released them as a digital album. Sailors are superstitious people and superstitions and other mores fascinate me, so the album is called A Superstitious Man.

It's available through CD Baby, and the songs are available singly on iTunes. They are mostly about travel and the people I've met. Sometimes the connections are obscure, but sometimes even I find my logic impenetrable.

All this came together as I'm working on a new series of books... Kayakoo Mysteries. They are going well and they'll involve a lighthearted look (the only kind I'm really good at) at life and crime in the islands with an emphasis on life.

And I have a request. One song on this CD, called Pilot Light, has special meaning to me. If you love it or hate it, I'd appreciate hearing it either way. It's a bit off kilter, in the scheme of things, which means it is suggesting new directions for me that are attractive. You can contact me through comments on this page or Google+. Go ahead and connect!

Identity Crisis?

Caribbean Murder Mystery

or maybe a cozy?

I wrote this story a while ago. It's a short story, basically a mystery, that takes place on a Caribbean island that is remarkably like Carriacou, Grenada, West Indies where we lived for a time. What a coincidence. I've written a number of Caribbean stories and for some reason they seem to have an identity problem. Readers of mysteries don't seem to discover them, and people who like reading adventures in tropical locals don't either. This isn't a hard boiled story, so maybe the cozy readers aren't excited by a story that isn't in a rural village.... I'm not quite sure. What I do know is that the characters are fun and the story is only 99 cents at Amazon and Barnes & Noble and iBooks

Amazon.com

Some kinda stranger is sitting out on the boat of that nice French couple looking all suspicious. Worse, Martha's cast-iron skillet, that special one she loves, has gone missing. She's starting the morning fixing up and it ain't in its place. It gotta have been thieved!

Happy Birthday Caribbean Compass

Years ago, I think it was back around the time of Columbus, or perhaps earlier, I was a young sailor, learning the ins and outs of living on board an old wooden vessel in the Caribbean. Information of a practical sort, the kind needed by sailors who didn't have huge budgets, was scarce. We learned from books (those things on paper, kids, not ebooks) and each other, especially each others' mistakes. I was proud to be a stellar example of how to do things wrong and thus benefit my fellow sailors.

In 1995 CARIBBEAN COMPASS was launched to solve that problem, fill that need. That first year I started writing for them, turning my own misadventures into humorous and occasionally helpful information. I wrote a monthly column for them until 2001 when we moved to St. Martin. I wrote for them sporadically after that, but they survived, even thrived without me. And today they are celebrating their 20th birthday. I have a short piece in the issue along with many other people who contributed to making the publication happen. If you have any interest in the Caribbean, sailing, or life in general, check it out. Congratulations to Sally and Tom and fair winds.

Covering the Waterfront

Even with taking the time to publish Javaid Qazi's big India novel, I've still been working hard on new stories that take place in places I've come to know well. The most recent story took a bit to get right, but I persevered and now my fourth Caribbean short story, THE MISSING SKILLET is now available in ebook and paperback formats. In ebook it's only available through Amazon (it's in Kindle Unlimited, for those who subscribe) or available for only a buck.

 Some of the same characters appear in this story that are in DEATH OF A SANDMAN and SWEET DEATH, but you get to see another side of them and the other people on the sweet tropical isle of Kayakoo. Yes, math majors, that makes a total of three stories. The fourth is THE RUM SHOP (also available in Derek Marabolí's wonderful Spanish translation), which is yet another view of Kayakoo (my favorite tropical island).

Being the wanderer I am, the story I currently have in the works is another Asian story... filled with crime and backpackers and scenes of rural Cambodia in the rainy season (my favorite time). I can't say more because it isn't done yet, and even the title is subject to change.

I'm setting my sights and doing some more traveling, learning new things and new stories to tell about even more places. Eventually some of this will emerge in novel form, but for the moment, I'm enjoying the short stories. I expect to bundle some of them together when there are enough to be able to offer you a deal. In the meantime, I hope life on Kayakoo will offer some joys and surprises for you.

And as always, reviewers who would like to sing the praises of my work (or at least give an honest impression in print) can contact me through twitter at @ETeja. You can follow me there too, not that making witty, erudite or even clever tweets is my forte. But sometimes I do mention a deal on books or some other life altering facts so it might be worth it.

Down on the Spanish Main

AMAZON, iTunes, Audible

It's been a few years ago since Dagny and I took Float Street to the Spanish Main for the first time. It was exciting and romantic. I've read definitions of the Spanish Main that include Florida and in fact all of the countries touching on the Caribbean, but for me it was the north coast of South America--the place where honest (right?) traders hid from the pirates in Mochima. It was a good spot. You can't see anything easily from the sea and Mochima has fresh water as well as fish, and even dyes. We sailed from Port of Spain, Trinidad to Mochima, as it happens, with an overnight stop at a small fishing village in a secluded cove (that's another story). It was fun. Dagny hooked a wahoo and I lost it for her (it's okay to blame the boat's high transom -- I did) and then something (a tuna, we were told by knowledgeable fishermen) took the large lure, almost pulling our 72-foot boat to a halt and straightening all of the hooks on the lure. This was just off Carupano for those of you with maps. I imagine the fish is still there if you want to go check.

iTunes, Audible

Anyway, remembering all this adds to my excitement in announcing that with the help of Steve Badger's narration we've brought the Martin Billings mysteries to life in audiobook form. Both UNDER LOW SKIES and DEATH BENEFITS, which take place in Venezuela and Grenada a few years back when things were still like they were during the years we were there. 

But don't waste time reading more when you can be listening to both. And if you aren't into audio, remember they are both available in ebook and paperback too.

Any reviewers out there who are interested can send me a message through twitter (@ETeja) and let me know your preferred format for review copies.

Taste of the Caribbean

In some ways, some important ways, a lot of my storytelling relates to the Caribbean. No matter where I travel, my thoughts and stories come back to it. That makes sense, as I spent an exciting 10 years there, living on a boat, sailing other people's boats, hanging out in waterfront bars (playing guitar) and in rum shops, and writing humor and poetry for Caribbean Compass. In short, my time was occupied with taking advantage of all the cultural highlights. (Dear Caribbean Tourist People, that comment was meant in jest...I not be trying to vex you.)

There is a different pace and rhythm to life there that I grew to appreciate. The people have a sense of life that's hard to capture, and that proves an exciting challenge. My first novel, THE LEGEND OF RON AÑEJO, takes place there, mostly on boats, and focused more on the sailors than the locals. While in Carriacou, I wrote a humorous short story called THE RUM SHOP that was exclusively about some of the locals, heavily fictionalized, but they seemed to recognize themselves and enjoy the story. That pleased me more than I can say. I'm going back to those roots, if that's what they are (I'm rather rootless, so I'm not entirely sure), in writing more stories that feature the people of the region as main characters. Intrigue Publishing has contracted to publish an ebook of my new short story DEATH OF A SANDMAN, which is a murder mystery featuring a local cop named Johnny Cliff. I'm working on more stories based around him, some less crime oriented than others, but all imbued with the flavor of the region. Norbert and I expect to produce audio versions of these stories as they are released (sign up for the Float Street Press newsletter to be informed of these and other exciting developments) at http://eepurl.com/O6d3H

In telling stories of the Caribbean, the way things are said is almost as much a part of the texture as the descriptions of the people and the place. To capture that aspect, I've partnered with Caribbean voice over artist Norbert Thomas and we've recently released and audiobook of THE RUM SHOP through Audible.com. Norbert Thomas is the premier Jamaican/Caribbean Voice Over Artist with an international sound and a former Radio/Television/Stage personality with over 20 yrs in media communications. 

Along with THE LEGEND OF RON AÑEJO (narrated by Paul Aulridge), the story of the world's best Caribbean boat bum, THE RUM SHOP is available through Amazon, Audible.com and iTunes.

Note: If you are a reviewer and would be interested in reviewing the books or audiobooks, contact Float Street Press at publisher@floatstreetpress.com)

Writing and traveling

Writing and traveling are rather compatible, if you can work in strange places. For me, it is an inspiring combination. Traveling and publishing are less compatible, but as things worked out that's exactly what I'll be doing soon. We are making a trip, a road trip to Colorado to see family for the first time in a while. The timing coincides with the release of my next Martin Billings book DEATH BENEFITS from Float Street Press. Of course, there is never a right time for much of anything in this world, especially not enough time to do things right, and I am trying to get this right. So I am being more methodical than I am normally prone to be.

Jes Richardson put together a wonderful cover for the new book.

I like it because it suggests all the elements in the story. Jes did a good job of winnowing out all the junk I tried to get into it and focused on the key things.

I'm doing some last minute things to the text and getting the formatting done. I'll be doing a pre-release of the book (at a discount) through Kobo and Barnes & Noble while I'm on the road, and then it will go live in both ebook and paperback on July 10th. I'll announce the pre-release when it is up.

For those of you who haven't read the first Martin Billings book, UNDER LOW SKIES, I'll be reissuing it with a modified cover and dropping it to the price for a short time. Naturally I am hoping you will want to read both. And book #3, which takes place on a tropical Caribbean isle, is in the works. It will be out later this year. I want to get you addicted to Martin's adventures in the Caribbean, and to feel the rhythms of life there.
 Meantime, I am looking for to contact reviewers who like mystery/adventure stories. If you have a book blog and are interested in getting an advanced review copy of DEATH BENEFITS, please contact the publisher at publisher@floatstreetpress.com

Here is the blurb for the new book.

Martin Billings goes to Venezuela to get some documents signed for a friend, but the man who is supposed to sign them has gone sailing. Martin finds his sailboat burning on a beach but it's too far gone to know if he was still in it. If he was, who left him there? Who is the mystery woman he sees taking pictures of the burning boat? And why is an ex British spy interested in the man's whereabouts? Martin needs to find some answers, and preferably before Ugly Bill gets too tired of him playing detective.

Print books

I still love printed books and I know I am not the only one who does. So I have released the short book Two Stories of Sailors and the Sea in paperback. This volume contains two short stories about quite different sailors, and their interaction with the sea.

It isn't available through bookstores, as we wanted to keep the price low and bookstores need a high enough price to discount. But you can find it for only $5.99
at Amazon and CreateSpace. Of course it is also available, more cheaply in ebook form at Amazon and Smashwords and Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Sony, iTunes, and Diesel.

I hope you enjoy the books.

New Stories

I've recently published a couple of new short stories. To be honest, one isn't exactly new. I wrote it for a small book I did a limited run of when I was living in the Caribbean. It is an account of some real, but fictionalized people in a real, and not particularly fictionalized place--a rum shop.

The other book is based in Hong Kong and tells the tale of a sailor too often trapped in the corporate world, but determined to get out onto the high seas. His story is a little chancy.

Both books are available at my

Amazon and Smashwords author pages.