The different faces of fishing

The photo above is one I took in Vietnam. We were there a short time, in 2012 and didn't get much chance to hang out with the fishermen. I regret that.

I'm intrigued by the similarities and differences of rural peoples, and in particular, fishermen, which is curious, because I'm lousy at fishing. Fishing villages and the fishing folk are far more interesting to me than tourist destinations. 

Dagny (who catches far more fish than I) and I spent one of our years in Venezuela, a little more than that, actually, living among the scattered fishing villages along the north coast of the Golfo de Carriaco. We became friends with the fishing families and learned to respect their craft, their lives. 

The picture below is me (at the motor) and T-Bone Fisher out in my penero on the Golfo... on the way back from making a beer run to Cumana. I bought a 40HP Suzuki, much to the disdain of the fishermen who are big Yamaha fans. Although we left long ago, and T-Bone is (I think) dead now, the boat and motor are still there.

On the trip to Colombia that starts next week, I intend to visit a fishing village. I expect it will similar to the ones in Venezuela, but there will be differences. Those differences will be important to Book Two in the series I'm writing with J. Lee Porter, as some of the story will take place there. I'm looking forward to the adventure and brushing up on my fisherman Spanish.

I'm excited about that. 

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.

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.

Birthdays and Mysteries

When I lived in Venezuela I found a charming cultural difference regarding birthdays. I am not a big fan of having people throw parties for me and I am terrible at picking presents for other people. When we were invited to the birthday party of our dear friend Jose Marrero I was delighted to learn that the custom there was for the person having the birthday to invite friends to a dinner that they put on for them. Given that Jose and his lovely wife Hilda ran El Mochimero, which was the best restaurant in the country (okay I admit to a slight bias) you'll understand what a treat that was. We all had a great time.

It seems an appropriate custom to me, to celebrate another year by offering something to friends and supporters. This month is my birthday and I although can't invite everyone I'd like to over for dinner (most of you live a bit far away and the house isn't all that big), but I can offer something of value to me... one of my books. Again, with an eye on appropriateness, between February 22 and 28th I am reducing the price of my novel UNDER LOW SKIES (the cover is just to the right). The novel is a murder mystery/suspense novel based in Venezuela (mostly in Cumana and Mochima). It will be available on Amazon in ebook form for $2.99 (normally $5.99). I also have some limited copies of the paperback available. The list price is $14.99 (Amazon discounts it to $13.49) but during that week I will be happy to sell you an autographed copy for $7.99. You can order a copy by emailing me with a mailing address at edteja at gmail dotcom and I will send a paypal invoice. You can actually order them now if you want, and I will send them out that week.  For that matter if you want to order the ebook from me in any format at all, you can do it the same way. Send an email, I send a paypal invoice and off it goes.

UNDER LOW SKIES

Recently my agent, Rebecca Pratt, contacted me with the news that a publisher in the US was interested in my mystery novel UNDER LOW SKIES. We negotiated and I am happy to say that Glass Page Books will be publishing the book later this year.


This is the story of Martin Billings, an exSeal who is captain of an inter-island freighter. It is a tough life and requires an independent spirit. In this story, his younger brother is accused of murdering a Venezuelan fisherman. Martin goes to Cumana, Venezuela to try and sort things out and finds that the mess his brother has stepped into is a lot bigger than he could have imagined.

The publisher did this cover, which I think is great, and my good friend Derek Marabolí corrected both my Spanish and a few errors I made in place names in Venezuela. 

Needless to say I am looking forward to its release.