The Naked Truth Press Release

Contact: Alex Blackwell
President
White Seahorse
Division of Knowledge Clinic Ltd.
Port Aleria, Rosnakilly, Kilmeena
Westport, County Mayo, Ireland
+353 87 624 3907
ablackwell@knowledgeclinic.com
www.coastalboating.net

For Immediate Release

Announcing the New Release:
The Naked Truth
A nautical murder mystery
by Daria Blackwell

14 February 2017, Westport, Ireland:  White Seahorse is pleased to announce the release of The Naked Truth - A nautical murder mystery. It is Daria Blackwell’s first novel. She is the co-author of several previous non-fiction works.

Alex Blackwell, White Seahorse President, independent publisher and author said, “This novel complements our existing line of self-published works, each of which takes on a degree of a nautical theme, but weaves an intriguing story around adventures on the high seas. It’s not the typical diary of an Atlantic circuit. It has multiple twists of plot that are unexpected but highly plausible. It’s a story that anyone who has ever thought about sailing away will find amusing and intriguing. They may even glean several valuable lessons from the narrative.”

When asked how she developed her story, Daria Blackwell explained, “When we sailed across the Atlantic and through the Caribbean, I kept meticulous notes and wrote missives to our friends and family throughout the trip. But I knew I didn’t want to just tell our story as a travelogue. I wanted to use our real experience as the backdrop to a fictional story, one that would be full of twists and turns. So I just started writing, and one day the idea of stringing together a series of disparate yet potentially connected events came to me, and The Naked Truth was born.”

The story begins with Xander and Jessica anchored in the Canary Islands. They had sailed off in search of adventure. Sailing across oceans on their own boat was exactly the kind of restorative voyage the Lynches craved. They quit their high powered jobs, sold their house, and cast off the lines. When Jessica witnesses a series of murders in exotic settings, their adventure sets her on the course of a murder trail. On finding no evidence – no bodies, no signs of struggles – their quest to answer unasked questions begins.  Tormented by helplessness, Jessica experiences bizarre dreams within which lay the clues that evaded the professionals. They embark on a convoluted course to uncover the naked truth.

The Naked Truth is set in the Atlantic Islands and the Caribbean. The description of crossing oceans as a lifestyle is based on the author’s experience. Everything else is fiction.

Paperback: 418 pages

Publisher: White Seahorse/CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform

Launch date:  February 10, 2017

ISBN10:  1540793745      

ISBN13: 978-1540793744

SRP: $15.00        

About the Author

Daria Blackwell is the co-author of two critically acclaimed non-fiction books Happy Hooking - The Art of Anchoring, Cruising the Wild Atlantic Way and Onyx, The Cruising Kitty. The Naked Truth is her debut novel, a murder mystery set in the midst of sailing adventures. She has written numerous articles for sailing magazines and websites on both sides of the Atlantic. Daria is a USCG-licensed captain with three Atlantic crossings and a year’s sabbatical sailing in the Caribbean to her credit. In a former life she was a scientist, a science writer, a creative copywriter, a strategic planner, and a top level executive in marketing and communications firms. She is the author of several publications on cultural competence. A dual citizen of the US and Ireland, Daria has taken on a mid-Atlantic mind set. Follow her blogs at http://dariablackwell.blogspot.ie/ and http://aleriasadventures.blogspot.com/.

About White Seahorse

White Seahorse (www.whiteseahorse.com) is a division of Knowledge Clinic Limited based in Westport, County Mayo, Ireland (www.knowledgeclinic.com). White Seahorse is dedicated to providing information, products, and consulting, marketing and communications services to the marine leisure industry. White Seahorse’s publishing arm provides support for independent authors who self-publish.

• High resolution art is available from ablackwell@knowledgeclinic.com .  
• Booksellers interested in carrying any of the White Seahorse titles should contact ablackwell@knowledgeclinic.com. They may also order directly from CreateSpace.com.
• For more titles, visit http://www.whiteseahorse.ie.

https://www.whiteseahorse.ie/publishing/NakedTruth/NT-Release.html

Soon to be released: Self-Publishing for Success, Every book deserves to be published.

https://www.prlog.org/12622784-new-book-release-the-naked-truth-nautical-murder-mystery.html

Major edit completed

Yesterday, I completed a major edit of my first novel, The Naked Truth.  I like to call it a murder mystery set on the high seas. Essentially, I created a fictional story based on our sailing adventures. I didn't want to just write our story which has been done by so many. I wanted to create characters who experience something unusual, while making use of the experience of sailing through the Caribbean and across the Atlantic. I really didn't know where the story was going and how I was going to resolve it until about 3/4 of the way in.

This was my third edit. In the first edit, I caught many mistakes, fixed prose, converted prose to dialogue, and just cleaned up overall. So now I had a second version. Then I gave it to my editor (husband) to read.  He edited and annotated as well as giving me a page of comments in general. I think every sentence had suggested changes.This was version 3. That was a little hard to take, but I bit the bullet and made most, not all, of the edits he suggested. He was absolutely right.

Back cover blurb

We have the opportunity to promote our books at upcoming conferences at which we are speaking. So I had to stop everything and write the promotional copy for the novel I am editing under duress to finish quickly.  

This is critical. Crafting the back cover copy is almost more important than writing the book itself. It's what's going to make someone pick up the book and decide to read it. Isn't that the point of writing a book?  Then back cover copy must be the most compelling part. Fortunately, my background in copywriting is coming into good use. 

What do you think?  Would it make you want to read the book?

What's in a Word Count?

Counting words seemed to me initially to be a counter intuitive concept. After all, is it not about the quality of the words rather than the quantity? Yet the guidelines for first-time authors to be accepted into established categories are rather strict. A novel must be over 40,000 words, but most publishers need 80,000-100,000 words to charge a standard amount of money and compete on a bookshelf. Thrillers are even longer at 100,000 to 175,000. I suppose it is a value per word marketing proposition.

Classification	Word count
Novel	over 40,000 words
Novella	17,500 to 40,000 words
Novelette	7,500 to 17,500 words
Short story	under 7,500 words

Inspiration

I've had several sources of inspiration recently which have spurred a period of creativity like I have not experienced in some time. Three were book signings with readings -- one of a novel, one of a collection of short stories, and one of poetry.  In each case, the authors/speakers inspired me to feel rather than write again.

I have since written two short stories, two poems and one piece of flash fiction, as well as adding another 10,000 words to my novel, The Naked Truth -- all in the past week. My husband calls it verbal diarrhea. I call it inspiration. Whatever it is. I love it!

Bring it on.