Keeping Watch for Miracles

It's been a tough year. Since January, we've been stressing about Covid-19, the US government, elections, and family. I've been having such a hard time concentrating and I'm not the only one. People all over are reporting that their creativity has suffered this year. So many creative people -- musicians and artists in particular -- have no outlet and no income this year, so I shouldn't complain. We're reasonably comfortable in retirement, so at least we don't have that worry. 

In the past couple of weeks, while the election results trickled in and Trump tried to stage a coup, I distracted myself by taking up my 'joy of sailing project'. Over the years, I had written many nature essays about things we'd seen and experienced while crossing oceans and living next to or on the sea. I have now collected all those essays and a few poems and I'm now editing them into a book with the working title 'Keeping Watch for Miracles'. The idea is that this is about more than sailing and perhaps nature will connect with more people. 

I hope to publish it on Amazon and promote it if people think it's worth reading. Wish me luck. Here's a current list of chapters...

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Introduction to Miracles 13

An Everyday Miracle 16

A Fish Up My Sleeve 22

My Favorite Time of Day 25

Asleep in the Cradle 29

Lightning Strikes a Chord 32

Coastal Rhythms 35

Whale Song 40

Elusive Pursuits 47

Barnacle Geese 53

Torpedo Warning 59

The Ship’s Voice 62

Star Light and Beyond 64

Fingers of Fog 67

Surviving the Reckoning 71

Quality of Light 73

Water Music 77

Searching for Treasure 81

Chance Encounters 85

The Shape of Water 90

Shooting Stars 94

Out to Sea 96

Winter Melancholy 103

Emotion on the Ocean 107

The Last Day 109

Fish that fly and birds that swim 112

Haiku 114

And the earth stood still 115

Toe the Line 118

About the Author 119

My first Haiku

The sea welcomes us

As waves break over the bow

And wind fills the sails

Writing poetry

I was inspired by a radio programme interview with Michael Longley, whose poetry sang to me over the airwaves. He inspired me to continue to write poetry, even though I really don't know what it is anymore. It used to rhyme. It used to have rhythm. Today, it is just a shorter collection of words strung together in a way that may or may not speak to someone. Michael said poetry is best written by the young and the old. I used to write poetry when I was young, as so many of us do when we have powerful emotions battling inside us through hormonal surges. Now that I'm older, I've started again, in tune with what he said. Perhaps it's because in the middle, we're too busy to be emotional. At both ends, we can't help it. Here goes...

Emotion on the ocean

by Daria Blackwell

Book reading from The Naked Truth

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

Quote: Double-handed sailing

Double-Handed Sailing 

is after all like 

Single-Handing Half the Time

- Daria Blackwell

I cannot not write

Books are fun to write, for me at least. Whether writing non-fiction or fiction, I love to get wrapped up in a subject and look at it from the perspective of my prospective audience. What are they looking to learn from me? What will entice them to spend their precious time with me? How can I share my knowledge and entertain a little, too. These are the kinds of questions I ask myself throughout the process. I don't want to let them down, and yet I know I cannot satisfy them all.