Big Blog Hop–The Next Big Thing

Thank you, Beverly, whose novel Telling Stories–“Stories lie. Truth hurts. Secrets can be deadly.”–is NOT for children. Beverley, I enjoyed your blog post at http://bevjoneswriting.wordpress.com, so I wrote up one like it. But something strange happened last night­­–something I don't understand and can’t explain. It seems that 10-year-old M-Man and 7-year-old T-man (Story Boys http://storyboys.wordpress.com/2012/10/25/sea-cutter-by-timothy-davis-book/) got in email contact with Nathaniel Childe. I’ve called M-Man and T-Man, but they won’t say a word about it. No doubt Nat made them spit on their hands and shake on not telling. Don’t take my word for it. I managed to hit “print screen” before it disappeared….

M-man: What was it like to grow up without a dad?

Nat: My heart felt hollow and aching. The nights hit me hardest. I tossed and turned through nightmares about Father. He clung to a beam while the sea washed him to an unknown island. He called, “Nat! Nat! Nat!” while Mother and I stood at his plaque, saying, “He’s dead. He’s dead. He’s dead.”

T-man: What was it like going to sea for the first time?

Nat: Father must’ve had the salt sea in his blood and passed it on to me, for I could feel my own blood sing in our rhythmic rise and fall over the sparkling swells that stretched in unbroken splendor to all horizons. The tang of the salt wind that whisked over my face was more delicious than the aroma of any spice. The splash of our bow, the snap and rustle of our sails, the creak of our mast, all seemed the loveliest music.

M-Man: What was your favorite place in New Bedford?

Nat: The docks. They always swarmed with men: ship owners in satin frock coats, tough-looking sailors covered with tattoos, and expert whalers with their favorite harpoons slung over their shoulders. Some sailors swapped stories over their long clay pipes and talked about newly discovered trade routes. Others scrambled up masts, dangled from the rigging, and even dived into the water to clean the submerged hulls. Their shouts, commands, and coarse laughter competed with the screaming gulls.

T-Man: What was the scariest part of your journey?

Nat: A pistol shot rang, an impact hitting my back. Time slowed. My dagger fell, flipping leisurely. Then the green water slowly came to meet me as I tumbled over. The sunlit roof of water closed above me like slow curtains. The bullet in my back throbbed as I sank deeper into the darkness. Then I remembered what lay at the bottom of that darkness—Snake’s corpse. My foot hit sand and, terrified, I shoved myself upward. A cold dead hand gripped my ankle. The last of my air went out in a silent scream.

And there you have it, Beverly. By the way, Sea Cutter is now out in paperback through Amazon (http://amzn.to/RkseQX), and I'm giving away a signed copy. To enter the drawing, just leave any type of comment. I'll pick the winner from a hat on Friday, Nov. 9.  

Now I have the great pleasure of handing The Next Big Thing Blog Hop over to fantastic children’s novelist Michelle Isennhoff http://michelleisenhoff.wordpress.com.