Writing Feeds My Cruising Soul

A few months ago, I kissed the back of an envelope for good luck before dropping it into a mailbox in Singapore. Tucked inside was a publishing contract with my signature on it. Although it’s been years since I had my first paycheck as a freelance writer, I’ve only now had confidence to fill in the “occupation” blank on forms with WRITER. So to have a fellow blogger, Kim from SV Britican, tap me to follow her post on a tour of writer’s blogs is the kind of request that makes me sit back with a smile of wonder and amazement. Thank you, Kim, for the recognition!

What am I currently working on?

I’m divided between three different types of writing projects. The immediately obvious one is this blog, an evolution I never anticipated when I started it more than seven (!) years ago. The second is freelance writing magazine articles, which I’ve been growing slowly, marketing nonfiction pieces to boating, travel, and lifestyle magazines. Most exciting for me right now: I’m working with two other cruising parents, Sara Johnson and Michael Robertson, on a guide to voyaging with kids to be published by L&L Pardey Books (pinch me!).

these are my helpers. they’re super helpful. can’t you tell?

How does my work differ from others in my genre?

You can’t swing a cat o’ nine tails in an anchorage without hitting a cruiser with a blog. It’s not a bad thing… during our pre-cruising years I would have loved such a resource pool to draw dreams and practicalities from. Overwhelmingly, these blogs are the record of a journey. My goal is to inspire others to choose the adventurous path:  to offer a window into the life, balanced with practical information, speaking plain truth from our experiences.

As a freelance writer, it depends on where I’m pitching: for sailing and adventurous living, I seek to have an honest voice, one that people can relate to and travel with vicariously (so, how am I doing?!).  There is a more  mechanical side of freelancing where I’m less concerned about differentiation, and simply want to be a quality content provider that editors love working with.

Why do I write what I do?

Writing has always been a way for me to process experiences, and share what I learn. I’m in my eighth year of writing as a way to externally process our cruising life, yet it’s really only been the last couple of years I felt I’ve had the space, miles, and personal experiences to be able to pull back and offer a broader view.

my first freelance writing assignment was the same month this photo was taken

I want to support people who have the dream of cruising: families in particular. It’s incredibly rewarding to hear back from readers who have been helped or encouraged by what I’ve shared. I need to write, and I love our lifestyle, and by doing both together I’m finding happiness I never had in my prior professional life.

How does my writing process work?

I believe that 90% of writing is just putting your bum in the chair and setting fingers to keys. That’s certainly the way it is for me, yet I also have a notebook and pen as near constant companions. Sometimes the inspiration just hits, and I want to be able to grab it! Even if it drives Jamie a little crazy, because actually- I don’t have a notebook. I have many notebooks, and tend to leave them scattered around, then wonder with mild frantic distraction why I can’t find the one I want when I need it.

Omnipresent notebook at left.

Of course, there are times when our environment makes the fundamental butt-in-seat difficult. My workspace is a small desk in the aft (master) cabin, which is not always peaceful and sometimes downright chaotic. Like today, when there are a half dozen shipyard crew on board adding the background cacophony of power tools and hammering.

So I pack up a bag, and shift to a spot near the shipyard office wifi. This often means I have children of the crew acting as curious helpers, shown in “extra helpful” ode in the photo higher up. They are sweet kids, but kind of distracting. Here at PSS Satun, have the rare luxury of an air conditioned and usually quiet room.. Of course, it comes with another kind of distraction: KITTENS! If you follow our Facebook page, you know the girls have been taking care of a motherless litter found in the lumber piles.

I’d like to tap Diane Selkirk and Sara Johnson as the next stops on the writer’s blog tour.

Diane has been my writing doula. She has nudged me, encouraged me, and had faith that I didn’t have in myself  I’m not sure I’d be IN a “writer’s blog tour” without her support! A journalist by training, Diane interviewed astronauts and Olympians, learned about laying up fiberglass and making ukuleles, canoed down a northern fur trade river and spent time on a police boat looking for yacht thieves – all for the sake of a good story.
Sara is another sailor who loves to write. We share the home waters of Puget Sound, and traveled many of the same miles in North America and the South Pacific. She especially enjoys writing about sailboat cruising, traveling with children, and all other aspects of life afloat – and how she does it all while living with Type 1 diabetes.

Writer or reader, you know I love it when you click through to find this on the Sailfeed website.