Mike Jastrzebski's Blog, page 111

iPad apps and gear for boaters

I had planned to get this post up over the last weekend, but time and weather conspired against me.  We left Manteo on Roanoke Island with a forecast of winds at 5-10 which was supposed to mean a motor across the sounds.  I got all set up to write down below, and the next thing I knew, I heard the jib unrolling and the boat was heeling over so far I couldn't type because I was hanging on to the dog with one hand and the laptop with the other.  Sunday, we covered the distance from Coinjock to ...

Thinking and brightwork

I seem to do my best thinking while doing brightwork. It's something I put off (the brightwork, not the thinking) because it's time consuming and time is something I have little of lately. What sanding and varnishing does for the mind always turns out to be worth it. I can't sand and read at the same time, and I certainly can't write, so I finally get to consider, analyze, and sometimes dream as I sandpaper my way from bow to stern.  First I have to admit something. I haven't written a...

Blame It On Buffett

by John Urban

           Singer-songwriter Kelly McGuire had it right in giving a nod to Jimmy Buffett. McGuire, whose songs include Blame It On Buffett, Ambergris Key and Turn Around and Run, joins Buffett, Jack Johnson, Kenny Chesney, and others in blending a coastal version of folk/country/rock that some call Trop-Rock.              

          For me, most of the blame does, in fact, sit with Buffett, starting with the first time I heard Havana Day Dreaming, an interest that was fueled...

Thoughts on the water, or Cuban rum, cigars and sailing

By Michael Haskins

I have been very lucky, boat wise, since my 1970, 36-foot, Amel has not cost me a lot for repairs or maintenance. Doing the bottom work has been my biggest expense since I bought her in 1998. I just had some engine work done that was pricy, but it's the first time that's happened. I am waiting on the engine kill switch to be re-installed, since I pulled it too hard and it disconnected. I now shut the engine off by standing over it, only an 18-HP Westerbeke diesel, and using ...

From Rags to Riches on Kindle? The first month

By Mike Jastrzebski

So the first month is over. Has it been worth the effort? From my point of view, yes. I'm sure that many of the traditionally published writers out there might disagree. After all, if things are working out well for them then they are selling thousands of books a month, although I suspect that writers with small publishers are selling far fewer books than that.

I sold 97 books in the past month and I had one of those books returned for a total of 96 sales. As a bit of a...

iPad vs. Kindle – Which makes the better cruising companion?

A friend was recently lamenting about the fact that she had published an ebook six or seven years ago and the book sold few copies and earned even less respect.  Today, things have certainly changed with debut authors like Mike choosing to publish directly to ebook and with a few traditionally published authors choosing to bypass New York and publish straight to ebooks on their own.

What has changed, what has made this ebook revolution build momentum, is the introduction of eReaders that make ...

Living and writing on a small boat

By Mike Jastrzebski

When people learn that I live and write on a sailboat they often go glassy-eyed. They have visions of sunning out in the cockpit, cocktail hour, and fishing for dinner while sailing along on a smooth blanket of water. They don't think about the small spaces, rough water, filling the water tanks, and having to shower in a bathroom (we call it the head) that's roughly a three foot by three foot box.

They want to know if I write outside, after all, the cockpit is roughly a...

In a Sea of Post-It Notes

Last week, we were in the Bahamas and I did not type one word.

Each writer has a different method.  Some sit down with a legal pad and pen and wait for the words to flow out of them. Others methodically plot and plan, using whiteboards, timelines and character trees to map out their story.

I am a post-it queen.  For days, I let an idea roll around in my head.  In the middle of cooking dinner, I jot down an opening sentence.  I leave scrap paper by my bedside table for middle-of-the-night...

Taking Time to Finish It

By Tom Tripp

A Secluded Cottage in Maine - the Perfect Writer's Hideout

Well, it's time to to carve out a single chunk of time and push on through to the end.  I've been working on my first novel, a mystery/thriller based in Puget Sound, for two years and now I'm feeling an unstoppable urge to turn the corner and head for the finish line.

According to one agent, less than 5 percent of writers make a living writing novels, which means that most novelists are part-timers; earning their living...

From Rags to Riches on Kindle? Do you need a website?

This was a hard decision for me to make. After all, it's only an e-book–right? After some soul searching I decided that if I wanted to be taken seriously as a writer, then the answer was yes, at least for me.

Over the last few years I've found that when I hear about a book by an author I've never read before, I often Google their name and check out their site. Does it look professional? Does it tell me something about the author? Does it describe their other books? Does it have a picture of...