Book Events!

Quick announcement! Rod has two book events next week. If you happen to be in the area, stop by and say hello. We'd love to see/meet you!

Paulina Springs Books

Sisters, Oregon

Roundabout Books

Bend, Oregon

A Month in Summary - January 2025

Little Whale Cove

Depoe Bay, Oregon

January 2025

What a month. All I can say (and it sounds terribly weak and trivial) is thank goodness for the beauty of nature and books. As much as I try to stay informed, there is only so much that I can take of the current news. For many, life hasn't changed much since January 20th, but for so many others, this country is unrecognizable and a scary place to live. My heart goes out to those who are living in fear, have lost their jobs (or homes), and to those who are worried about how they will survive in this cruel new place we call The United States. 

When life gets difficult, I'm so thankful for my books. I had an exceptionally good month of reading and am excited to continue my personal challenge to read all of Maggie O'Farrell and Elizabeth Strout's books this year. I'm also reading C.J. Box and William Kent Kreuger's mystery series. I'm also focusing on the books in my stacks, but wound up with quite a few that I found at the library. Definitely want to keep supporting my local library!

Books Read (click on the title for my review):

The Guest Book by Sarah Blake (5/5)

Open Season by C.J. Box (4/5)

The Barefoot Contessa Cookbook by Ina Garten (4/5) 

Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan (4.5/5) - reread for book club

The Stranger Diaries by Elly Griffiths (4/5)

After You'd Gone by Maggie O'Farrell (4/5)

Naked Prey by John Sandford (4.5/5)

Amy and Isabelle by Elizabeth Strout (4.5/5) - reread

James by Percival Everett (4/5)

Movies & TV Series:

 

Shrinking (Season 2) - I was so sad when I reached the end of this season. The Thanksgiving episode really tugged at my heartstrings.

Bad Sisters (Season 2) - Bravo! I loved this show. The second season was just as good as the first. I laughed out loud a lot!

The Diplomat (Season 2) - Wow! What a great show. The last episode is quite a cliffhanger. I hope it isn't too long before Season 3 is released.

This Is Us (Season 6) - Finally got back to this show. Yes, it's sappy but I still enjoyed it. It's probably the most non-linear show in history! The Alzheimer's storyline was hard to watch.

In other news, I've become addicted to watching All About Birds' live cam in Ontario, Canada. I started watching the Cornell Lab cam, but switched to Canada's since I'm curious about the bird activity in their colder temps. 

In life married to an author, my husband had a wonderful book talk at the Columbia River Maritime Museum in Astoria (Oregon) last week. It's a marvelous facility with an outstanding staff. We were very pleased with the turnout; there were close to 60 attendees, so lots of great questions after Rod's presentation. Next stop, Third Place Books in Seattle (Lake Forest Park location) on March 31st. If you live in the area, we'd love to see you!

  

Update: I composed this post before the horrific news of the DC plane and helicopter crash on Thursday. My heart breaks for the family and friends of those lost souls. Take care of yourselves, friends.

Pub Day!

 

Happy Pub Day to my husband!! Whoohoo!

For more information about his latest book, Ship of Lost Souls, click here.

Meet the Author

 

Yes, we have a book tour! 

We've been working with Molly Dumas (a dear friend, and illustrator of several images in Rod's book) who has done a tremendous job reaching out to various bookstores, libraries, and museums, helping us line up book events in Oregon and Washington. We're hoping to add California and Canada (Vancouver Island) to the list, so stay tuned!

If you're near any of these locations, we would love to see you. Please spread the word to your friends and relatives. And if you haven't pre-ordered Ship of Lost Souls, there's still time. The release date is November 5th. (Pre-orders are extremely valuable to authors in that they show the publisher that there's a strong interest in the book.)

For further information, feel free to contact me at les13scher@gmail.com

For more about Ship of Lost Souls (including a link to the prologue), click here.

Ship of Lost Souls - Coming Soon!

 

I'm proud to announce that my husband's latest book is due out on November 5th! 

Ship of Lost Souls, by Rod Scher, is a nonfiction account of the steamship Valencia, which set sail from San Francisco, bound for Seattle, when tragedy struck. In January 1906, the Valencia lost its bearings in a storm and ran aground on Vancouver Island, British Columbia. All but 37 of its 173 passengers and crew perished. 

Ship of Lost Souls: The Tragic Wreck of the Steamship Valencia (ISBN #978-1-4930-8135-6) is available for pre-order from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Indiebound.org, or your favorite independent bookstore.

Advance Praise for Ship of Lost Souls

“Riveting! A stranger-than-fiction tale that memorializes the Valencia among the great lost steamships of history—and one lost in the most jaw-dropping of ways." —Daniel Stone, national bestselling author of Sinkable: Obsession, The Deep Sea, and The Shipwreck of the Titanic

“A fascinating story of tragedy, terror and drama that has been well researched and passionately told. Hard to put down once you start reading.” —Richard M. Jones, author and historian

In the story of the steamship Valencia, lost off Vancouver Island in 1906, we find some of the same hubris and human error that would lead to the sinking of the Titanic six years later. With scrupulous research and a fine eye for detail, Rod Scher recreates this maritime tragedy in a compelling and highly readable way. —Hugh Brewster, author of Gilded Lives, Fatal Voyage: The Titanic's First-Class Passengers and Their World

“A fascinating and highly engaging account of one of the greatest marine tragedies to strike the west coast of North America. Equally impressive is the fact that the author goes out of his way to highlight the important role that the wind and oceanographic conditions played in the tragedy. Had the vessel’s captain taken into account the ship's drift associated with the strong northward-flowing, wind-driven currents known to prevail off the Pacific coast of the US and Canada in winter, the ship might have successfully entered the Strait of Juan de Fuca during the storm and the tragic loss of so many lives would have been averted.” —Richard Thomson, oceanographer; author of Oceanography of the British Columbia Coast

“Scher details the background, key people, decisions, and circumstances that led to the grounding of SS Valencia and the tragically avoidable loss of life. His book reads like an adventure novel, except that it isn't fiction. Like virtually all marine accidents, the loss of Valencia was avoidable. The weakest link in the chain of events was and continues to be the decisions of honest, hard-working, and experienced people. Today's yacht and ship crews need to read this book so they can manage their decisions and successfully avoid disaster.” —CDR. John E. Harrington, USCG (Ret.)

“A completely engrossing saga. I could not put it down! Scher combines insightful historical perspectives along with weaving fascinating information on both the inventions and seafaring conventions of the time. While examining the reasons for this disaster, Scher shows how easy it is after the fact to place blame and second-guess each decision made that leads to tragedies. At turns both fascinating and heartbreaking, Scher’s book is a perfect addition to any sailor’s library.” —Patricia Wood, sailor and author of Lottery (short-listed for the 2008 Orange Broadband Prize for Women’s Fiction in the UK)

“Through meticulous research and exacting detail, Scher builds the story of the SS Valencia and makes it come alive by putting the events and people in historical context. And he doesn’t leave out the human component. He makes you care about both passengers and crew—those who survived and those who didn’t—and reveals both heroes and cowards, leaving it up to the readers to draw their own conclusions.” —Valerie Davisson, author of the Logan McKenna mystery series

For a sneak peek, click here to read the prologue.

Book news, a calendar of upcoming events, and reviews of Rod's previously published books, can be found at rodscher.com.

Wordless Wednesday

"Sailing by Starlight takes what could have easily be­come

 one more nondescript sailing-around-the-world tale 

and makes it into a thoroughly researched and well-written book 

that’s as much about problem-solving and strength of character

 as it is about adventure." 

(Sailing Magazine)

Book Launch Party!

Last Sunday we hosted a book launch event for Rod's latest book, Sailing by Starlight. Close to 40 friends and neighbors showed up at our community rec center to hear Rod discuss the book, as well as take questions during a Q&A period, which was followed by a book signing. The party continued as we enjoyed delicious refreshments, chatting about the book and wishful thoughts of a movie deal. And, as one of the attendees remarked, "You don't need to be a sailor to enjoy this great adventure story!" If you need a Christmas gift, it's not too late to get a signed copy. Comment below and we can work out the details via email.

A Month in Summary - October 2022

Little Whale Cove

Depoe Bay, Oregon

October 2022

We got rain! That probably sounds strange to those who think it always rains in the PNW, but we haven't had any significant rainfall since early June. Of course, now it will probably rain until next June, but as long as we get some sunshine here and there, I won't complain. It beats ice and snow!

Well, October turned out to be quite the eventful month. I'm surprised that I managed to finish one, let alone four books. One week after returning home from our big adventure to Glacier National Park, my husband wound up in the hospital after suffering a heart attack. Two stents later, he was home within 48 hours. We are very grateful to the first responders and medical team in the E.R. and cath lab, and are especially thankful we were not on the road, out of cellphone range! The other excitement (which was much more pleasant than his medical scare) was the arrival of a case-pack of Rod's latest book, Sailing by Starlight. (You can read my review here.) In spite of all the excitement, I finished the following books. 

Books Read (click on the title for my review):

The Fortnight in September by R.C. Sherriff (2/5)

Book Lovers by Emily Henry (3/5)

Sailing by Starlight by Rod Scher (4.5/5)

To Dwell in Darkness by Deborah Crombie (4/5)

Movies & TV Series:

Guilt (Season Two) - Entertaining, but not as good as the first season. 

Mr. Harrigan's Phone - Based on the Stephen King short story of the same name. Good, but not great. The short story was better.

Five Days at Memorial - The first five episodes were very intense. The following episodes were ok, but not as impactful. I'm now interested in reading the book.

Van der Valk (Season 2) - We really enjoyed this second season!

Hinterland (Season 1 & 2) - I'm adding this show to my favorites list. It's marvelous!

MLB Playoffs - We were rooting for the Dodgers, but after they lost, we switched to the Padres. Now that the World Series has begun, we're rooting for the Phillies.

Other News:

Anatomy Lesson

Looking good and happy to be out of the hospital!

So proud of this man!

Puzzlemania:

Catskill Moon by Jack Stuppin

While visiting my aunt this past summer, I had the pleasure of meeting Jack Stuppin, who was attending my uncle's memorial. My aunt surprised me with an autographed puzzle of one of Jack's beautiful paintings. Isn't it gorgeous? I love the vibrant colors! Click here to learn more about this amazing artist; I especially enjoyed the two videos on the website.

Hope you all have a good month. Don't forget to VOTE!

Sailing by Starlight

Sailing by Starlight: The Remarkable Story of Globe Star by Rod Scher

Nonfiction

2022 Sheridan House

Finished on October 24, 2022

Rating: 4.5/5 (Very Good!)

Publication Date: November 1, 2022

Publisher's Blurb:

Sailing by Starlight is the story of the adventure of a lifetime--in fact, of many lifetimes. In the early 1980s, retired geography professor Marvin Creamer set out to do what hadn't been done for a thousand years--if indeed it had ever been done at all: Marv and his crew boarded a 35-foot sailboat named Globe Star and set out into the frigid Atlantic, planning to sail around the world without the use of any instruments. There was no sextant aboard. No compass. No chart-plotter. No GPS. No radar. Not even a stopwatch. Creamer wanted to prove to the world that it was possible for ancient mariners to have crossed the largest seas, perhaps even sailed around the world, using only their brains, their experience, their senses, and their courage. In attempting to prove his point, Creamer would push his boat and his crew to the limit--and occasionally beyond. 

Travel with Creamer as Globe Star sails around the perilous Horn, across the dangerous and tumultuous Tasman Sea, and into an active war zone. Sail around the world with a man who was taken prisoner with an idea, a man obsessed with proving a point, and a man who would let neither 40-foot waves nor fractious crewmembers deter him.

Disclaimer: I was hesitant to post a review, as this book was written by my husband, but I want to share what I enjoyed about the story. I hope to minimize my personal bias.

I am not what you would call an avid sailor. My family owned a small sailboat (a Glen-L 13) when I was in elementary school, and I remember lake sailing with my parents and brothers (and our small dog) in Northern California and Southern Oregon. How we all managed to fit in that tiny sailboat is beyond me!

Photo Credit: Glen-L Boat Designs

Later, I would enjoy going out on Hobie Cats and a few 20-plus foot sailboats in San Diego, but I can count those occasions on one hand. In the late 80s, my husband and I started dreaming about buying a Catalina, but a move to Nebraska took the wind out of our sails, so to speak. Looking back, I wonder just how much I would have enjoyed spending time on a boat on the Pacific Ocean. It's huge, unpredictable and the waves are much bigger than those on the lakes of Whiskey Town and Howard Prairie. And I am prone to seasickness!

Rod has always been enthusiastic about sailing, reading numerous books on the subject (he's read Chapman: The Boater's Handbook more than once), and dreaming of one day owning a boat. Nautical books (even sailing memoirs) weren't of interest to me, but Rod had a copy of Adrift: Seventy-Six Days Lost at Sea by Steve Callahan, and with all our talks about sailing, I decided to give it a read sometime in the late 80s. I don't remember much about the book, but after recently glancing at a copy, I discovered that Callahan's voyage began just shy of two years before Marv Creamer's. I wonder if they knew one another. If not personally, they certainly must have known of each other. 

Rod and I never did buy a boat, but we've cruised the San Juan Islands (on a 48' Richardson cabin cruiser) with my dad and stepmom, as well as a wonderful day trip on a catamaran from St. Thomas to St. John. I've also had the pleasure of spending two weeks on a river boat, cruising the Rhine, Main, and Danube rivers with my mom. But all these experiences were peaceful and calm. Well, almost all. We did experience a problem with the bilge pump on my dad's boat; for several moments I was afraid the boat might start to sink, and we would have to swim to shore in the dark! Oh, and there was also the time (actually, there were two separate instances) when a fan belt broke on one of the two engines (again in my dad's boat) and we had to limp along, in Puget Sound, on one engine to reach a marina for repairs. But none of these events were as terrifying as those that Marv Creamer and his crew faced as they sailed around the world without any instrumentation: no GPS, no compass, no sextant, not even a clock or watch. And, their amazing adventure took place on the Globe Star, a 35-foot sailboat. They experienced gales, huge seas, fog in heavily traveled shipping lanes, and the doldrums. They went for many weeks without seeing land, nor speaking to anyone but one another. 

While chatting with Rod about Sailing by Starlight (from the safe perch of one of our neighborhood benches overlooking the ocean, watching the enormous waves crash against the bluff), I told him that I would have curled up in a ball in the v-berth, sobbing in terror, if I had to be on such a voyage at Creamer's. I'm sure even an experienced sailor would feel some fear and anxiety with each crashing wave, a galley fire, or a knockdown, but they would also know what to do in those situations. At least if a disaster strikes while we're traveling in our motorhome, there's very little risk of drowning! 

Sailing by Starlight is a compelling read about a sixty-six-year-old retired geography professor who was able to fulfill a lifetime dream and prove that ancient peoples could sail across massive oceans (perhaps even around the world) without anything but their intellect, bravery and senses. I was pleased to discover that over the years, I've picked up a general understanding of some basic nautical terminology in my brief encounters on boats: port & starboard, cleats & fenders, fore & aft, fo'c'sle & salon, and coming-about and jibe (the latter of which I accidentally discovered off the shores of Beaufort, N.C.). So, as I began reading Rod's book, I wasn't bothered by the usage of specific vernacular known to more seasoned sailors. Initially, I thought a glossary might be useful, but flipping back and forth would only interrupt the narrative, causing a loss in momentum and tension. Any words or phrases with which I was not familiar (e.g., horse latitudes, heave-to, windlass), were easily understood in the context of the passage. 

Rich in detail, with mounting tension, Sailing by Starlight is sure to appeal to a broad range of readers, avid sailors and armchair travelers not excluded. Rod sets the scenes so vividly, delivering an ultra-satisfying read for which he should be enormously proud. I know I am.

It's rare that I reread books, and even more rare that I'm tempted to re-read a book upon completion, but I felt that way about Sailing by Starlight. I'm not interested in owning a boat, but I do enjoy a thrilling nautical tale. Maybe it's time to finally give Moby Dick another chance...

Note to reader: I rarely read an author's footnotes, whether included on the appropriate page or in a collection at the back of the book. I encourage you to read Sailing by Starlight "Notes," which provide additional information that would otherwise have detracted from the flow of the narrative.

Click here to view videos and images from Sailing by Starlight.

Sailing by Starlight

This arrived last night! 

In two weeks, Rod's latest book will be released! I am so proud of him, and very excited about this new book, which is available for pre-order here and here.

Publisher's Blurb:

Sailing by Starlight is the story of the adventure of a lifetime—in fact, of many lifetimes. In the early 1980s, retired geography professor Marvin Creamer set out to do what hadn’t been done for a thousand years—if indeed it had ever been done at all: Marv and his crew boarded a 35’ sailboat named Globe Star and set out into the frigid Atlantic, planning to sail around the world without the use of any instruments. There was no sextant aboard. No compass. No chart-plotter. No GPS. No radar. Not even a stopwatch. Creamer wanted to prove to the world that it was possible for ancient mariners to have crossed the largest seas, perhaps even sailed around the world, using only their brains, their experience, their sense, and their courage. In attempting to prove his point, Creamer would push his boat and his crew to the limit—and occasionally beyond.

Travel with Creamer as Globe Star sails around the perilous Horn, across the dangerous and tumultuous Tasman Sea, and into an active war zone. Sail around the world with a man who was taken prisoner by an idea, a man obsessed with proving a point, and who would let neither 40-foot waves nor fractious crewmembers deter him.