The Sunday Salon

I'm procrastinating. It's so freaking cold outside and I really hate the thought of going to the grocery store. It's not the errand I dread, but getting back into my car after shopping for half an hour. I can warm up the car in my driveway, but that's not as easy when it's in a parking lot. Oh, wait! I have a husband... He could go with me. ;)

It's been such a miserably cold winter, but at least we haven't had to deal with quite as much snow as those of you to the east of us. We were supposed to get 4-8 inches yesterday, but all we got was a dusting. I can't imagine what Rod's book signing would have been like with the cold temps and snow. He signed for an hour and had a nice turnout, in spite of the frigid temps, so we were very pleased.

I'm finally feeling like I might just about be over with the terrible cold I came down with two weeks ago. Almost. I was so miserable; I pretty much stayed in bed for 48 hours straight. One of my sweet neighbors became concerned when she noticed my car hadn't moved for several days (and she hadn't seen me walking Annie in the afternoon), so after learning that I'd been sick, she brought over The.Most.Delicious chicken soup (and salad, bread and cookies!) for our dinner one night. I think it was the soup that cured me! I've got the recipe and plan to make it for dinner tomorrow night, so I'll try to get a photo and post the recipe next weekend.

I've never really been a big fan of tea, but after returning to work I discovered a delicious new tea and have since given up my second cup of coffee for a big mug of this bold blend. Suffice it to say, I will never drink Celestial Seasonings tea again!

But what about books, you ask? I have one more review to post and I'll be finished with 2013. Woot! But what have I read recently? Well, let's see. I won't go all the way back to January's list, but in February I finished the following:

Still Life with Bread Crumbs by Anna Quindlen (quite good)
The Silent Wife by A.S.A. Harrison (meh)
Iron Lake by William Kent Kreuger (very good)
The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman (loved!)
A Circle of Wives by Alice LaPlante (good, but not great)
Attachments by Rainbow Rowell (loved!!)

I'm currently listening to Cuckoo's Calling by Robert Galbraith (aka J.K. Rowling) and have started reading On What Grounds by Cleo Coyle. I plan to read the Coyle mystery at work on my breaks and will attempt to focus on reading East of Eden by John Steinbeck during the month of March. Thanks for the nudge, Trish! 

Alright. Time to bundle up and get to the store. Have a good week, friends. Stay warm! Who's keeping your tootsies warm tonight?

Book Signing!

 

Shameless plug for my husband! He (and several other local authors) will be doing a book signing at the SouthPointe Barnes & Noble (in Lincoln, NE) on Saturday, March 1st, from 3:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. Copies of his new Dana book and the earlier Slocum book will be available, so come on by and get your signed copy, or just hang out and say hi, get a cup of coffee, maybe buy some books or magazines. We're looking forward to seeing everyone who can make it! Can't be there? Get your copy here. Or that OTHER dot-com, if you must. 

Early Reviews:

Stephen M. Buhler

Rod Scher is an ideally informative and amiable companion as he follows Dana on his exciting and exhausting voyage—he places Dana fully in his time and place, offering historical and cultural contexts for the writer's experiences, observations, and expressions. Scher knows how to inspire a sense of historical imagination in his readers, without forgetting who we are now. Scher can be proud of his own achievement in bringing such factual detail and humane judgment to this edition.

Patricia Wood

An enjoyable and fascinating look at a [classic]. The modern reader navigating Dana’s story is given a global view in retrospect, which adds much to Dana’s narrative and offers a glimpse of the views and opinions of that time and place. Scher’s The Annotated Two Years Before the Mast takes a classic tome and repackages it with seafaring terms defined and historical references in place, thereby transforming it into a gripping tale for any avid sailor, history buff, or literary aficionado to enjoy.

E. Michael Jackson

Rod Scher has done it again, this time with his brilliant annotation . . . . Scher’s annotation reopened this classic for me. This is a careful and thoughtful work, never dry and often with a subtle twist of humor, yet always sensitive to Dana’s themes. Reading this annotation brings young Dana’s chronicle into sharp, poignant relief in an almost new and very exciting way.

Sailing Alone Around the World

(Click here to order)

Exciting news in the Scher household. Rod got an email from his publisher. It reads:

We have just received an order for 24 copies of your book from the textbook store of the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis. We were told that a professor has selected this book for the spring semester.

This could be a very big deal! Woot!!

Book Tour and Reviews

Has it really been five months since Rod's book signing at Barnes & Noble?? Well, for those of you who missed out, or those in need of a great gift idea for that sailor in your life, now's your chance. Rod will be joining six authors (including former U.S. Poet Laureate, Ted Kooser) on Black Friday at the SouthPointe Barnes & Noble from 12:00 to 2:00 pm. This event is sponsored by the Southeast Library System.

In addition to this local signing, Rod is going on a book tour, of sorts. Well, let's just say we're combining a Christmas vacation with a couple of signings in Florida. First stop, Barnes & Noble Marketplace SC in Ft. Myers (13751 Tamiami Trail) on Monday, December 28th at 1 pm. If you can't make that event, look for Rod at the Sanibel Island Bookshop (1571 Periwinkle Way) on Tuesday, December 29th from 11:00 to 12:00 pm. If you're in the area for any of these signings, please stop by and say hello. We'd love to see you!

And while I've got you here, check out some of these great reviews:

Midwest Book Review, Bookwatch, October 2009:

"Captain Joshua Slocum's ANNOTATED SAILING ALONE AROUND THE WORLD (9781574092752, #19.95) is annotated by Rod Scher, a teacher/journalist who provides explanations, commentary, and history to make Slocum's saga more accessible to modern readers. This clarification of Slocum's voyage in his wooden Spray packs in side bars of detail and enhances every page. Nautical libraries need this."

Sailing for Southern Africa, September 2009:

"If you are a sailor or a seaman of mature years, the likelihood is that you will have read Slocum`s "Sailing Alone Around the World" perhaps more than once. So why then would anyone want to read it again? Curiosity. I'd never come across a book of this nature with "annotations". What could it mean? How could it possibly add to the original story?

Remember, Slocum's historic circumnavigation in Spray in the 1890s was achieved with nothing more than 'a small wooden boat, some rope, a shelf of books and a broken tin clock'! Remember, too, that the old master mariner came from humble beginnings, and although his original manuscript lacked somewhat in the niceties of spelling and grammar, he had an extraordinary way of holding a reader's attention by relating his adventures in the simplest manner, and that made the book a best seller.

However, between the writing style and some of the nautical terminology of the time, readers of the original books would surely have welcomed, occasionally, a little clarification or explanation of Slocum's observations. And that is where Rod Scher and his annotations come in.

Alongside the text on each page that traces the epic solo voyage, Scher offers insights into what else of import was happening around the world at the same time, and he provides comments and explanations that not only enhance the story, but clarify it for the modern day reader. Even those who have read the tale before, will find that the annotations have breathed more life into it."

Midwest Book Review, Bookwatch, September 2009:

"One man did what many thought was insane - sail around the world. He took it one step further and did it alone. "The Annotated Sailing Alone Around the World" presents Joshua Slocum's epic voyage with notes and research from Rod Scher, giving greater depth to Slocum's writings and logs of his lonely voyage around the planet. "The Annotated Sailing Alone Around the World" is a solid pick for those who enjoy true-life nautical adventures."

Ocean Navigator, October 2009:

"Joshua Slocum's epic solo circumnavigation aboard his 37-foot sloop, Spray, in 1895 stands as one of the most important voyages of all time. His first-person account of the voyage, Sailing Alone Around the World has become a classic in maritime literature. But for many readers, sailor and landlubber alike, there was much to be read between the lines when it came to understanding Slocum, a quirky, somewhat eccentric adventurer.

Rod Scher's new annotated version of Slocum's work is an engaging commentary on the book and this remarkable man. His well-researched sidebars shed new light on Slocum's classic work along with insights into the man. This book demystifies much of the maritime jargon of the time. For the first-time reader or veteran salt whose dog-eared copy of Sailing Alone holds its place in the ship library, Scher's annotated version is a joy to read. I came away with empathy for the lost sailor who for better or for worse fought his demons on the wind."

Living Aboard, July/August 2009:

"This is the book that started it all, the book that first showed us that it was possible for a private citizen of modest means to have a great adventure at sea. In 1895, Captain Joshua Slocum, a sailing master beached by the imminent end of the age of sail, set forth in Spray, a 37 foot sloop, to sail alone around the world. Not only did he achieve this remarkable feat, he wrote a book about the voyage that will be read as long as sailors dream about the sea.

This isn't the first time I've reviewed Slocum's historic and ground-breaking account. The book itself is well worth reading and rereading, but the annotator of this edition has added a massive amount of new and fascinating material. Every page is flanked by a sidebar containing illustrations, footnotes, definitions, elaborations, and anecdotes drawn from Slocum's
time. For those to whom Slocum's salty language is somewhat mysterious, these additions will prove invaluable in understanding his narrative.

And even those more familiar with nautical jargon will find much to enjoy in these notes. On many pages are excerpts from newspapers of the period which help to set the stage for Slocum's stories. For example, at almost the same time as Slocum departed his home port of Boston, a fishing schooner was lost near the Grand Banks with all hands-- an illustration of the dangers of going to sea even in a large and well-crewed vessel.

Slocum acquired the Spray as a wreck stranded in a cow pasture and rebuilt her from the keel up, so that when he was done she was a new boat entirely. He attempted to make her pay by fishing for a time, but found that he 'had not the cunning properly to bait a hook.'

By an entirely unexplained process he decided instead to sail alone around the world, and this he did, encountering a vast number of strange and perilous adventures along the way, from the hallucinogenic effects of plums and bad cheese to the crafty strategies needed to repel bloodthirsty ruffians in lonely places. These sorts of stories form the original substrate to all the adventurers who followed in his wake, and all nautical writers owe an enormous debt to this eccentric but gifted sailor."

WoodenBoat Review, Sept/Oct 2009:

"Scher explains Slocum's text paragraph by paragraph, defining nautical terms, offering news of Slocum's day, and locating geographic points on his journey."

Sailing, September 2009:

"Whether long-time aficionados or new readers discovering him for the first time, fans of Joshua Slocum will rejoice in Rod Scher’s The Annotated Sailing Alone Around the World. Slocum’s account of his three-year voyage, the first circumnavigation by a solo sailor, is a classic of travel literature, and this new annotated edition of the book will give readers a deeper understanding and appreciation of the text.

Sidebars and margin notes provide commentary and explanation; defining terms, citing references and giving background on Slocum’s personal life. Scher also includes headlines from the day, providing additional historical context for Slocum’s tale.

Slocum set out from Boston on April 24, 1895 aboard the 37-foot gaff-rigged sloop Spray, returning to Newport on June 27, 1898. In the intervening three years and two months Slocum sailed the world with little more than tin clock, a simple set of carpenter’s tools, some carpet tacks and a stout little boat. The story of that sail is as thrilling as ever, and Scher has given us a way to enjoy it all the more."

48 North, July 2009:

"Joshua Slocum’s Sailing Alone Around the World is a classic, beloved by sailors the world over who have enjoyed this engrossing tale of a man who sails around the world alone in a small wooden sailboat built with his own hands. This edition is thorough annotated by teacher/journalist Rod Scher, who provides explanation, commentary, clarification, and “In the News” sidebars for historical context that will make Slocum’s masterpiece more accessible to today’s readers, sailor and landlubbers alike."

Lottery author Pat Wood, in Sea History, Summer 2009:

“As an avid sailor and author, I have read Slocum’s book several times, most notably as I was preparing to help crew a 39-ft. Valiant from Honolulu to San Francisco. I’d been anxious to test my mettle on a passage of that length, but fully realized it was only a drop in the bucket compared to Slocum’s achievement. I was privileged to be re-introduced to the wonder of Slocum’s accomplishments when I read Rod Scher’s brilliantly annotated version of Sailing Alone Around the World.

From the very first page I was transfixed. Rod Scher has transformed the material with information about oceanography, geography, sailing explanations, and history so that a reader is transported back to that era. He provides thorough foundation for better understanding exactly what it meant to sail around the world in the late 1800s. He has given the reader both context and depth that greatly enhances one’s enjoyment of the material and makes Slocum’s story accessible to a larger audience.

Who is this book for? Sailors, historians, students, teachers, and anyone who revels in curious facts and fascinating notations will find this gripping tale even more entertaining and compelling.”

Pretty cool, huh?! I can hardly wait for the international book tour. :)

Barnes & Noble (Store #2939) Bestseller!

Click on photos to enlarge

May I just say that my husband rocks?! For those of you who didn't receive the email blast (or see this post about his new release), Rod participated in our local Barnes & Noble author event with seven other authors this past Saturday. It was exciting and stressful and great fun! And, we both want to send out a huge THANK YOU to everyone who came out to support Rod on this very special day. What a thrill to see so many friends and family (some of whom we haven't seen in years!). To think we were worried nobody would show up -- halfway into the signing, I was worried we'd run out of books! And we nearly did!

But the biggest thrill of all was when I walked into work this morning and was informed that Rod's book was our store's #1 seller for the week. Yep, he beat out Jodi Picoult (My Sister's Keeper), Stephenie Meyer (Eclipse), Mark Levin (Liberty and Tyranny: A Conservative Manifesto), William Young (The Shack), and Dean Koontz (Relentless)! Whoohoo! :)

We also want to thank Hilary Sire (B&N Community Resource Manager extraordinaire) for putting on such a fantastic event. Rod says it was truly an honor to be part of such a memorable day.

Rod & Pat

Pat & Kim

Rod & Katie
(Rod's editor while freelancing for Smart Computing)

Rod, Jen, Maddie & Emily
(adoring nieces & sister-in-law)

Rod & Shirley-Mom

Sarah, Brent & Rod

Mary Kate, Josh & Rod

Rod & Dave

Daniel & Rod

Rod & Alison

Rod with Bob & Miss Linda

Rod with Barry & Lynn

Apparently, not everyone was impressed with Rod's book. We'll give her time. I'm sure she'll come around in a few years.