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The Scuttlebutt for Spring 2008 The Scuttlebutt goes out four times a year to readers across the United States, thirteen countries around the world, and several ships at sea, with the latest word on the adventures, novels, and lectures of award-winning novelist Robert N. Macomber |
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The 2008 Pacific Lecture
Tour
aboard Queen Victoria
What a great journey! This was my most
successful lecture voyage yet---my books sold out, I got some good
research done afloat and ashore, wrote over 30,000 words in a
future novel's manuscript, met an incredible assortment of
interesting people, saw some old shipmates again, and made new
friends. The ship was the newly commissioned Queen Victoria (www.cunard.com),
and a lovely queen she was, transporting us in splendor across the
Pacific from Los Angeles to Australia. Here are just a few of
my many memories:
Honolulu
I spent the day as guest of the United States Navy at Pearl Harbor, with Commander Stan Robertson, Submarine Squadron 7(http://www.csp.navy.mil/css7/index.htm), and the USS Columbus (SSN 762) (www.csp.navy.mil/css7/762.). At SubRon7's admin offices I had a chance to go next door to ComSubRon3's office and stand at Admiral Kimmell's window, where he watched the Japanese attack on that fateful day in US history. Aboard Columbus, I spoke with officers and petty officers as they readied her for a patrol. I am very thankful to CDR Robertson, CDR Doody, and all hands aboard Columbus, for an excellent day. Good hunting, guys...
At Sea
The daily five o'clock (4 bells in the first
dog watch) gathering at the Commodore's Club was where sea stories
were swapped, plans made, history discussed, and some pretty
decent rum consumed. Command Master Chief Glenn Lambert (USCG Ret)
and Radioman Jim Chavis (submariner USN Ret) had some of the very
best sea stories, supplemented by folks from around the world who
told their own tales of the sea. Thanks for some good liberty
afloat, my friends.
Samoa
I love Samoa. At Pago Pago, I went to
my old haunt, the Sadie Thompson Inn (www.sadiethompsoninn.com),
a place and woman made famous by author Somerset Maugham in his
short story Rain. It's the best watering hole in
Samoa---and was the #1 liberty port for US Navy sailors in the
Pacific from 1916 to 1924 because of Sadie Thompson and the girls!
Now it's a legitimate hotel, and a bunch of my shipmates ended up
there for the legendary cheeseburgers and Vailima beer.
Afterward, shipmates Delene and Glenn Lambert and I wandered the
island with a free-lance driver, seeing gorgeous scenery out
of the movie South Pacific and ending up at Tisa's Bar (www.tisasbarefootbar.com)
on the beach before returning to the ship.
Fiji
As you roam the island of Veti Levu Fijians
walking by shout out Bula Bula to you---hello! The
bus ride to and from Nadi was very interesting (and bumpy)---the
landscape changed from flat sugar cane fields (sugar capital of
the Pacific) to volcanic mountains to watery swamps and meandering
rivers. It's a busier place than Samoa, but you still know you're
in the South Pacific.
Auckland, New Zealand
The "City of Sails." A true
sailor's port. After lunch ashore, I sat on the Queen
Victoria's fantail and relaxed while watching the annual
Traditional Sailing Vessels Regatta race in the harbor---50 to
80-year old schooners, cutters, and sloops, battling it out in a
30kt breeze. Quite a sight and great entertainment for me. Some of
the finest sailing seamen in the world come from New Zealand.
Napier, New Zealand
This little town is my favorite in New
Zealand---sort of a poster child for the country. Clean, safe,
quaint, friendly, pretty, and prosperous. The annual festival, to
commemorate the resurgence of the town after the 1931 earthquake,
was in full swing. And let me tell you, Kiwis do know how
to have fun. Thousands of folks attended, many dressed in 1930's
attire, with swing bands playing outdoors and hundreds of
antique vehicles driving around, including a steam-engined truck.
I spent a great afternoon there, sampling the local brews,
watching the people, and listening to stories.
Wellington, New Zealand
This is a modern bustling (but clean) city.
I got out of the downtown area fast, going up the cable car to the
mountain top overlooking the city and bay. Beautiful park
with spectacular views. I haven't found anywhere in New Zealand I
don't like---what a country...
Melbourne, Australia!
Hmm...how should I explain this? I had a
very liquid time in Melbourne's bars, courtesy of my two new
Aussie shipmate buddies, Rob and Bruce. Here's a Life Lesson for
people not from Australia: NEVER
try to keep up with an Australian drinking beer, much less two of
them. Can't be done. I know, because I tried. The beer,
by the way, was named True Blond. Afterward my buddies and I made
our way (slowly) back aboard, with Rob, who is blind, leading the
way. The Gurkha security staff eyed us over very thoroughly...
That evening, all hands
were treated to another Aussie custom: Big Parties. Aussie's work
hard---and party even harder. As we cleared the wharf under a full
moon, the ship played traditional Australian songs on the PA
("Tannoy" for you Brits, Aussies, and Kiwis) while
Melbourne put on a fantastic fireworks show spanning the whole
harbor. Wasn't a dry eye for miles around.
Sydney, Australia
Sydney was my last port visit. I installed
myself in a nice hotel downtown, the Park Regis Inn. During the
last year, two dear friends of mine, Pat and Fay, had offered to
show me around the next time I was ashore in Sydney, so I took
them up on their offers and as a result, had a wonderful time.
I spent two days with the Sydney Heritage Fleet (www.shf.org.au)
both ashore and afloat on the schooner Boomerang
(courtesy of Fay and Captain Michael York) escorting Queen
Victoria out to sea. If you are ever in Sydney, you must go
to the National Maritime Museum and see their work.
I also recommend Bob
Charlesworth's Australian Wild Escapes (www.australianwildescapes.com), a
great tour guide company. Bob, an encyclopedia of all things
Aussie, personally led a party of his Queen Victoria
shipmates up into the Blue Mountains and showed us majestic
sights. This is the best way to see the real Australia.
Pat showed me the
cultural side of Sydney, with cosmopolitan dinners and an evening at
the famous Opera House. Sydney is incredible---it's absolutely my
favorite big city in the world. Four million people live there,
but it has a small city feel and is a great place for those of us
with an affinity for the sea.
Thank you to everyone who hosted me, pal'd
around with me, bought my books, attended my lectures, and crossed
the Pacific in such style with me. Let's do it again!
What's happening this
Spring?
From the Old World to the New
On April 19th, I go to Barcelona,
Spain, and join the Silver Shadow (www.silversea.com) to
lecture on a voyage to the New World via Cadiz, Madeira, the
Azores, Antigua, St. Barts, St. Thomas, and Fort Lauderdale.
The Queen Mary 2 adventure!
On May 22nd, readers are
joining me aboard Queen Mary 2 for a five day voyage from
New York City to Halifax, Boston, and back to New York. At a
special party during the Queen Mary 2 voyage, I'll
be previewing the beginning of my next novel, The
Honored Dead, where Peter Wake goes on a mission to Vietnam
and Cambodia. You'll also get to meet the well-known amateur
astronomer who does the celestial research for my novels, Nancy
Glickman.
NOTE: If you're coming along on the Queen
Mary 2 voyage independent of the travel agent tour
group, please email me so I can include you in my book preview
gathering. I already will have a list of folks with
the travel agent's group.
Great news for A
Different Kind of Honor!
While in the Pacific, I received wonderful
news from my publisher: My most recent book, A Different Kind
of Honor, is a nominee for the American Library Association's
prestigious Boyd Literary Award, the national book award for
military fiction. The judging panel will make their
decision in June and the award will be given in early
July at the ALA's convention in California. I have some very tough
competition, so fingers crossed, everyone.
Oh, and here's a little trivia for you: if you've
read A Different Kind of Honor and also have seen the
movie National Treasure: Book of Secrets, then you know
that the Resolute desk in the presidential oval office in
the film, so important to the storyline, is the same as the one in
my book!
Some more pleasant trivia: Historical Novels
Review in the UK just reviewed A Different Kind of Honor
and they loved it, saying this about the book and Honor Series: "This
novel is well researched, and I empathized with the characters.
This is an exceptional series recommended to anyone interested in
reading about American history near the turn of the 20th
century."
The Honor Series' next
novel:
The Honored Dead
The publisher has moved the release date of The
Honored Dead back to early spring, eleven months from now,
which enables us to have two book tours in 2009---one in the
spring and the regular one in the fall. Some of you may remember I
researched this book along the Mekong and Perfume rivers in
Vietnam and Cambodia last year.
It's set in 1883, when Peter Wake and
Sean Rork find themselves in the middle of French Indo-China on a
mission to deliver a presidential message and do some recon. But
things get complicated and our boys end up with some very sinister
fellows who don't like them. In fact, they're trying to kill them! Along
the way, Peter Wake comes to terms with his
profound personal loss and realizes that he can love again
when he meets a beautiful woman on a prison island in the South
China Sea.
For those who have been to that area, either
during the war or as tourists recently, the scenes will be
familiar. It will also explain the beginning of European
involvement in SE Asia, a place that captivated me. It is a
mystical, beautiful, dangerous, and confusing land to this
day---the perfect place for a novel...
OFFICIAL TEASE ABOUT THE NOVEL, FROM THE
AUTHOR:
The first three pages have a huge surprise
for Honor Series fans. Sorry, I couldn't help that tease. If
you're with me aboard Queen Mary 2 in May you'll find
out the surprise. Don't worry, there are more later in the book.
What I'm working on now
I'm working on a future Honor Series
novel about Florida and Cuba in 1886, when Cuban revolutionaries
operated out of Key West, Tampa, and even southwest Florida. Peter
Wake, having built his dream home on an island along the
southwest coast of Florida in The Honored Dead, ends up
in the middle of international intrigue in Havana and Key West,
but it gets intensely personal when mortal enemies from Cuba come
to his island refuge.
I'm also working on some new lectures, a
couple of maritime magazine articles, some TV documentary
concepts, and finalizing plans for the 2009 Pacific Ocean lecture
tour. So far, it looks very intriguing: the plans are confirmed
for me to be in Australia in January and board the Silver
Whisper for a lecture voyage to ports at Guadalcanal in
the Solomon Islands, New Guinea, Indonesia, and the Phillipines,
disembarking at Hong Kong. I'll also be researching and
writing a future novel along the way. Why don't you sign up at www.silversea.com
(January 2009, aboard Silver Whisper) and come along!
Special book sale!
Only available here at the Ship's
Store
until June 1st, 2008
~At the Edge of
Honor~
~Point of Honor~
~Honorable Mention~
Get copies, personally
inscribed by the author, of Robert N. Macomber's first
three novels (beautiful hardcover) in the award-winning
Honor Series---Peter Wake's Civil War years---for the very
special price (incl S&H) of only $59.95!
This is a substantial savings over the regular price (incl
S&H) of $71.70.
You pay nothing for the
shipping---I take that cost.
Order
simply by contacting my Ship's Store manager,
Jennifer
Holloway, toll-free at 1-866-456-2687,
or at locotzinc@embarqmail.com.
It's that's easy!
Book Recommendation...
for your next book, after
you buy mine!
I recently reviewed an outstanding naval
book, DESTROYER CAPTAIN--Lessons of a first Command, and
want to let you know about it. Admiral James Stavridis (USN) is
commander of SOUTHCOM (all US military forces in the Western
Hemisphere south of Florida) and has put the private journal
of his first ship command, the destroyer Barry (DDG 52),
into book form. 1993-95 was one heck of a time to have a
first command---Barry served in the Haiti peacekeeping
operation, plus combat operations in the Balkans and in the
Arabian Gulf. And while doing all that, Barry also
won the prestigious Battenberg Cup as the best ship in the
Atlantic Fleet. DESTROYER CAPTAIN is available at www.amazon.com and
is a real page-turner.
Here's the summary of my review: "With
insider details about the real worries and triumphs of command,
Destroyer Captain is a must read for all naval officers and a
fascinating adventure for everyone who loves the U.S. Navy."
Happy Spring!
I hope everyone had a meaningful Easter and Milad
an-Nabi, will have a wonderful Passover, and that your Spring
(or Fall, in you're Down Under) this year is pleasant and
productive. As always, I'm very interested in email from
my readers around the world, so let me you how you're doing.
In the meantime, remember to always try to
keep steering....
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Onward and Upward! Matlacha Island, FL |

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