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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

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....

Onward and Upward!

Matlacha Island, FL