Sailing into a new Spectra story!

 

Is anyone else an avid daydreamer? I've been studying what some call maladaptive daydreaming. It's not letting your thoughts wander, or planning out your future, or even figuring out what to write next. When I'm stuck in a daydream, I'm basically watching a movie unfold inside my head--a movie I get to direct and control. Is it maladaptive? I'm not sure. Usually after about a week, it fades and I'm more grounded in reality for a while, until I meet a new idea I just have to watch unfold. Part of my character Indra's struggle with living in dreams (literally) in the DreamRovers trilogy comes from me. I bring it up because these daydreams end up being a goldmine of story ideas. I'd like to introduce you to a new story that started as a daydream. As I wrote down the basics of the daydream, I noticed its similarity to my favorite Shakespeare play, As You Like It. I combined both ideas into a new story, The Captain's Dowry.

Sal lives a double life--half at sea as her father's cabin boy, and half at a fine finishing school. Both worlds turn upside down when her father sells his ship and her hand in marriage. If her new husband thinks she'll stay quietly at home while he sails off into the sunset, he can think again. She won't stop until she finds a way to be herself--both of them.  If you'd like to read the first three chapters completely free, you can find them on kindle vella. (FAQ for how to read on kindle vella here). I'll be posting two chapters each week on kindle vella. If you'd rather wait for ebook, paperback, or Kindle Unlimited, the full book is coming out April 1, 2023. That'll give me time to finish all 45 chapters, have a few more beta readers look over it, and have a baby.