Interview With Historical Fiction Author Cynthia Elder

 

1.      What inspired you to write this book? Voices from the past urged me to write Tales of the Sea. After the death of my husband’s parents, we unearthed letters, ship’s logs and diaries from his seafaring family in the 1800s. Their words captivated me – here was the true story of sailors, soldiers and women in the years leading up to and through the Civil War. They navigated the final chapter of the Age of Sail, when wooden sailing ships connected continents and cultures, transforming commons sailors into global citizens.  

2.      What exactly is it about — and who is it written for? Tales of the Sea is a sailing adventure, a story of a country torn apart at the seams over the issue of slavery, and a love story between two remarkable people, James Jenkins and Ruth Fish of West Barnstable, Massachusetts. It brings you into the small towns and foreign ports where merchant sailors carved out the trade routes that exist to this day. People risked their lives to move goods around the world: tea and coffee, fruit and spices, cotton and silk, coal and lumber. The work of sailing meant years of separation from loved ones. Letters that might not reach their destination for months were their lifeline to home.  More than enough stories have been written about the great leaders who wielded power and money during our country’s formative years. Tales of the Sea focuses on the everyday people who lived, loved, worked, fought and died for their country and their families.  This is a work of historical fiction, grounded in original sources and deep research. These novels elevate the voices of real people whose words echo through the letters, logs and journals they left behind. The novels have been embraced by readers who enjoy sailing stories, family sagas, military history, and tales of women who broke through the barriers of their time.  

3.      What do you hope readers will get out of reading your book? Whether or not you’re a sailor, you can experience life aboard a great wooden sailing ship by reading Tales of the Sea. You’ll feel the mountainous waves cresting over your bow as you round Cape Horn and know the solitude and the grandeur of a life at sea. You’ll experience life through the eyes of women before they had the right to vote and witness how essential they became in sailing communities. You’ll meet a man who escaped a life of slavery and went on to find freedom on the seas as a ship’s cook, and you’ll walk in the shoes of a Civil War soldier as he crawled through the mud, dodging bullets, watching his comrades fall around him.  

4.      How did you decide on your book’s title and cover design? These are sailing stories, so I wanted the cover to reflect that. Most of the merchant ships in Tales of the Sea are three-masted, wooden-hulled sailing barks – the workhorses of the ocean. My publisher, Holand Press, found a great image of this type of ship for the cover of the first book, The Journey Begins. For the second book, The Drumbeats of War, they selected an image with a variety of sailing ships in a crowded foreign port and a darker mood, reflecting the state of the world in the Civil War years.  

5.      What advice or words of wisdom do you have for fellow writers – other than run!? Write the book that won’t let go of you. In a world when AI can rapidly produce just about anything, depend on your own flawed humanity to create something that will stand the test of time. Do it because you have to, because the characters and the story won’t leave you alone until you bring them to life.  

6.      What trends in the book world do you see -- and where do you think the book publishing industry is heading?  We’re in a fascinating period of change. The major publishers throw their resources behind a limited number of authors who can make the New York Times Bestseller List. Some authors are finding success with genre series, like cozy mysteries (which I love) or romanticies that have strong repeat audiences. Self-publishing is being redefined not simply as vanity publishing but as a countermovement against the big publishers. Hybrid publishing (e.g., Holand Press) has carved out the middle ground by lowering the cost of production and eliminating the need to hold inventory. Meanwhile, AI is here, like it or not, and we all have to find our own moral compass around how we use it. Writers have to get creative about earning money while maintaining their craft – that’s nothing new. I’ve always held a traditional job while working on my writing projects. You should only be a writer if you are driven to create. Otherwise, you could find much easier ways to make a living.  

7.      Were there experiences in your personal life or career that came in handy when writing this book?  I had never sailed before I met Bob Elder, the man who would become my husband. For our first date, he took me out on his 38-foot sailboat in Maine. That date lasted a week. We’ve been sailing ever since. Both of our daughters sailed from their earliest weeks of life. I caught the history bug from my mother, who was a museum director. She raised me around people from many cultures and constantly exposed me to the wonders of the past.  

8.      How would you describe your writing style? Which writers or books is your writing similar to? I draw on my creative roots as a poet and my working life as a journalist and nonprofit leader to craft a story. Every word should earn its way onto the page. I suppose you would classify my writing as “literary,” though that word has been stretched and twisted to the point that it’s hard to define. While I don’t put myself in the same league, I would compare my prose style to Amor Towles (A Gentleman in Moscow), whose writing I adore. Tales of the Sea has a taste of Jane Austin with a dash of Nathaniel Philbrick. My novels belong on the shelf next to Patrick O’Brian’s Master and Commander series.  

9.      What challenges did you overcome in the writing of this book? I used multiple points of view in Tales of the Sea because I wanted to tell the story of a family whose lives were defined by sailing and the Civil War. With some characters at home and others at distant ports or on the battlefield, it created a kind of time warp. They didn’t have the instant communication we have now. My solution: The first keeper of the Sandy Neck Lighthouse, Joseph Nickerson, evolved into a major character. He anchors the reader to solid ground while others travel the world. I fell in love with him along the way.  

10.  If people can buy or read one book this week or month, why should it be yours? The Civil War occurred less than a hundred years after our country’s founding, so it may seem a long time ago. In fact, it was only a few generations back – my husband’s great-great-grandparents lived through it.  We find ourselves now at a time of great political division and technological change, not unlike the mid-1800s. Tales of the Sea shows you how hard people worked to build this country and how much they sacrificed to keep it. You’ll come to know these honorable, flawed, determined people and understand why they chose a life on the sea.  

About The Author: Cynthia Elder is a novelist, poet and nonprofit leader. Her new two-part historical fiction series, Tales of the Sea (The Journey Begins and The Drumbeats of War), is based on previously unpublished letters, ship's logs and personal journals from her husband's seafaring family in the 1800s. Elder is also executive director of the Barrington Land Conservation Trust. For more information, visit www.cynthiaelder.com.   

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About Brian Feinblum

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For the past three decades, Brian Feinblum has helped thousands of authors. He formed his own book publicity firm in 2020. Prior to that, for 21 years as the head of marketing for the nation’s largest book publicity firm, and as the director of publicity at two independent presses, Brian has worked with many first-time, self-published, authors of all genres, right along with best-selling authors and celebrities such as: Dr. Ruth, Mark Victor Hansen, Joseph Finder, Katherine Spurway, Neil Rackham, Harvey Mackay, Ken Blanchard, Stephen Covey, Warren Adler, Cindy Adams, Todd Duncan, Susan RoAne, John C. Maxwell, Jeff Foxworthy, Seth Godin, and Henry Winkler.

 

His writings are often featured in The Writer and IBPA’s The Independent (https://pubspot.ibpa-online.org/article/whats-needed-to-promote-a-book-successfully). He was recently interviewed by the IBPA: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F0BhO9m8jbs

 

He hosted a panel on book publicity for Book Expo America several years ago, and has spoken at ASJA, BookCAMP, Independent Book Publishers Association Sarah Lawrence College, Nonfiction Writers Association, Cape Cod Writers Association, Willamette (Portland) Writers Association, APEX, Morgan James Publishing, and Connecticut Authors and Publishers Association. He served as a judge for the 2024 IBPA Book Awards.

 

His letters-to-the-editor have been published in The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, New York Post, NY Daily News, Newsday, The Journal News (Westchester) and The Washington Post. His first published book was The Florida Homeowner, Condo, & Co-Op Association Handbook.  It was featured in The Sun Sentinel and Miami Herald.

 

Born and raised in Brooklyn, he now resides in Westchester with his wife, two kids, and Ferris, a black lab rescue dog, and El Chapo, a pug rescue dog.

 

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