Читать книгу The Captain's Quest - Hans Mateboer - Страница 3

Years ago, when I had just been named captain of a new ship, the publisher of Cruise Industry News interviewed me for his magazine. He mentioned that he was looking for someone to write short stories, then I countered that I came from a long line of writers. I jokingly said that this person could be me, and I was sure he was also joking when he told me this was a great idea.

But I decided to try. I quickly found out that writing serious insider stories wasn’t as easy as I thought it would be. Ship computers are much better suited for navigation than word processing, so I wasted many sheets of paper trying to write about things that interested me very little and would interest a reader even less! Then something amusing happened on the bridge one day, and the story became funnier the more it was told. That’s when I decided to write a few pieces about everyday ship life instead. I had no idea if the stories were pearls of wisdom or pearls cast before swine and very nearly threw them away. But I had opened my big mouth and made a promise to write a few stories, so I decided to send them in after all.

Imagine my surprise when a month later I received a magazine that featured one of my stories on the last two pages. Now, more than fifteen years and many tales later, my stories still appear on the last two pages of Cruise Industry News. The have also filled two paperback books called The Captain’s Log and The Captain’s Journal.

As the book market continues to change, Captain’s Publishing tries to change with it. The two paperbacks are now available as eBooks, and The Captain’s Quest you’re viewing recently entered the market as a 99-cent sampler, with six new stories and one each from The Captain’s Log and The Captain’s Journal.

I’d like to thank Oivind Mathisen of Cruise Industry News, Ron Pramschufer of booksjustbooks.com, Jonathan Ayoob of Solitary Solutions, Inc., Dana Cole at selfpublishing.com and Captain’s Publishing editor Anne Hardin for their help and support.

We all hope you enjoy The Captain’s Quest!