Here’s what it’s all about;
What?
Indigo Blue is my debut novel. It’s a middle grade (so 9yo+) fictional story.
Why?
Books have had a huge impact on me. They gave me a reason to push through my early struggles with dyslexia, and it was a book that inspired me to sail around the world. Being given the opportunity to write a book about my voyage taught me a huge amount and gave me an appetite to write more.
And this story, well, I couldn’t understand why someone hadn’t already told it. Perhaps a little audaciously, I also thought that I would be able to do it justice, that my love of sailing would add a nice perspective to the story.
Why did I really write it?
Well, I do have an ulterior motive… I want more young girls to fall in love with sailing! I’m hoping that this book will help them do that.
How?
I started writing when I had a little bit of spare time during uni holidays way back in 2014. That was quite a dangerous thing to do because once I start something, I can’t stand not to finish. And as it turns out, writing a book isn’t a quick uni holidays project... While I’ve loved it all, it’s been a lot of work and learning. There’s been redrafting, a structural edit, a line edit, amendments based on the feedback of early readers and plenty of agonising over a title.
When?
Indigo Blue is scheduled to hit the shelves on the 11th of January, so girls don’t blow all your Christmas money! You can pre-order a copy here.
And perhaps the most important question; what’s it about?
Well, without giving too much away, it’s an adventure story about sailing and making new friends. There’s a bit of fantasy and some mysterious local history. I think it’s a modern fairy-tale, but certainly not the type of fairy-tale where the heroine sits around waiting to be rescued!
Here’s the official blurb;
Alex feels like a fish out of water in her new hometown - the sleepy little lakeside village of Boreen Point where she is reluctantly sent to live with her slightly eccentric aunt for her final year of high school. None of Alex's classmates could care less about the new girl, so Alex couldn't care less about them . . . or so she tries to tell herself.
As a distraction from what is quickly shaping up to be a very lonely year, Alex spends her savings on a rundown little yacht and throws herself into restoring it. A curious discovery leads to the beginnings of a friendship, but it's Sam – the sailmaker's apprentice – and his mysterious ways that capture Alex's attention and force her to question what is real and what matters most.
