{my novel | the wheelhouse café}

THE WHEELHOUSE CAFÉ is a love story in the key of sea.

It’s 1994. Cell phones have yet to give seamen a bittersweet connection to the world they leave ashore, and Captain John Raymond has been riding the tides of loneliness for years. Lost in the choppy two-weeks on, two-weeks off rhythm of tugboat life, he feels most alone laying at anchor in New York Harbor because home is so close but seems a world away.

The harbor is where John performs the Wheelhouse Café, singing over a marine radio in the wheelhouse. He doesn’t know if anyone hears him . . . until he meets Arden McHale.

 THE WHEELHOUSE CAFÉ is accompanied by this songscape. The songs were written by my husband Josh Horton when he was seaman in the 1990s, and I paired them with scenes in the novel to convey the intensity, raw beauty and loneliness of life at sea. 

In March, musicians will be invited to share their interpretation of a song or songs, both digitally and live at WHEELHOUSE CAFÉ  book/ music mash-ups across the country. Stay tuned for details! 

There are no rules. You define your WHEELHOUSE CAFÉ experience.  Maybe you’ll choose to listen to a song during the scene it accompanies, or you might decide to read in silence and experience the music afterward. The only thing you don’t want to do is miss how the songscape anchors the story. 

 

 THE WHEELHOUSE CAFÉ was released in December 2015. Find it on Amazon and ask for it at your local bookseller. 

Learn more about THE WHEELHOUSE CAFÉ here.

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