Mystic Pizza and Beyond: Mystic Seafarer's Trail: Mystic Seafarer's Trail Launch Party Today!

Mystic Pizza and Beyond: Mystic Seafarer's Trail: Mystic Seafarer's Trail Launch Party Today!: Meet the author, Lisa Saunders, and sailors featured in the book, Mystic Seafarer's Trail, at the launch party in Groton, Connecticut. The...

Mystic Seafarer's Trail now available in Mystic area

Hit the Mystic Seafarer's Trail! Mystic Seafarer's Trail: Secrets Behind the 7 Wonders, Titanic’s Shoes, Captain Sisson’s Gold, and Amelia Earhart’s Wedding is available on Amazon as an e-book or softcover and locally at:

Bank Square Books, Mystic, CT, (860) 536-3795
Franklin's General Store, Olde Mistick Village, CT, (860) 536-1038
Carson's Variety Store (restaurant), Noank, CT, (860) 536-0059
Mystic River Acupuncture, Groton, CT, (860) 448-6766
Welcome Center at Mystic Depot, Mystic, CT, (860) 572-9578
Cottrell Brewing Co. Pawcatuck, CT,(860) 599-8213

Mystic Seafarer’s Trail includes Amelia Earhart's Wedding Day

Secrets behind the 7 Wonders, Titanic's Shoes, Captain Sisson's Gold, and

Amelia Earhart's Wedding

Mystic, CT—Author's latest book, Mystic Seafarer’s Trail, is a humorous and historical look at the haunts and homes of Mystic’s famous sea voyagers—living and dead—and includes little-known details about Amelia Earhart’s wedding in Noank.

About the book: While searching for the Seven Wonders of Mystic with her beagle/basset hound, author Lisa Saunders uncovers the secrets behind the Titanic's shoes, Captain Sisson's hunt for gold, and Amelia Earhart's Noank wedding. But will she ever find an adventure of her own--one that will make her thin and famous? Enough to afford a housekeeper? When walking the Mystic Seafarer's Trail (which Lisa designed for those who don't like to go uphill), she meets a blind sailor who invites her on a long, winter voyage. Can this plump writer defy squalls, scurvy, and her fear of scraping barnacles to survive this epic journey?

The soft cover and e-book (which provides an excerpt) are available at: www.amazon.com/author/lisasaunders

Upcoming events include:

Sunday, December 2, 2012, 2 – 4 p.m.

Mystic Seafarer’s Trail Launch Party and Holiday Open House

Meet the seafarers featured in the book. Light refreshments and autographed copies available.

Where: Mystic River Acupuncture, 167 Broad Street, Groton, 06340 (on street parking)

More info, directions: www.mysticriveracupuncture.com, 860-448-6766, clm1208@aol.com

 

Tuesday, December 11, 2012, 6:30-8:00 p.m.

Mystic & Noank Library, Ames Room

Mystic Seafarer’s Trail presentation and author book signing. Light refreshments.

More info: http://mysticnoanklibrary.com, Development Office, 860-572-8191, or mnldevelopment@juno.com

About the Author: Lisa Saunders is an award-winning writer living in Mystic, Connecticut, with her husband and beagle/basset hound. A graduate of Cornell University, she is the author of several books and works as a part-time history interpreter at Mystic Seaport. She is a member of the Mystic River Historical Society and Daughters of the American Revolution. For more information about Lisa’s work or availability for speaking, visit www.authorlisasaunders.com, or write to saundersbooks@aol.com (Media may contact Saunders directly for a review copy.)

 

Seafarer's Trail E-book Allows Free Three Chapter Viewing

My e-book version of the Mystic Seafarer's Trail allows you to read almost three chapters for free. Visit: amazon.com/author/lisasaunders

Mystic Seafarer's Trail Available in Soft Cover and E-Book

Lisa's latest book, Mystic Seafarer's Trail: Secrets Behind the 7 Wonders, Titanic’s Shoes, Captain Sisson’s Gold, and Amelia Earhart’s Wedding, is a humorous and historical look at the haunts and homes of Mystic's famous sea voyagers, plus one woman's quest for high seas adventure, easy fame and a place to call home (softcover available on Amazon for $12.95). To be notified when it becomes available as an e-book, insert your e-mail address in the "Follow by E-mail" button to the right.
See post below for first chapter.

Mystic Seafarer's Trail: Chapter One

 Mystic Seafarer's Trail

The humorous insider's guide to historic Mystic, Connecticut, includes little-known details of Amelia Earhart’s wedding day in neaby Noank.

Chapter One

 

Wanted: Epic Adventure

Moments after I stepped out of my new home with my hound for our first stroll through the historic seacoast village of Mystic, Connecticut, a woman pulled over in her van and yelled, "Excuse me."

Assuming she was a tourist wanting directions to Mystic Pizza or some other attraction, I wasn't prepared for what she really wanted to know.

"Do you realize the back of your skirt is tucked into your underwear?"

What a debut in my new hometown—I don’t think this is what National Geographic meant when they named Mystic one of the top 100 adventure towns in the United States.

Once recovered from my wardrobe “malfunction,” I continued toward downtown Mystic with Bailey, a beagle/basset hound mix, to embark on a new life—to shake off my old, sedentary landlubbing ways.

No longer did I want to be known as the lady who always talks about losing weight but never does it. No longer would I sit around daydreaming about becoming thin and famous so I could hire someone else to clean my house. I had a real shot at it now that I lived in a place where I couldn’t help but fall into a swash-buckling adventure—the kind that might inspire me to write a bestseller.

Straddling both sides of the Mystic River in the towns of Groton and Stonington, the village of Mystic takes its name from an Indian word, “river running to the sea.” With its scenic views of tall ships, islands, lighthouses, and secluded coves, it has attracted such legendary honeymooners as Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall. It is a place where those who cross the oceans gather to swap stories and repair their boats. It is where famous explorers are born, visit, or come to live.

To launch my career as an adventuress, I decided to walk Bailey to the haunts and homes of such celebrated adventurers as Amelia Earhart, the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic;  Dr. Robert Ballard, the discoverer of Titanic’s watery grave; Rear Admiral Richard E. Byrd, the first aviator to fly over the South Pole; and Captain Nathaniel B. Palmer, who accidentally discovered Antarctica.

Now was the time for me to join their ranks, to start living life on the edge. Maybe I could become thin and famous like Amelia Earhart. Like her, I am fairly tall, my middle initial is M, I have a gap between my two front teeth, and until I looked it up, I couldn’t spell medieval either (more on that and her wedding day later). Unlike Amelia, I wasn’t skinny, but that was about to change. I would stop lying around reading about adventurers and do what it took to become one. 

My husband, Jim, and I were transferred to Mystic by his company, which meant I had to quit my job as a writer for a college and search for a new one in a community that revolves around life at sea—not easy for a confirmed desk sitter like me. Finding the area already teeming with underemployed writers and publicists, I was grateful when my former employer hired me back as a consulting writer. Although freelancing allowed me to work from home in my pajamas, it offered no retirement benefits—hence the need to become famous. Being famous not only helps pay the bills, but it gives you an edge when trying to accomplish other goals.

Now was the time for me to follow in the path of prominent authors such as Herman Melville who went to sea on a whaler (a ship designed to catch whales and process their oil) when he couldn't find a job. Although he deserted and had to live among cannibals for a time, he found the inspiration to write his first novel. Further sea adventures, which included mutiny and learning about a whale that rammed and sank the Essex, led to the creation of his magnum opus: Moby Dick. I, myself, could barely get through this “Great American Novel,” but somebody must like it. And now that I lived within walking distance of the Charles W. Morgan, the last wooden whaleship in the world, I felt that was a sign. Perhaps I could enlist as a deck swabber for some epic voyage on it. The house we purchased came with a brass, whale-shaped door knocker. That had to be a sign.

If following in the footsteps of a whaling writer didn’t work, there was always the chance I could get famous by finding a dead body—just like Bailey and our older daughter had. Although it didn’t make her into an international celebrity, I use it as a party stopper whenever I want to be the center of attention. Of course, I should really find my own body, preferably of a well-known person. Celebrities are always coming to Mystic to film movies or vacation.

Since I couldn’t count on finding a dead body, famous or otherwise, I decided to start small. First, I planned to compile “The 7 Wonders of Mystic”—something quick I could shout to the tourists who rolled down their car windows asking what they should see (besides my underwear).

National Geographic’s website suggests that Mystic adventurers bike what it calls the 25-mile Vineyard Loop that includes “some hairy climbs that stops at two of the best wineries.” Hairy climbs? I hoped to get thin, but did I have to go uphill to do it? I thought not.

Instead, I would conquer a trail of my own design—one that would avoid hills where possible—and call it the “Mystic Seafarer’s Trail.” It would include “The 7 Wonders” (once I figured out what they were) plus the spots where legendary adventurers lived, worked or got married in Mystic and nearby Stonington and Noank. It would include not only the haunts and homes of those adventurers already mentioned, but also of those you may have never heard of—such as Kate the acupuncturist who gave birth on a schooner and rowed to shore to weigh her baby on a lobster scale.

With so many potential wonders to consider and adventures to try, I had a lot of ground—and water—to cover. So, every afternoon, I checked my skirt and off Bailey and I went to follow a scent of our own.

More about Mystic Seafarer's Trail:
While searching for the Seven Wonders of Mystic with her beagle/basset hound, author Lisa Saunders uncovers the secrets behind the Titanic's shoes, Captain Sisson's hunt for gold, and Amelia Earhart's Noank wedding. But will she ever find an adventure of her own--one that will make her thin and famous? Enough to afford a housekeeper? When walking the Mystic Seafarer's Trail (which Lisa designed for those who don't like to go uphill), she meets a blind sailor who invites her on a long, winter voyage. Can this plump writer defy squalls, scurvy, and her fear of scraping barnacles to survive this epic journey?

More chapters of the Mystic Seafarer's Trail (available as softcover or e-book) are available for previewing by clicking on "LOOK INSIDE" on Amazon at: http://www.amazon.com/Mystic-Seafarers-Trail-Titanics-Earharts/dp/1480085847/ref=la_B001K7Z5AC_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1355776710&sr=1-1

Book Available locally at:
Bank Square Books, Mystic, CT, (860) 536-3795
Franklin's General Store, Olde Mistick Village, CT, (860) 536-1038
Carson's Variety Store (restaurant), Noank, CT, (860) 536-0059
Cottrell Brewing Co., Pawcatuck, CT, (860) 599–8213
A Taste of New England, Can be ordered online and/or included in gift basket of New England items.
Monte Cristo Bookshop (a new shop in New London, CT)

 Author Lisa Saunders and her hound Bailey.

Thin and Famous in Mystic: Take 1

Author Lisa Saunders. Photo by Cindy Barry

Secrets Behind “The 7 Wonders of Mystic”
…and misadventures along the Seafarer’s Trail

by Lisa Saunders

Mystic, Connecticut: Named top 100 “Adventure Towns” by National Geographic

While exploring the secrets behind “The 7 Wonders of Mystic,” writer Lisa Saunders tries every seacoast adventure she can find in hopes of becoming thin and famous. While designing a Seafarers Trail—meant for those who don’t like to go uphill--she meets a blind sailor who invites her on a winter voyage up the east coast. Has Lisa finally found an exploit that will inspire her to write an international best seller? Can the plump writer and blind sailor defy foul weather, scurvy, and the temptation to eat the useless crew?

Introduction

Wanted: Epic Mystic Adventure

Mystic, Connecticut, is a village of seafarers, sailboats, mystery, and adventure. Located close to the Atlantic Ocean, you can see the area in the movie, Mystic Pizza starring Julia Roberts, and in the recent release, Hope Springs, starring Meryl Streep, Tommy Lee Jones and Steve Carell. (Note: Mystic, CT, is not portrayed in the film Mystic River, starring Sean Penn. That movie is named after another river and takes place in Boston.)

My husband Jim and I had first visited Mystic in 2006 to get away from our home in Suffern, New York, a few months after our younger daughter died after a long illness. Mystic appeared shrouded in mystery as a spring fog settled over the river, its tall, wooden ships and streets lined with old homes. The historic, seafaring community was a welcome break from our grief and the humdrum existence of living as inlanders. Intrigued by the 19^th century maritime village portrayed at Mystic Seaport, we bought blue water glasses from its gift shop etched with the Charles W. Morgan, the oldest wooden whaleship in the world, and took lots of photos of a park-like cemetery with its “Lost at Sea” headstones engraved with anchors and ships.

Imagining the exciting lives of Mystic’s former residents set my imagination on fire. Returning home to upstate New York, we hung those photos on our bedroom wall as a reminder of another world—one I wished I could escape to.

To make a long story short -- aren’t you relieved when writers state that? – four years later, my husband's company offered to transfer him to Groton, Connecticut. When I got the news, there was no doubt that I wanted to go and where I wanted to live—right in Mystic, which is situated in both the Towns of Groton and Stonington.

There was a stiff price to pay, however. Aside from leaving my parents, friends and the grave of our daughter behind, I also had to leave my full-time writing job in communications at Rockland Community College--and search for a new job in a community that revolved around life at sea.

Finding the area already teeming with underemployed writers and publicists, it took longer than expected to find a “real” job, so I was grateful when my former employer hired me back as a consulting writer, allowing me to work from home. Since freelancing offers no retirement benefits, I thought now was the time to get thin and famous. Thin, because that’s been my lifelong goal, famous, because then I could do whatever I wanted!

I decided to begin my life as a freelance writer by publishing an article about my new hometown: “The 7 Wonders of Mystic.” At least that would help me become known as “local author”—it would be a start. My second goal? Find a friend with a sailboat! Sailing on an epic voyage was a sure fire way to write a best seller—and afford those retirement years.

I also decided to design a “Seafarer’s Trail,” a map to guide adventure seekers to the hidden gems I uncovered—some obvious -- others only after lots of research. It would include all the wonders, including contenders, along with the haunts and homes of legendary seafarers, both living and dead, through the villages of Mystic, Stonington, and Noank.

Although I gained weight walking stretches of the Seafarer's Trail because I stopped along the way for ice cream and fried clams strips, I did, through conversations with the locals, uncover the secrets behind what I crowned “The 7 Wonders of Mystic,” become embroiled in a controversy over the“8th Wonder,” and discovered that I, too, had family secrets buried in Mystic. When I visited a local graveyard, I was in for an even bigger surprise.

Just when I thought Mystic’s dead folks were reaching from beyond the grave to hand me a story for my best-selling novel, it happened—a new Mystic friend bought a sailboat. Jim and I were promptly offered a once-in-a-lifetime chance to embark on an east coast, winter voyage—one that would make me look brave--even by Mystic standards. But can an out-of-shape 50-year-old, baby boomer shake her sedentary, landlubbing ways, venture the high seas and make a name for herself?

I blogged often as I prepared for the trip. Oh yes, I had become a blogger, something all underemployed writers become. Something that all friends of writers dread. (Our older daughter actually makes a living as a blog editor—so there is always hope!)

 

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