Library of Congress
Control Number: 2023944002

FIC047000 FICTION/
Sea Stories
FIC002000 FICTION/
Action & Adventure
FIC000000 FICTION/
General

About the Author

Steve Twitty lives and writes in Bangkok, Thailand

He has also publlished
Saving Moses and
Terror Beneath the Bayou
Due for publication
in 2023:

Betwixt & Between

 

What Readers Are Saying

 

o Twitty tells a story with a verve that pulls the reader in like a high tide. Full of vivid detail and emotion, Lady Alone is must read for anybody who likes adventure on the high seas or simply wants to understand the challenges of blue water sailing.
- - - Colin Habgood, 24,000 nautical miles under his keel

o An intense, yet an enjoyable, captivating story.
. . . From the beginning, I felt all the emotions Joan was feeling. From her determination to "show'" her mother and sail when her mother tried to talk her out of it, to the panicked rush to get back to the dock in time to set sail, to the excitement of casting off, and to the sea sickness that led to all going so wrong.

. . . I felt her fear when she found herself all alone on this forty-foot sailboat with no sailing experience. Her determination to go on despite all her mistakes and bad luck was admirable. But what choice did she have? She was all alone in the middle of the ocean. The detail was such that I learned a lot about sailing and the many things that go into it. I liked how information in the beginning tied in with the ending.

. . . This whole story was a true adventure. I highly recommend Lady Alone if you'd like to take a voyage while in the comfort of your home.
- - - Nan Adel, avid reader

Dear Reader:
Lady Alone is based on a tale I heard from a sailor friend who claimed this story is fair dinkum, that in the 1980's there was a boat named Atmosphere, owned by a captain who haled from Hong Kong, and that while crossing the Pacific Ocean with an inexperienced woman as crew, he was lost overboard during a storm, leaving his hapless crew struggling for her life.

Though such a story is certainly plausible, I have yet to confirm its validity, though this in itself does not negate truth. What calamities the unfortunate woman in my friend's story supposedly suffered, he did not elaborate, but those souls who sail or have sailed know how easily a safe and comfortable passage can be plunged from a satisfying sense of control into a harrowing struggle in a brief moment of time.

Whether due to sleep deprivation or simple oversight, the same issues the lady in my story faces, and worse, can and have put experienced captains and crew in life-threatening struggles. Throw inexperience into the mix and that struggle to stay alive in a deteriorating situation can become a monumental challenge.

For those readers who are or have been sailors and those who have dreamed of shaking out the canvas and letting the wind sweep you toward a destination beyond the horizon, it is my hope you enjoy this tale as much as you delight in fair seas and a steady wind over the stern quarter. And for all those readers who just like a good story, I truly hope you find this gripping tale of survival and determination as enjoyable to read as it was for me to write.