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New in Fiction!

A. Manette Ansay has just published a novel called Blue Water. The title isn't the only reason why we like it! Manette is a local author who teaches in the University of Miami's Creative Writing Program, and she's also a boater. Part of Blue Water is inspired by time that she and her husband, Jake, spent living aboard and cruising on a 38' Hans Christian sloop. They traveled the Caribbean, and so does Meg, the book's main character.

In the novel, Meg and Rex buy a boat after their 6-year-old son is killed by a drunk driver. They intend to leave their problems ashore, but discover, as many sailors do, that their problems follow them wherever they go. The concept of this book speaks to the notion of escape that tends to lure people to a life at sea, but the author knows as well as many of her boating readers do that there is no such thing as running away.

Manette's own story is just as rich as the stories in her novels. Her first novel, Vinegar Hill, was published in 1994, and in 1999 Oprah Winfrey chose it to be one of her "Book Club" picks. The increased sales generated by Oprah's attention enabled Manette to seek medical help for a debilitating undiagnosed disease that had kept her in a wheelchair and arm and leg braces for years. She became ill when she was 21, with a mystery disease that was misdiagnosed as MS, but with new treatment combining Western medicine and alternative healing practices, she was able to regain her health enough so that she now gets around without even a cane.

Blue Water promises to be much more than a "beach read."

New in Software!

Bluewater's flagship vessel database product, Vessel Management System Professional, is now available in a single vessel version (SVE) for 99 bucks! It's a slimmed down version of Pro and therefore very stable and mature. A perfect companion to any vessel using a computer navigation product.