Guest Post!
I remember my first encounter with the fairy-tale “Sindbad and the Seven Seas” or “Sindbad the Sailor” or “The Seven Voyages of Sindbad” however you want to translate it. While it was originally a story from the compilation of tales included in “1001 Nights” released centuries ago, I found it as a child as the last story in the massive Reader’s Digest collection of fairytales I was reading cover to cover. It was actually the last story included in that collection, and I was anticipating it eagerly, though made myself wait until I finished all the previous stories first. And it did not disappoint. The tales of the seven islands that Sindbad crashed on and the monsters he found on them filled my imagination with wonder. The only thing I felt it lacked was a proper romance. Revisiting the tale as an adult, I discovered something that I either missed earlier or wasn’t part of that translation, namely that Sindbad was actually married- twice!- in the course of his adventuring. I also discovered that while I remembered the famous whale island and the Rocs, there was also an island of nocturnal man-eating apes. Now, I don’t know about you, but that all sounds like a good story to me. So, I took this fairy-tale I loved as a child and made it into something even more mine, removing one wedding and widowing, switched around a couple islands, and introduced a heroine who was not a chief’s daughter but was, in fact, the very vessel that Shahrazad received word of the seven voyages of Sindbad the sailor, her very own sister- disguised as a boy. I was very surprised after seeking out other Sindbad retellings to find only beautiful translations and children’s books, but hope that this retelling will take its place in the proud tradition of novelized romantic fairytale retellings- and hopefully will someday be joined by many others from others as captured by the tale as I.
The inauguration year of Queen Victoria sees a world where the seven seas are yet un-mapped and filled with mystery . . .
Sindbad had room in his heart for one love: the sea. Unlike women, the sea would never betray him, and it was never hard to determine the ocean's mood. The sea kept things simple; just him and his men traveling the globe and discovering new territory for Her Majesty the Queen. But his newest cabin boy is hiding a secret that could derail Sindbad's carefully charted course . . .
Dunyazad is running out of time to rescue her sister from the murderous tyrant she has fallen into the clutches of. With the well of stories keeping Scheherazade alive going dry, Dunyazad decides to have an adventure of her own to be spun into a tale long enough to last until she find a powerful ally that will rescue her sister once and for all. But her tenuous plan depends on her keeping her true identity— and gender— a secret from the misogynistic captain or else risk being stranded on a deserted island. If only the man weren't so infuriating, or handsome . . .
Falling in love may be the most dangerous adventure of all to be found on the Seven Seas.
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Author bio:
Jes Drew is the author of the Ninja and Hunter trilogy, the Howling Twenty trilogy, the Kristian Clark saga, the Castaways trilogy, The Dystopian Takeover trilogy, The Clockwork Faerie Tale Novellas, The Summers of Yesteryear series, Legends of the Master Spy, The New ESE Files, Tales from Parallel Worlds, Genie and Serena, PIs, Accidentally on the Run, and This Side of Heaven. Her true love is Captain Steve Rogers, and there is a possibility that she may or may not be a superhuman, but she hasn't discovered her powers. Yet. Also, she might be a spy, but that's classified.
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