In 1999 Bob and I served as voyage crew aboard HM Bark Endeavour, a replica of Captain Cook’s three-masted ship, on her 3-week crossing from Vancouver to Hawaii.  As crewmembers we were taught how to climb aloft to make and furl sail.  We were also expected to keep a look-out, take turns steering the ship as well as perform more mundane but necessary tasks such as  cleaning, maintenance and ship repair.  We seamen slept in canvas hammocks strung from the deckhead, touching shoulders as we rocked with the pitch and roll of the vessel.

At first climbing up the ratlines to go out on the footropes below the yards was terrifying — especially since you couldn’t hook on for safety until you were already out on the footrope!  By the time we reached Hawaii our fear had turned to exhilaration and we had learned quite a lot about sailing  18th-century style.

This ocean passage aboard the Australian-built Endeavour was one of the most memorable experiences of my life.  It was during this voyage that Star-Crossed was born.  The Endeavour was like a time machine transporting me back to the 18th century and I knew then I wanted to write an historical novel set at sea.  When I disembarked in Kona, Hawaii I still had years of research ahead of me, but I had just lived my setting and had the embryo of a character in my mind.

Star-Crossed, published by Alfred A. Knopf in 2006, was chosen by the New York Public Library to be among the Books for the Teen Age – 2007.