Tales of the Sea: A Visual Treat
- Cindy Elder
- May 24
- 2 min read
Imagine falling into the world of a book just long enough to decide if you were interested in reading it. Usually, we have to wait for a book to be transformed into a movie to enjoy that immersive experience.
That's changing. You may have noticed that "book trailers" have started popping up on your screen. It's the latest thing in book promotion. Like most publicity trends, some are better than others.
No one has ever accused me of being trendy, but I happen to have a wildly talented nephew, Daniel Byers of Skyship Films, who makes award-winning feature films and documentaries. It hit me: Why not hire him to create a book trailer for my Tales of the Sea novels?
What an experience. I had no idea how much work went on behind the scenes of a 90-second mini-movie. He approached every detail as a true artist, director, screenplay writer and producer. With his own brand of magic, he brought my book to life.
We started with this simple image: the ship Hoogly, a 177-foot merchant ship sailed by my main characters in the 1800s.
Daniel incorporated excerpts from the audiobook version of The Journey Begins, narrated by the brilliant Joshua Macrae. He studied images from the time period to create realistic settings in the 1800s.
Then he dropped in a few lovely quotes from G. Wayne Miller (author of dozens of books including his newest, Burnt Cove), historian Nancy Shoemaker (co-author of The Revolutionary War on Cape Cod and the Islands), and George Jepson, editor of Quarterdeck magazine and author of Sailing the Sweetwater Seas.
The finishing touch: symphonic music that swells with the movement of the ocean. Be still my heart.
I have to confess that I started to imagine the novel as a full-length movie. Now that's getting way out over my skis. For now, I'm thrilled to share this little taste of The Journey Begins.
Cynthia "Cindy" Elder
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