Award News, "Anchor's Aweigh" & More | MARITIME MUSINGS
September 2026
Award Annoucement Perilous Shores Named a Finalist Perilous Shores has been named a Finalist in the Historical Fiction category of the Military Writers Society of America's awards program. The medal level will be announced at the MWSA Awards Banquet in Orlando at the end of October.
Praises for Perilous Shores
Asher Syed of Reader’s Favorites says:
5 Stars!
“Thomas M. Wing’s Perilous Shores is superb maritime historical fiction, with period detail so convincing that eighteenth-century life at sea feels close enough to touch. You can tell Wing knows this world inside out; one shipboard meal has sailors crouching beside hanging mess planks while boiled dried peas come from copper pots, giving the scene a genuine physical reality that comes right through. Captain Mortenson of the frigate Brighton is the character who really got me. Wing gives this antagonist a hunger for glory that turns his pursuit into pure entertainment, with Mortenson’s ambition coloring every appearance. That same eye for place gives the wider eighteenth-century world real character. L’Orient after dark hums with music as dust rises from warm cobblestones. Along the Irish coast at sunset, sparsely populated countryside stretches toward the horizon in a green sweep. Readers interested in nautical historical fiction should absolutely pick up Perilous Shores. Very highly recommended.”
James Elsenor of the Military Writers Society of America says,
“Perilous Shores by Thomas M. Wing is an exceptionally authentic and action-packed historical naval adventure that serves as the gripping second installment of The Sea Hawkes Chronicles.
Set during the American Revolutionary War, the narrative follows Captain Jonas Hawke, an American privateer consumed by a relentless vow of vengeance against the British military following the tragic murder of his wife.
Wing brilliantly leverages his real-world background as a retired Navy Surface Warfare officer to deliver incredibly realistic maritime combat and vivid descriptions of life at sea. The historical setting is impeccably drawn, offering complete immersion into the era.
Furthermore, Hawke’s internal conflict—balancing his destructive personal vendetta with his loyalty to the cause for American independence—provides profound depth to his character. Highly engaging, meticulously organized, and emotionally satisfying, this novel is an absolute must-read for fans of nautical historical fiction.”
A Look Back at the Perilous Shores Launch
On Father's Day this past June, we celebrated the launch of Perilous Shores. Here are a few moments from the day.
Words and phrases that you’ve heard but didn’t know they originated at sea….
"Anchor's Aweigh" Part Two
Why do sailors say this at the moment the anchor lifts off the bottom?
Aweigh is an old nautical formation: a- + weigh. In its older verbal sense, weigh could mean to lift, raise, or move—not merely to determine heaviness. Thus, an anchor a-weigh was one being lifted, particularly one just clear of the bottom. The word has survived almost exclusively in this maritime use.
Technically, the moment is significant aboard ship:
The cable is hove in until it is nearly vertical.
The flukes break out of the holding ground.
The anchor is “aweigh”: suspended rather than embedded.
With the anchor no longer securing her, the ship may get underway using engines or sails.
The ship no longer enjoys the special status of being anchored under the Rules of the Nautical Road, with all other vessels required to keep clear of her. Instead, she must now follow the rules for a vessel underway, avoiding those who have the “right of way” under the hierarchy of vessels.
The form a-weigh has early seventeenth-century roots. John Smith’s A Sea Grammar (1627) has an early printed instance in the spelling “away,” but the intended nautical sense was still “being weighed/lifted.” An early explicit use of aweigh appears in John Dryden’s 1670 adaptation of The Tempest: “Is a weigh! is a weigh.”
Friends' Books
This month’s blog features a new release by my friend and fellow author, Laura Rader. Her latest novel, The Lark, follows the composer of the original Wizard of Oz musical. I’ll let her back cover blurb give you the details.
“When The Wizard of Oz graced the silver screen in 1939, it changed cinema and popular culture forever. But the true story began decades earlier with the young composer who risked everything to bring it to the Broadway stage.
At the turn of the century, twenty-three-year-old Paul Tietjens is a gifted classical pianist with dreams of greatness and a non-refundable ticket to Europe to study with the master composers of his time.
But when the bank calls in the debt on his family’s Missouri farm, Paul forgoes his dream to save them from financial ruin. Desperate to find a new road to success, he mores to up-and-coming Chicago, where he persuades author L. Frank Baum to collaborate on a comic opera of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, setting the stage for the defining cultural touchstone that we know today.
Paul embarks on his opera with high hopes, but scandal threatens his soaring ambition when he falls in love with his best friend’s beautiful but married sister, and his fears grow as The Wizard of Oz demands not only his talent but his soul.
Inspired by Paul’s 1901 diary, The Lark follows Paul as he journeys from the theaters of Chicago to the streets of Manhattan, from his family’s Missouri farm to the beaches of Michigan, fighting to hang onto the chance of a lifetime, his integrity, and the woman he loves.
The Lark is a poignant biographical historical novel of what can happen when artistic ambition clashes with life’s harsh realities and how the human spirit can soar above the darkest clouds.
Readers who enjoy richly detailed historical fiction drawn from primary sources, and those who are intrigued by turning points in popular culture will love this true and previously untold story of the first theatrical adaptation of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.”
I’ve read and loved it!! My heart ached for Paul as he sacrificed, struggled, and fought obstacle after obstacle to achieve his dream.
Acorn Publishing is about to release the fourth in another favorite author of mine’s series, Death’s Reckoning. Can’t wait! Kassidy Simmons, the main character, is someone to care and root for, despite her disastrous decisions. If you love reapers, Death, and those who lurk in the shadows among us, you’ll love this series! By Dennis K. Crosby.
Books, books, books!
Treadnought is in the publishing pipeline! We also have a cover, but I can’t show it to you until the Cover Reveal on 3 December. As of this writing, it’s being copy edited, after which I’ll get the Master Manuscript (Master MS) back to review the copy editor’s notes. Then it goes to formatting and proof reading, then back to me again. There’s a bunch of admin stuff that gets done along the way, like obtaining an International Standard Book Number (ISBN)—that 13-digit number that distinguishes this book from all others around the world. A Library of Congress Catalog Number (yes, my books are in the Library of Congress!). Filing the Copyright. Etc.
The bottom line, however, is that the scheduled release date is 3 March 2027. A few weeks before that, I’ll have Advance Reader Copies (ARC), which I’ll send out to folks who ask for them, under the proviso that those folks write a review and post it on at least four sites: Barnes and Noble, Amazon, GoodReads, and Bookbub.
Here's the deal:
I’ll take the first five folks who send me an e-mail requesting an ARC. I’ll sign it and mail it to you. You promise to post the four reviews on the release date. (Don’t worry, I’ll remind you!!) Just hit reply to this blog. Good luck!!
What's after that, you ask?
I continue to work on Three Brothers at War (working title), the novel(s) inspired by my dad’s and two of my uncles’ service during World War II. I’ll be querying for an agent for this book(s) to see if any larger publisher might be interested. I love Acorn! But there’s still a small part of me would like a larger publisher to pick this one up. Why do you keep adding the (s)? Because I don’t know if Three Brothers will be a single volume or a duology. Of the 92,000 words I’ve written already, I just cut 23,000, then wrote an additional 13,000. So I’m at 82,000 again, and into the fall of 1943. So I’m still leaning toward a two volume set.
Beyond that, I’m mapping out how William will carry forward the legacy of service to our nation, in the Quasi-War with France. Lots of research reading to do, though! That’s one conflict I’ve read little about, which is what intrigues me, and makes me want to write about it.
Finally, I’ve put out a call for auditions for audio versions of In Harm’s Way, Perilous Shores, and Treadnought. I hope to find a producer over the next few months and get the audio versions out early in 2027.
Enough book news!
You can buy signed copies of any of my books here
Unsigned copies are available online at Barnes and Noble, Amazon, Apple Books, Kobo, Google Books, and GoodReads.
An audio version of Against All Enemies is available at Audible.com and Apple Books!
You can also buy copies of Phobia!, which is an anthology that includes a short story I wrote. Phobia! Is available at all the same online sellers, and there’s now an audio version, as well.
Reminders and Events!
Check my website for a book signing near you.
The Brooklyn Book Festival’s Literary Marketplace had to be cancelled this year due to an unusual early nor’easter. We got lots of rain, wind, and falling trees and limbs. Sadly, several people were killed by some of those falling objects, including a few in Brooklyn. It was a wise decision on the part of the festival personnel.
I’ve got a book signing at Turn the Page Books in Williamsburg, VA, on Saturday, 3 October. After that is a signing at the Barnes and Noble in Woodbridge, Virginia on 10 October, and we’re working on a signing at the Barnes and Noble in Manassas, Virginia on 17 October.
Beyond that, BookCon will take place 11-13 April 2027 at the Javits Center, Manhattan, in New York City. Acorn will once again have a booth which I’ll coordinate with about 7-10 other authors. It was a roaring success last year, and we hope it will be again!!
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