Judith Gilman spent 25 years living and working on boats in the Bahamas and the Caribbean. She was a licensed Captain with a 100 ton ticket, an excellent chef and a warm and welcoming hostess.
Every day she spent hours underwater with charter guests, leading them along colorful coral reefs and introducing them to her favorite sea creatures. The swimmers glided through schools of yellowtail snapper and elegant blue tang as the fish followed with hungry eyes, hoping for another piece of Judi's homemade bread from the ship's galley.
Often the explorers laid quietly on the top of the water, arms outstretched, watching giant tarpon with shimmering silver scales as they moved majestically through flashing schools of minnows. Judi led the way into underwater caverns lit only when the sun slipped low in the west, sharing a secret world where strange denizens of the deep lived in the darkness. Years of diving for conch and hunting for lobster with a Hawaiian sling made Judi as comfortable under the water as in the galley of her boats. Perhaps this is why readers will see a different kind of Mermaid in OHNALEE of the Dragon Mer, the first book in a Trilogy about the underwater tribes of the Pacific.
Author Judith Gilman tells a tale of love, commitment and metamorphosis, as Margaret Rose Lavell struggles to become a different kind of person in a new and challenging world. Readers may see some comparisons between the author's departure from traditional life in the mid 1970s and her character's choices, but this understanding only adds to this fantastic tapestry woven together with filaments of silken spider webs and spirals of sparkling magic crystals.
Mermaids of the Siuslaw, the second book in the trilogy, is now available in both hard-cover and soft-cover editions. Follow the adventures of Ohnalee's daughters as their quest brings them to the British Virgin Islands in 1935 aboard the Baltic Trader Dragon Queen. Captain John worries that his new crew will have difficulty adjusting to life on the sea. He in in for a Big Surprise.
Judi´s first books, Voyage of the Capricorn Lady, Books 1 and 2, take readers on a fantastic voyage of love and adventure. Hop aboard the sailboat Capricorn and the 71´ Trumpy Yacht Capricorn Lady as Judi and her husband Danny host guests from around the world. Judi entertains us with stories of crews, charter guests and colorful island characters; every word is true. Travel from clear green waters of the British Virgin Islands to the Oregon Coast where Dan stood his final watch. Dreams and psychic events are woven through the book, reaffirming the author´s timeless connection to her captain. "Forever" is the theme of this loving memoir of a Sea Captain and his lady.
Judith Gilman lives in her historic building in Old Town Florence, midway on the Oregon Coast. Her charming bookstore is full of used books, small antiques and collectibles. The store is open from June through September, as she works in the winter as General Manager for a Colorado Tour Company, living in a cabin at 10,000 feet. Whether booking ATV or snowmobile tours, selling books on the Internet, or walking her Yorki, Mr. Magic Moki Man, on the golden sands along the Pacific Ocean, the author is busily content and hopes readers will read and enjoy her books.
