Mercer Island High School graduate Janna Cawrse Esarey published her first book this year. Yet when looking at a full picture of the Seattle resident’s life, this accomplishment is swept up in a backdrop of adventure.
The premise for her personal narrative, “The Motion of the Ocean; One Small Boat, Two Average Lovers and a Woman’s Search for the Meaning of Wife,” is the South Pacific sailing trip that she and her husband, Graeme, took just months after getting hitched. The two-year voyage served as both an adventure and a soul searching test for the newly wed couple. Cawrse Esarey learned as much about herself — her fears, her passions, courage — as she did about the high seas. In the end, the journey became the foundation for the couple’s relationship, and for Cawrse Esarey’s writing career.
A relationship blogger for the Seattle P-I, Cawrse Esarey lives in Queen Anne with her husband and their two daughters, Talia, 3, and Savai, 10 months. She leads writing workshops when she can, escapes to the Puget Sound with her family on weekends and hopes to pursue another book in the future. The Reporter spoke with the author last week about her teenage years on Mercer Island, her maturity as a writer and her romantic adventure at sea.
Q: Tell me a little about your experience at Mercer Island High School. Did did your education there help shape who you have become? What teachers, if any, were influential in your writing career?
A: On Mercer Island, I received what was essentially a private school education in a public school setting, particularly as a senior in MIHS’s humanities block. I loved that class; it taught me how to pull all-nighters, which was great prep for college. But even outside the honors track, the education was top-notch. I remember when Mr. MacArthur made a deal with the class: If everyone performed a poem from memory, everyone received an A+. If one person flaked, everyone flunked the assignment. Come performance day, even the biggest slacker showed up decked out — yes, in costume — as Edgar Allen Poe. He recited his lines perfectly.
Q: What about living on the Island? Do you still have friends from that time?
A: Growing up on Mercer Island, with its schools and high expectations, was a real gift. For me, that privilege came with responsibility — to recognize the opportunities I had and to work to create opportunity for others. That’s why I became an English teacher. A couple of my old high school friends teach on M.I. — a shout out to Ms. Fahey and Ms. Mears — and I still keep in touch with lots of old friends, most recently via the wonders of Facebook. My classmates have been hugely supportive of “The Motion of the Ocean,” for which I hereby publicly thank them.
Q: When did you decide to pursue writing seriously?
A: I always loved writing but, as the refrain goes, never had the time. So the moment we set sail on our honeymoon, I began working on a novel. Around the 98th revision of its first paragraph, however, I realized it might be wise to begin with a munchie instead of an eight-course meal. I sent an article to 48º North, one of Seattle’s great sailing magazines. They published it! From then on, I was hooked.
Q: Did you always plan to write a novel or did this come as a creative result of your sailing experience? How did writing help you through those long days at sea?
A: I became obsessed with writing. I wrote on midnight watches at sea, stopping to check the horizon every 10 minutes for ships. While in port, my husband, Graeme, literally had to point to the coconut palms and turquoise water to remind me we had exploring to do. I didn’t intend to write a memoir about our trip at all; the typical sailing story wasn’t really my style. But toward the end of our voyage, the idea came that I could write a book about the ups and downs of love, which happened to take place on a very small boat. It also became my effort to pay attention to the here and now.
Q: What was the most difficult part of the writing process?
A: The toughest part was whittling two years down to a storyline that someone besides my mom would want to read. I describe it like this: Imagine your life as a quilt, each day a square with a very busy pattern. Now pull a single thread diagonally from that huge undulating fabric, and you’ve got my book. It’s amazing the amount of stuff I had to leave out.
Q: Was it hard to find a publisher?
A: Once I finally got to that stage, no; I was extremely lucky, and the book idea sold very quickly. Notice, though, that I say book idea. With nonfiction, you sell your idea based on a book proposal, a document that explains why a book should exist and who will read it. Crafting a successful proposal took me over two years, what with all the rejections and revisions and, oh yes, having a baby. Once I got the green light, I had about seven months to actually write the book; that deadline was firm because it was just a few weeks before my second daughter was born.
Q: Why did you choose to focus on the relationship theme for your novel memoir, rather than a more National Geographic style of writing?
A: Navigating a relationship is just as much an adventure as crossing an ocean. And I, personally, am much more intrigued by the ups and downs of love than by storm tactics or anchoring techniques — though, metaphorically, they actually have a lot in common. What it really came down to was that I wanted to write a book that answered all the questions that my girlfriends back home didn’t know to ask. Our voyage seemed so foreign to them, and yet I was dealing with the same issues they were — identity, balance, commitment, love — just in a more exotic and leaky setting.
Q: You live in Seattle now. Considering that you’ve seen so much of the world, what keeps you in Seattle? Do you plan to ever move abroad with your family? Do you plan to take your daughters sailing one day?
A: Seattle is home, not only because our families are here, but because it’s my favorite place on the planet — I love the ethic, the vibe, the urban neighborhoods, the natural surroundings. This strong sense of home, rather than keeping me locked here, actually empowers me to explore the world because I know I’ve always got a community to come back to. Sailing is now part of us, a passion Graeme and I share, which is great glue in our relationship. We sail locally with our two young girls and plan to go cruising with them down the road. If you ask Graeme, he could be ready to go, say, tomorrow. Me, I’m thinking five years. Like most marital discrepancies, it’ll end up somewhere in the middle.
Q: What advice do you have for young, aspiring writers?
A: One; in order to be a writer, you have to actually (gulp) write. Two; blog. It’s a great, daily way to hone your voice, like a vocalist singing scales. Three; when sending your work out, start with small, niche publications, then build beyond that. Every time you submit, you’re taking a huge chance — that you might actually get published.
Q: Where is most of your writing focused today — on your blog, freelancing for magazines?
A: I write a blog about work-life-love balance for the Seattle P-I called “Happily Even After” (http://blog.seattlepi.com/happilyevenafter). Ironically, or perhaps appropriately, I don’t feel like I have great balance right now. I’ve given birth to both a second daughter and my book in the past year — huge events — so I feel like a juggler who drops a ball or two every day.
Q: Do you teach any workshops?
A: I’ll be teaching a workshop on how to pitch your book idea to an agent or editor at this summer’s PNWA (Pacific Northwest Writers Association) Conference.
Q: What goals do you have for the near future?
A: Graeme and I call our big dreams B-HAGs (pronounced “bee-hags”), which stands for big, hairy, audacious goals. Among my B-HAGs are going cruising with the family and getting back to that novel for which I now have 132 versions of the first paragraph, though I suppose my immediate B-HAG is to kick like mad for “The Motion of the Ocean.” I put so much into it, I’d like someone besides Mom to read it. For better or for worse.
Visit Janna Cawrse Esarey’s Web site to learn more about her book and sailing adventure at www.byjanna.com.
