Charting New Waters: A Personal Update

When I started this project, I envisioned a steady voyage—regular updates, consistent progress, the manuscript growing week by week like barnacles on a ship's hull. Life, as it turns out, had other plans.

The past several months have been a tempest of their own making. I lost my regular employment, which meant charting an entirely new path in itself. Then came an even bigger shift: my family and I moved from New Zealand to Canada, uprooting everything we knew for new horizons. Finally, in the midst of all this upheaval, I lost my father.

That last one still sits heavy in my chest.

I tell you this not for sympathy, but for honesty. This blog has been quiet because life demanded my full attention elsewhere. The manuscript sat untouched. The research materials gathered dust. Samuel Drayton's journey from Charleston aristocrat to pirate captain waited patiently while I navigated my own transformation.

But here's the thing about storms—they eventually break. And when they do, the air feels clearer somehow.

As we head into the new year, I'm in a position to focus on this novel in ways I couldn't before. The move is fundamentally complete. We're settled in our new home in Calgary. The chaos has found its rhythm. And perhaps most importantly, I've rediscovered why I wanted to tell Samuel's story in the first place.

My father loved my stories and adventures. He'd listen with genuine interest whenever I'd share what I was working on, asking questions about the characters, the historical details, the twists I had planned. He had this way of making you feel like what you were creating mattered. I think about that a lot as I work on Crimson Cross. He would have been eager to know what happens to Samuel next, how the crew evolves, whether the moral complexities pay off in the end.

So here's my promise to you as we sail into 2026: this project is alive and moving forward. I'll be sharing regular updates again—not just about the novel's progress, but about the research, the historical deep-dives, the craft of writing transformation arcs that feel earned rather than convenient.

Samuel Drayton's story is about a young man who loses everything and discovers that what he builds from the ashes might be exactly who he was meant to become. In a strange way, I understand him better now than I did when I started writing.

Thank you for your patience during this silent stretch. The azure waves are calling, and I'm ready to answer.

Fair winds,

Chris Stirling