EDITED TO ADD: Here’s the LINK
I was privileged to be invited by Cynthia Samuels to participate in a recorded conference call with Jonathan and Andy Hillstrand.
A dream come true!
Of course, everyone started so nice and professional. Not me. I went right for the jugular and put poor Jonathan on the spot! LOL. He didn’t seem to mind.
They’ve got a book coming out April 8th called Time Bandit by Jonathan and Andy Hillstrand. What would a book be without a blurb?
“Many brave hearts are asleep in the deep, so beware, beware,” goes the chorus of an old sailors’ sing-along that celebrates the allure and danger of the seafaring life. But make no mistake–there truly is much to beware for those who are drawn to risk their lives and seek their fortunes upon the waves. And perhaps none take more chances than the men and women who brave the tempestuous, bountiful waters of the Bering Sea. Season after season, they bond and battle with its icy depths, determined to reap yet one more rewarding harvest while eluding the ever-present threat of sudden, certain death. And among the rapidly diminishing ranks of these die-hard salts, brothers Andy and Johnathan Hillstrand have forged a reputation as fierce masters of their treacherous, enthralling trade. If you’ve watched their exploits on TV’s Deadliest Catch, you’ve only scratched the surface. To read Time Bandit is to step into their skins, smell the sea air, feel the frigid wind, and know with all your senses the exhilarating, and terrifying life on the edge.
Natives of tiny, fishing hamlet, Homer, Alaska; sons of a hard-bitten, highly successful fisherman; and born with brine in their blood, the Hillstrand boys couldn’t imagine a life without a swaying deck underfoot and a harvest of mighty Alaskan king crabs waiting to be pulled from the ocean floor. In pursuit of their daily catch, the brothers brave ice floes and heaving waves 60 feet high, the perils of 1000-lb steel traps thrown about by the punishing wind, and the constant menace of the open, hungry water.
Even the brothers’ downtime on land–where the deadly realities of the unforgiving sea are never far from their minds–is lived as if borrowed: fast and hard, haunted by the knowledge that the next season at sea could end asleep in the deep.
Here is the Hillstrands’ own heartfelt hymn to the brutally hard, gloriously independent, and mysteriously soul-satisfying life that has earned them their daily bread and defined their existence. By turns raucous and reflective, exhilarating and anguished, enthralling, suspenseful, and wise, Time Bandit chronicles a larger-than-life love affair as old as civilization itself–a love affair between striving, willful man and inscrutable, enduring nature.
Not only were Jonathan and Andy there being their usual sweet and wonderful selves, but Opilia also participated and John from All Geared UP from Dublin, Ireland (*sigh* LOVE that accent) and The Queen Mum (who I will now add to my blog roll because she ROCKS.) What a BLAST.
I have to say that Jonathan really didn’t answer my question about what kind of woman he’s looking for (as you’ll hear on the podcast. Ignore me. I was giddy. Sober, but giddy.) but he did say all the answers were in the book. LOL. So, I guess those of us who would really like to know what the bad boy wants will have to buy it to find out.
Not me.
I’m happily married.
Really.
Stop looking at me like that!
Anyway, it was FUN!!!! Unfortunately, Crystal, I did giggle incessantly, but I was having a good time.
Thanks to Jonathan and Andy who were very good sports. I wish we could have had much much longer.
When I get the link to the recording, I’ll post it. Um, just ignore my part, K? All that girly fan girlness wasn’t me. LOL.
And before you ask, no I didn’t pimp my book. I’m afraid I suck at self promotion. I did, however, have a banging good time so I don’t mind. Now, I can say I actually “met” Andy Hillstrand. It doesn’t get any better than that.
12 Comments
April 4, 2008 at 3:38 pm
Hey, every woman should experience being a girly, fan girl at least once in her life. It makes it all worthwhile.
April 4, 2008 at 7:42 pm
Have your feet touched solid earth yet?! I’m so glad you had that opportunity!!!! Yay you!
April 4, 2008 at 11:09 pm
Lucinda is right, everyone has “someone” they go fan-girl over. Glad you had this chance.
April 5, 2008 at 12:58 am
Happy for you! You sound like you are on cloud 9!
I’m sure this will lead into a marvelous weekend!
April 5, 2008 at 8:41 am
Congrats! I can’t wait to hear the interview. Hopefully Johnathan stated that the type of woman he is looking for is 30 years old, lives in Ohio and is a Big Bitter Babe! Hey, a girl can dream can’t she…
April 5, 2008 at 9:21 pm
Hey Jen, let’s do that again sometime, shall we?
April 6, 2008 at 11:29 am
Just listened to the interview, I would totally put in my savings to win that date with Johnathan auction!!
April 6, 2008 at 11:35 am
Lucinda, Sue and Cup, it was a BLAST. Heaven forbid that I ever actually met them in person. I’d probably babble all over the place.
Lumpy, it kind of has actually.
Lothian darlin’ I will TOTALLY bring your name up to Cynthia for another chat if she’ll consider it. Not that I have influence or anything, but I think you’d be AWESOME!!!!
Opilia, you betcha!!! I’d love to get Steve and Lothian in on the next one.
April 29, 2008 at 6:16 pm
I can’t understand what you people see in a bunch of washed-up old men that smell like
the crap that they catch. Who cares about
low-life fishermen anyway? They have
little education, all they can talk about is
crabs, and they do nothing but drink and smoke. Borrrrrrring!!! No woman in her right mind would get involved with one of those idiots. But then again….”water seeks
its own level”.
April 29, 2008 at 6:41 pm
*shrugs* It’s not for everyone Jen. There are those of us who see something more in them than just their habits, their education or the clothes they wear. Beyond all that is the man inside. The shallow stuff just doesn’t matter to some of us.
May 23, 2008 at 11:08 pm
I just ran into Jonathan and his brother at the Cleveland airport. I have always been a fan of “deadliest catch” as I am in awe of their tenaciousness and spirt. However I have never encountered such people who have fame and yet are so kind and interested in others. They have captured my heart and curiosity. Simple – no chance- uneducated? They may lack formal education but their education goes far beyond any classroom! I was truly impressed. I have 2 Masters degree and I have never met such grounded, “real” people with so much class!
May 24, 2008 at 5:40 am
Awesome, Suzy!!! I’m so glad you had a chance to meet them. They are a couple of very nice guys.