Outrageous Grace

''If you fall far enough, its hard to know when you hit bottom. The air gets sucked out of you on the way down.''





This is an inspirational story of a family man struck down with heart

failure in his prime - just as he and his wife (and children) had

decided to sail a circuit of the Atlantic for a year. Devastated that

his plans are thwarted he endures seven operations in eight months as

procedure after procedure fails, with heart attacks in between.

Finally, he has to endure open heart surgery - and immediately makes

plans for his ''trip''.





This is the story of an incredibly determined sailor totally unwilling

to give up his dream in the face of massive odds. Narrated with

present-tense immediacy, this is John''s account of drowning in heart

disease, fighting back to the surface and sailing on. It begins with

him flat on his back in a local health club, gasping for air. It ends

31 months and 4000 miles later when he and his family sail their boat

into Schull Harbour, Ireland.





Funny, tragic, uplifting, humorous - it will ''speak'' not only to timid

sailors, wondering if they are brave enough to take that big step

(whatever ''big'' is in their own terms) but also to anyone facing

immense difficulties, setbacks and even life-threatening danger in

their non-sailing lives. It is an inspirational story with a message

for everyone.





Yachting Monthly will publish an extract from the book and do an off

the page offer on the book. And the author is prepared to do talks in

the UK (he''s currently considering an invite to speak at the RGS and

the Sailor''s Society in 2009). He self-published in the USA where the

book was a finalist in the Best Book Award by USA Book News. Most

recently it was awarded an Indie Award as Best New Non-Fiction Book of

the Year.