In 2009, a documentary movie called The Cove focused the spotlight of world attention on the tiny coastal village of Taiji, Japan. Lauded as the birthplace of Japanese whaling, present day Taiji hosts a secretive industry of marine mammal exploitation. This diminutive town is a prinicpal provider of captive whales and dolphins to the worlds marine parks and is responsible for the cruel slaughter of thousands of dolphins annually. Salt Water Tears is written around author Len Varleys first-person, eyewitness journal account of events in and around Taiji in the winter of 2010. It is a story that seeks to balance activism and marine conservation with Japanese traditional culture and introduces the reader to an enigmatic and highly intelligent sea dweller, the dolphin. Beyond this a far deeper universal notion resonates: the need for mankind to reconnect and re-harmonise with the natural environment while addressing the pressing dual issues of conservation and sustainabilitybefore it is too late. Weaving an intriguing tale of past and present, author Len Varley tables a deeper understanding of the once deeply spiritual Japanese whaling tradition. He observes its degeneration into present-day commercialism and greed, marred by stark acts of animal cruelty. Varley delivers a compelling expos of the Taiji dolphin drive hunts, powerfully presented against the mysterious backdrop of Japans deep spirituality and superstition, the haunting beauty of its landscape, and the gentle humility and warmth of its people. A must read book for any activist who wants the real story behind the Japanese dolphin slaughter in Taiji. Len's account is both heartbreaking and heart-warming in equal measure. Pete Bethune - Earthrace Conservation Organisation

Salt Water Tears delivers 11 stories from Bram Stoker Award winning author Brian A. Hopkins. These stories share a common theme, the oceans that cover seven-tenths of our world, but each is as unique and emotionally-charged as you've come to expect from this talented, seasoned, if not-heard-from-often-enough author. Submerge yourself in the worlds of this gifted storyteller, and you'll not want to come up for air. "...his stories carry things often forgotten or left behind in both horror and science fiction -- poetry, emotion, and heart ... If you haven't met Brian A. Hopkins, this could be the introduction you need." --from a review by William D. Gagliani "...another excellent collection of Brian's work ... I found it impossible to put this book down ... Fabulous!" --Lesley Mazey, The Eternal Night "Over the course of the last year or so we've sold more trade paperbacks by Brian Hopkins than we have any other writer ... [Brian] seems to be the kind of writer that appeals to our patrons. I like to think that that kind of writer is literate, emphatic, unusual and lyrical ... Better check this Hopkins guy out." --Mark Ziesing, Bookseller and Publisher "Hopkins displays a fascination with damaged protagonists ... that is almost as strong as the fascination with the ocean and cetaceans ... that is the titular focus of this book. From the distant play of orcas in 'North' to the rotting dolphin corpses center stage in 'Wrinkles at Twilight,' this theme of the pelagic mysteries weaves a fascinating metaphor for the decidedly land-based life led by most of Hopkins' readership ... These are not emotionally satisfying, morally secure stories -- they are challenging, sometimes difficult, and always at least a bit slantwise of the reader's expectation and experience." --Jay Lake, from a review in Tangent "The sea is the birthplace of all life. It has inspired some of the greatest minds in literature: Homer, Melville, Conrad, Hemingway ... and Brian A. Hopkins ... Hopkins dives deep into the mysteries of inner space and returns with a chest full of literary gems. Submerge yourself in his word. You may never wish to come ashore again." --Garrett Peck, from a review in Cemetery Dance "Brian Hopkins writes of the ocean as if he were a part of it. His empathy with whales -- in particular -- is phenomenal, and the subtle blend of intense research and intuitive talent is -- at times -- unnerving. Unforgettable fiction." --David Niall Wilson, Author of This is My Blood "When I examine my obsession with Fitzgerald and Tolstoy, for Dickens and Dostoevsky, I realize that what keeps me coming back to Gatsby and Anna and the rest is the music I hear when I am with them. That, and my absolute conviction that there is nothing there that I would have had them do differently. So it is with BAH's work. He doesn't simply write; he composes. Long after the reading is done, the melody lingers on." --Janet Berliner, Bram Stoker Award Winning Author of Rite of the Dragon

Makino's mother taught her caution, showed her how to carve her name into cucumbers, and insisted that she never let a kappa touch her. But when she grows up and her husband Tetsuya falls deathly ill, a kappa that claims to know her comes calling with a barbed promise. "A Cup of Salt Tears" is a dark fantasy leaning towards horror that asks how much someone should sacrifice for the one she loves. "An elegiac story of love, grief and sacrifice."--Kirkus Reviews At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

A riveting first-person account and history of rowers who have attempted to navigate across the Atlantic More people have climbed Mount Everest than have rowed across the Atlantic. For more than seventy days, Adam Rackley and his rowing partner ate, slept and rowed in a boat seven meters long by two meters wide, in one of the world’s most extreme environments. This is his story of adventure, endurance, and self-discovery. They were following in the wake of pioneers. In 1896 George Harbo and Frank Samuelsen, a pair of Norwegian fisherman, crossed the 2,500 miles in a wooden fishing dory––and their record stood for 114 years. John Fairfax, a smuggler, a gambler, and a shark hunter, was the first to complete the feat singlehandedly in 1969. Others have followed; some have not survived the attempt. This is their story, too.

Detective Alex Morrow discovers that the darkest secrets never stay buried as she investigates the criminal underbelly of a seemingly tranquil seaside town. For reasons she can't quite explain, Alex Morrow is addicted to watching surveillance footage of Roxanna Fuentecilla--a gorgeous Spanish mother of two, in a tempestuous relationship with her boyfriend, who recently relocated to Glasgow under mysterious circumstances. She is also Morrow's prime suspect in an investigation that resembles a soap opera, filled with glamorous jetsetters and enough money to interest the highest levels of law enforcement. Until Roxanna vanishes. Morrow traces Roxanna's steps to Helensburgh, a sleepy, picturesque seaside community. But behind the idyllic Victorian homes and quaint storefronts, darkness lurks. Home to a man with blood on his hands who is haunted by guilt, a mysterious woman with ulterior motives back in town for the first time in decades, a sexually frustrated restaurateur looking to blow off steam, and a crew of vicious small-time gangsters blindly following orders, it's a town ruled by base instincts where no one is quite what they seem. And it's the perfect place to get rid of someone. When she uncovers an unsettling connection to Roxanna's job back in Glasgow, Morrow suspects that her missing person is more than a white-collar criminal on the lam--she may also be a victim caught up in a sophisticated conspiracy that stretches far beyond Helensburgh and is more personal than Morrow ever imagined. As the truth rises to the surface and the conflicts that lie beneath Helensburgh's calm waters threaten to explode, Morrow must find Roxanna before any hope of solving the case disappears with her. A gripping tale of greed, power, and vengeance, Blood, Salt, Water is a masterful crime novel from Denise Mina that confirms her reputation as "one of the genre's brights stars" (George Pelecanos).

On 21 March 2017, Associate Professor Teresia Kieuea Teaiwa passed away at the age of forty-eight. News of Teaiwa's death precipitated an extraordinary outpouring of grief unmatched in the Pacific studies community since Epeli Hau'ofa's passing in 2009. Mourners referenced Teaiwa's nurturing interactions with numerous students and colleagues, her innovative program building at Victoria University of Wellington, her inspiring presence at numerous conferences around the globe, her feminist and political activism, her poetry, her Banaban/I-Kiribati/Fiji Islander and African American heritage, and her extraordinary ability to connect and communicate with people of all backgrounds. This volume features a selection of Teaiwa's scholarly and creative contributions captured in print over a professional career cut short at the height of her productivity. The collection honors her legacy in various scholarly fields, including Pacific studies, Indigenous studies, literary studies, security studies, and gender studies, and on topics ranging from militarism and tourism to politics and pedagogy. It also includes examples of Teaiwa's poems. Many of these contributions have had significant and lasting impacts. Teaiwa's "bikinis and other s/pacific notions," published in The Contemporary Pacific in 1995, could be regarded as her breakthrough piece, attracting considerable attention at the time and still cited regularly today. With its innovative two-column format and reflective commentary, "Lo(o)sing the Edge," part of a special issue of The Contemporary Pacific in 2001, had similar impact. Teaiwa's writings about what she dubbed "militourism," and more recent work on militarization and gender, continue to be very influential. Perhaps her most significant contribution was to Pacific studies itself, an emerging interdisciplinary field of study with distinctive goals and characteristics. In several important journal articles and book chapters reproduced here, Teaiwa helped define the essential elements of Pacific studies and proposed teaching and learning strategies appropriate for the field. Sweat and Salt Water includes fifteen of Teaiwa's most influential pieces and four poems organized into three categories: Pacific Studies, Militarism and Gender, and Native Reflections. A foreword by Sean Mallon, Teaiwa's spouse, is followed by a short introduction by the volume's editors. A comprehensive bibliography of Teaiwa's published work is also included.

Salt Water Tears delivers 11 stories from Bram Stoker Award winning author Brian A. Hopkins. These stories share a common theme, the oceans that cover seven-tenths of our world, but each is as unique and emotionally-charged as you've come to expect from this talented, seasoned, if not-heard-from-often-enough author.