Sarah Milner isn’t sure when her journey as a writer began, but when she gained traction on her first novel — a “paranormal romance” set largely in Harpswell — she learned that every writer’s journey is different and personal. Like many writers, she learned the hard way.
Recovering from a car crash in her early 20s, Milner wasn’t able to do much of anything except write. Twelve years after the crash, she has self-published her book, “Rip Tide,” under the pen name Sarah Whitney.
Milner, 36, grew up on Great Island. She earned a degree in English literature from Wheaton College in Massachusetts and a teaching degree from the University of Southern Maine before working as a paraprofessional educator in Vermont, Connecticut and Maine.
These days she’s a full-time mother of a 15-month-old daughter, living in Androscoggin County. She still spends a lot of time with family in Harpswell, where the oceanside setting sparked creativity during her formative years.
Much of “Rip Tide” takes place in Harpswell. The story brings the reader on an adventure they probably haven’t been on before. If they think it’s a romance novel, as Amazon categorizes the book, they might be surprised by its environmental advocacy. They might flinch occasionally, such as when the protagonist fantasizes about breaking a glass display in a big-city museum to rescue a baby seal.
“It’s kind of a paranormal romance,” Milner said. “I wrote something I would want to read. … I’m kind of a different person.”
Milner always thought of herself as a writer, but it took a while to work around an obstacle most writers have encountered — the standard advice that “You can’t make a living at that.”
As a young adult working in education and environmental advocacy, she often juggled two jobs to pay rent when all she wanted to do was write for five or six hours a day. She tried to find agents and publishing houses receptive to her book ideas, but found the mainstream path overwhelming.
During the 12 years of “Rip Tide” construction, Milner did have an aunt who constantly asked, “How’s the writing project going?” A cousin briefly served as her agent and editor. Another editor she hired encouraged her to cut the story by hundreds of pages. She did, turning out the final product at 379 pages. Others told her the best strategy was to write and market the book as a romance novel.
“That frustrated me,” said Milner, who finds contemporary romance novels to be less about romance and more about “lust and carnal activities.”
“Rip Tide,” she said, has “a complex plot for a romance novel.” A reincarnated goddess of the sea struggles to come to terms with the harm humans continue to inflict on the ocean and its wildlife.
“The oceans are apocalyptic with human waste and overfishing,” the book’s jacket reads. “The Merikoi are in trouble. Poseidon lost his Queen and Immortal soul mate to tragedy decades ago, and has been searching for her reincarnated human form ever since.”
Milner explained that the Merikoi are shapeshifting mermaids and “guardians of the sea.” The book borrows from Greek mythology, as the god Poseidon appears as the king of the Merikoi and guardian of the sea.
The book’s teaser question: “If his Queen dies a human he’ll lose her forever. Stella is the Mer’s last hope, but she doesn’t remember her past life as Queen, and is stuck in an office job …. Will he get her back, and if so, can he win her love back?”
Milner is now taking a deep breath, pleased that “Rip Tide” is available at Gulf of Maine Books in Brunswick, all locations of Sherman’s Maine Coast Book Shops, Mockingbird Bookshop in Bath, Barnes & Noble in South Portland, and Amazon. She has more time for her young daughter and her husband — and for one of her main characters, the sea.
“I get inspired by looking at the ocean,” she said.
