All Aboard!

The Boatman Sets Sail In A Week

Mar 31, 2026

Hello, Friends!

It’s so good to see you! How are you doing today? Me? Well, I’m a little anxious. I’m sure you know I have a book coming out. I’ve been talking about it for a while, but now we’re a week away from the release of The Boatman and I’m pacing the floor.

I may have mentioned the fact that this little book took me far longer to write than anything I’ve done before.1 I’ve been noodling with it for nearly twenty (20!) years.

I have multiple text files named “Ideas” in a folder named “Ideas” on my hard drive, and I have a semi-famous toolbox2 under my desk full of scraps of paper (envelopes, bookmarks, etc). The notion for this book ended up in both places: A cruise ship full of elderly passengers tries to outrun Death, who keeps pace with them in a rowboat.

It’s an admittedly silly idea, and it seems simple on its surface, which may be why it stuck with me. I kept circling back to it and approaching it from different angles, but I couldn’t get a handle on it until I finally figured out what it’s about.

Sappy theme stated…

For a long time I thought my legacy was my work, but while some part of a person’s legacy is what they do, I don’t think it’s necessarily what they do for a living. As corny as it sounds, I think our legacy is how we treat others. As we journey through the day we create waves that affect the courses of all the other ships we pass. If we steer this life with care and conviction and kindness, perhaps those who remember us will do so with love and tenderness. That’s what we all want, don’t we?3

Once I realized that’s what The Boatman was about the story unlocked for me and I was finally able to write it.

Ocean waves forming a man's head and shoulders with a boat cruising through him — One of the best cover designs I’ve ever had!

Early reviews are coming in, and people seem to like this one.

“Somewhere between a parable and a dream, Alex Grecian’s The Boatman is as hypnotic as rolling ocean waves and as full of unsettling secrets.”

— Nat Cassidy, USA Today bestselling author of When the Wolf Comes Home and Rest Stop

“Eerie, fanciful, funny, and moving, The Boatman reads like a cross between Calvino and King. The high-concept summary—a cruise ship is pursued by Death—will grab you by the throat, but Trojan-horsed inside it is a social experiment involving a complicated and fascinating cast of characters.”

— Benjamin Percy, author of The Ninth Metal, Red Moon, and Thrill Me and writer of Wolverine for Marvel Comics

You’re gonna argue with those guys?

Oh! And Indigo, the Canadian bookstore chain, has designated The Boatman as a bestseller. They’ve got a promotion going on right now. Thirty percent off! If you’re one of my neighbors to the north please check that out.

Last weekend I signed a mountain of bookplates. If you preorder The Boatman through the publisher’s site, you’ll get one of these for free. Just our way of saying thank you.

And, of course, you can get it anywhere you regularly get books. If you’re out and about and are so inclined, maybe ask your local indie bookstore or library to order a copy for you.