Calling all lovers of true tales about the sea! This week I'm talking with Eric J. Dolin, bestselling author of numerous books that explore some aspect of American history, generally as it relates to the sea. His latest book is "Left for Dead: Shipwreck, Treachery, and Survival at the Edge of the World." Eric has a really interesting through line that started with him studying to be a marine biologist, then morphed into studying environmental policy, and includes a big list of cool, interesting jobs, including curatorial assistant in the mollusk department at Harvard's Museum of Comparative Zoology.

We covered:

- Eric's winding path to writing, which started with wanting to be Jacques Costeau as a kid, wended through getting three degrees in marine biologist, and ended with him working in government jobs (managing a fishery, for example) while saving up to make the leap to writing full-time

- How winning awards can keep you going, even when you're not selling as many books as you'd like

- HOT TIP: Eric's new book, "Left for Dead," would make a great Father's Day gift!

- How "people are overly impressed with writers", and that recognition can also keep you going

- The skills he developed as a student that help him write books

- How researching his current book generally leads to the idea for his next book

- The secret cove in Marblehead where Eric gets his reading done during the summer

- How reading books from the 1800s and early 1900s (as part of his research) changes his language

Visit Eric at ericjaydolin.com.

For full show notes, visit katehanley.substack.com.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices