Wendy Hinman is an adventurer and the award-winning author of two books. Tightwads on the Loose: A Seven Year Pacific Odyssey, a successful travel adventure book about the 7-year, 34,000-mile voyage she took with her husband aboard a small sailboat. Sea Trials, her eagerly anticipated second book (April 2017), has earned a Kirkus starred review and been selected Kirkus Best Book of the Year.
Hinman is a sought-after speaker who has been presenting throughout the country for a number of years and is a President of Toastmasters. She frequently presents her entertaining tales at libraries and private clubs around the US. She also regularly presents at yacht clubs and boat shows on preparing for offshore voyaging. She has presented at writers conferences on the craft of writing as well as Marketing Your Book, The Pleasures and Pitfalls of Indie Publishing, and Getting your Book Into the Hands of Readers. She is the editor of the Writers Connection, a bi-monthly newsletter on the craft of writing featuring NYT best selling authors. Wendy Hinman presented at the 2011 PNWA conference on the Secrets of Creating a Successful Critique Group and at the PNWA 2015 Conference on Getting Your Book Into the Hands of Readers. Her book, Tightwads on the Loose, was recently selected for the literature program for WWU, which involves study and discussion about a title, as well as an author-led book club discussion in class and a public presentation about the story and the writing process. She has spoken at the Seattle University’s Search for Meaning Conference about Creating the Life You Want and to other groups on Turning Dreams into Reality.
With years of experience presenting, she has weathered all sorts of presentation venues and snafus, and can adapt to your needs.
2018
2017
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2015
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2011 and earlier
Contact her about presenting to your group or book club today. info(at)wendyhinman.com. For a topics list, see below.
Book Wendy Hinman to present to your group today, from keynote speeches to intimate gatherings. wehinman_at_gmx.com
Her most popular talks to a general audience:
Sea Stories: Adventures Afloat
Have you ever wondered what it would be like to sail off into the sunset? It takes a special person to take off on a 31-foot boat on an open-ended voyage with your spouse. Wendy Hinman, award winning author of Tightwads on the Loose and Sea Trials, shares funny stories and photos from her 7-year voyage in waters less traveled. Find out how she remained innocent of plotting divorce or murder while sailing 34,000 miles aboard a tender 31-foot boat with her husband. She’ll also share some of the hard-earned lessons from her husbands disastrous voyage around the world as a boy contributed to their success.
Lessons from the Ocean Blue:
True life adventure stories consist of events that may not always be fun while they are unfolding. Still, they can be riveting in the retelling and offer rich lessons for the prospective voyager and armchair sailors. Wendy Hinman and her husband Garth Wilcox have two such tales, one detailed in the award-winning Tightwads on the Loose, the story of their 34,000-mile seven-year voyage together aboard a 31-foot boat around the Pacific and the second in the brand new book Sea Trials: Around the World with Duct Tape and Bailing Wire, which features so many harrowing escapes, it’s hard to believe it’s true or that the teenaged Garth would ever want to voyage again. Shipwrecked at the age of 14 along with his parents and younger sister, Garth and his family not only survived, but rebuilt the vessel and finished sailing around the globe despite significant obstacles including wild weather, pirates, gun boats, mines and thieves, dengue fever, scurvy, and more. Without a working engine and no way to communicate with the outside world, they struggled to reach home before their broken rig comes crashing down and they ran out of food in a trial that tested them to their limits. For more information about these two highly-acclaimed books, visit www.wendyhinman.com. Come hear snippets from these amazing adventures from the people who lived it, and pick up a signed copy to read the rest.
Endorsements:
“Wendy Hinman is a professional. We can always count on her to do a great job covering any topic she proposes.” Alaisha Wartelle, Seminar organizer for the Seattle Boat Show
“Wendy Hinman’s session was my favorite one at the boat show.” Anonymous attendee
“Wendy Hinman’s presentations are funny as well as informative.” Judy Naismith, organizer for the Women in Boating Seminar
“Her stories were so engaging and her photos took us on an adventure from our seats.” Madison House Retirement Activities Director
“Wendy Hinman offers our residents a delightful vacation from the comfort of their seats. We’d love to have her present every year.” Michael Kolesar, Atria Senior Living
“Wendy Hinman offers genuine enthusiasm, practical noteworthy advice and some hilarious tales.” Cruising World Magazine
“We’ve asked Wendy Hinman onto our radio program a number of times because she is so poised and interesting, with great stories to share.” Phil Andrus, KPTZ Radio
Seminar Topics:
- Boating
Writing and The Business of Books
Turning Your Dreams into Reality
Seminar Descriptions:
Boating:
Tips and Tricks for offshore Cruising: Wendy Hinman, award winning author of Tightwads on the Loose and Sea Trials, will share the wisdom she gathered during her 7-year 34,000 miles aboard her 31 foot cutter with her husband. From provisioning to hauling groceries, managing laundry, water and money, to staying cool and setting up your boat for maximum comfort and coping with the emotions and relationship challenges of life afloat.
Comfort Afloat in the Heat of the Tropics: Wendy Hinman, award winning author of Tightwads on the Loose and Sea Trials, will share the wisdom she gathered during her 7-year 34,000 miles aboard her 31-foot cutter with her husband. Seattle summers don’t quite prepare you for the heat of the tropics on a small boat. Learn ways to keep cool from shade and ventilation to cooking and clothing.
Cruising on Budget: Wendy Hinman, award winning author of Tightwads on the Loose and Sea Trials, will share the wisdom she gathered during her 7-year 34,000 miles aboard her 31 foot cutter with her husband. Like shore side living, cruising can cost a little or a lot. Learn strategies for making day-to-day voyaging work within your budget.
Go small, Go simple, Go now: Wendy Hinman, award winning author of Tightwads on the Loose and Sea Trials, will share the wisdom she gathered during her 7-year 34,000 miles aboard her 31 foot cutter with her husband. Want to go cruising but don’t have a lot of cash? How can you go cruising sooner? What can you live without?
Living without refrigeration: Wendy Hinman, award winning author of Tightwads on the Loose and Sea Trials, will share the wisdom she gathered during her 7-year 34,000 miles aboard her 31 foot cutter with her husband. She discusses how to provision and eat well without refrigeration.
Danger and other obstacles to cruising: Wendy Hinman, award winning author of Tightwads on the Loose and Sea Trials, will share the wisdom she gathered during her 7-year 34,000 miles aboard her 31 foot cutter with her husband. She shares tips for keeping your cruising dreams from turning into a nightmare.
Provisioning tips: Wendy Hinman, award winning author of Tightwads on the Loose and Sea Trials, will share the wisdom she gathered during her 7-year 34,000 miles aboard her 31 foot cutter with her husband. She will share tips for provisioning and stowing and cooking aboard.
Keeping your relationship off the rocks: A happy crew makes for a happy voyage. Wendy Hinman, award winning author of Tightwads on the Loose and Sea Trials, shares the wisdom she gathered during her 7-year 34,000 miles aboard her 31 foot cutter with her husband. She discusses how to balance diverse personalities and needs aboard.
Realities of the Cruising Life: What can you expect “out there?” What do you do all day? What are the peaks and the valleys of cruising and how to prepare yourself to make the most from your cruising experience? Wendy Hinman, award winning author of Tightwads on the Loose and Sea Trials, shares lessons from two very difference voyages.
Seven years on a 31-foot boat and still married! Wendy Hinman, Wendy Hinman, award winning author of Tightwads on the Loose and Sea Trials, shares funny stories and photos from her 34,000-mile voyage on some of the waters less traveled. Find out how she remained innocent of plotting divorce or murder after sailing 34,000 miles aboard a tender 31-foot boat.
Pacific Loop Options: Wendy Hinman, award winning author of Tightwads on the Loose and Sea Trials, will share the wisdom she gathered during her 7-year 34,000 miles aboard her 31 foot cutter with her husband. If you have 2-2/12 years for a blue-water cruise, what are your options?
Cruising Asia: Wendy Hinman, award winning author of Tightwads on the Loose and Sea Trials, will share the wisdom she gathered during her 7-year 34,000 miles aboard her 31 foot cutter with her husband. She discusses weather patterns in Asia and techniques for exploring this fascinating region.
Safety at Sea Emergency Management: Preventing problems can be far easier than addressing them when they occur, but things do happen out there on the water. Learn the steps you can take to minimize the risk of injury and damage when the unexpected occurs.
Preparing for Offshore Cruising: Steps to preparing your boat and getting out there to enjoy the cruising life. Wendy Hinman, award winning author of Tightwads on the Loose and Sea Trials, shares lessons from two very difference voyages.
Writing Seminars:
Drafting Your Book One Scene at a Time: You know the old saying about eating an elephant one bite at a time? Well the same applies to writing a book. Discover techniques for breaking down your project into bite-sized pieces. Craft one scene per week. Discover tips for:
• Outlining your story arc
• Creating a scene list for major plot and subplot turning points
• Fleshing out your characters and their hero’s journey
• Measuring and keeping track of your progress
The Art of Memoir: There is the situation and then there’s the story. From a series of events, you can craft multiple stories. What kind of story do you want to tell? How do you create a vivid story that resonates with readers who haven’t lived through the same experience? The type of story you want to write will affect choices of tone, as well as scenes/events you choose to highlight, and the balance of scene, summary and musing or pacing.
In this class we will discuss:
1.) How to develop compelling characters with whom readers will empathize and want to follow to the end of the story.
2.) How to carefully select and weave both reflection and backstory into narrative without losing or confusing the reader.
3.) How to discover, and then reveal a memoir’s theme and the reader takeaway or insight they glean that will linger long after she closes the pages of your book.
Marketing Your Book: You’ve spent years crafting that perfect book. Now you need to get it into the hands of readers. If your book offers readers insight into the struggles they face and topics that interest them, they will be glad to learn of it. Effective marketing means finding the people who would be most interested in your book and letting them know about it. It’s like finding the right match, so your story can do what it is designed to do: engage your readers.
Attendees will learn:
• How to identify your audience and ways to reach them.
• How to work with bookstores to create a win-win arrangement.
• How to leverage your expertise and use presentations to generate sales and publicity for your book
The Business of Books: How do you go about making money from your books? Learn how to set yourself up as a business and take a professional approach to selling your work.
Attendees will learn:
• Milestones on your way to publishing: What needs to happen before your book comes out.
• How you can best prepare to launch your book.
• How you can continue to market your books long after its publication date.
The Pleasures and Pitfalls of Indie Publishing: Should you self-publish? What you need to know. Wendy Hinman chose to self-publish her book, Tightwads on the Loose, which has been a consistently top selling travel book. Since then she chose the same path for her second book Sea Trials, which earned a Kirkus starred review. Learn what worked and what didn’t, and how she applied lessons to her second book.
Attendees will learn:
• Criteria for making this decision.
• The lessons learned.
• What she would do differently next time.
Organizing your Writing: Discover techniques for organizing your material and keeping track of where you are in your manuscript. It helps keep you motivated and on track. Using tools on most every computer, you can keep yourself productive and focused on your goal. Many writers use Scrivener software to organize their writing, but you can organize and track your writing with tools you probably already have on your computer.
• Excel master worksheet to track your characters and scenes, plots and subplots; story arc, story timeline
• Using color coding to track status of various aspects of your project
• Using folders to hold outtakes, scraps and old edits
• Reference folders featuring research notes and clippings
• Notes from other stories with ideas for story structure, editing
• Track overused words, concepts
Seminars on Following your Dreams:
There must be more to life than this; Create the life that you want:
It’s easy to continue through our days following other people’s priorities, but whose life is it anyway? Wendy Hinman, author of the hit travel book Tightwads on the Loose, will share how her search for a more satisfying life led her from successful business woman and entrepreneur to sailing 34,000 miles aboard a 31-foot sailboat and loving it despite facing many “character-building opportunities.” Through them she realized that often the biggest challenges are the most rewarding and are what make us feel most alive. We don’t know what we are capable of until we push ourselves well beyond our comfort zone. Though she’s lived without what many would consider “necessities,” she’s discovered a sense of humor is mandatory. While we sometimes can’t change our circumstances, we can change how we respond to them and thereby transform our lives in the process.
Turning your dreams into reality one day at a time: Wendy Hinman is the author of two successful books, including Tightwads on the Loose, about the seven year sea adventure she took with her husband aboard a 31-foot cutter. After paying off their mortgage before they turned 40, Wendy and Garth set sail on an open ended voyage that took them to 19 countries and covered 34,000 miles. Even after so many miles in a tiny space, she remained innocent of plotting murder or divorce. She’ll share her insights on setting goals and turning them into reality one day at a time, using a sense of humor while facing “character-building” opportunities.
Read Wendy’s tips on Speaking with Confidence.