For more than five decades Greg Gilmartin has been a creative force in a varied career as a broadcaster, marketer, videographer, director, writer, and producer. From car wash specialist to Russian linguist, award winning sports reporter to PA announcer for the Hartford Whalers, tourism TV producer to novelist. From Coney Island to Block Island, from Sedona to Mystic, on the ski slopes or the waterfront, he has always had an eye for fast cars, fast boats, high adventure, and creative story telling. He has just released his fourth novel, “Castle Fires” and has begun his 20th year as a US Sailing Race Official with the Mystic River Mudheads.
Crew is his first novel, sparked by his early sailboat racing experiences with the crew of Madcap. And then he got creative. The focus is on Mystic, CT, San Francisco, and the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta Mountains in Colombia.
For Peter James McDonough, life is simple. He is wealthy, smart and a speed freak. He pushes the envelope but never loses control. Then one day, shots ring out, shattering the tense rhythm of a sailboat race on San Francisco Bay. PJ and his crew from Mystic suddenly find themselves targets in a game played by international drug smugglers and killers. Their lives will be changed forever - if they can survive.
Using high tech boats, aircraft and weapons, the crew must confront a Colombian drug lord, the depths of contemporary criminal greed and cruelty, and the edges of friendship, teamwork, and courage. Along the way, PJ’s growing romance with the exotic Kathryn reveals mystical connections to ancient Indian beliefs that connect her past and his future. A roller coaster adventure, a love story and a high-tech speed read, Crew will capture your imagination and keep you up late turning pages. Who has your six in the heart of danger? Your crew, that’s who!
Novel number two is entitled Spy Island and focuses on Southeastern Connecticut and Block Island. Booze and bets. Broken hearts and stolen secrets. Old school spies. Government lies. Sailors at the Oar drinking mudslides. A murder. A manhunt. Submarine sabotage. The Feds. The Reds. Digital espionage. Petrika’s in the cellar, Luke’s on the lam. Even the Southeast Lighthouse is in on the scam. From Coney Island to Block Island, you can run, hide, spy. But make no mistake, they are coming for you, and someone has to die!
This fast-moving thriller follows Luke Parmelian, a computer geek who likes to play cards. He is set up by the Russians in a Coney Island gambling sting and forced to steal top secret files that will change submarine warfare across the globe. When he has second thoughts, he runs away to hide at his favorite sailing locale - Block Island. There he meets a young waitress and steals her heart. She’s looking for a summer adventure and Luke wants to make that happen. But the Russians are coming, and so are the Feds. And so are the rest of the world’s spies. Everyone wants his stolen secrets, but he only has eyes for her. Is he a traitor, a hero, a lover, or a fool? The riveting conclusion showcases the fun spots of the summer island, the historic Southeast Lighthouse and the extremes of new love and international intrigue.
Greg’s third novel, Can’t Sail In Jail! released in 2021, is based on a true story with writer’s embellishments. The locations are in Connecticut and the sailboat racing scene. They say every legend begins with a little lie, but it needs some truth if it’s going to fly. In this story, the chase is on for the American Dream. Billy “Gunny” Gunning and his sailboat crew are racing for a good breeze and a boat load of silver. Their boat owner, Dr. Z, is paying for their ride by smuggling home the green grass of Jamaica. The 'gas and go' Albanians in Norwich are hoping to fill up on cash, and here comes the D.A., as always, chasing the chasers. It's a fun ride on wisps of wind and weed in a wacky world with no room for innocence and where wrong decisions can help you grow up. If you want to.
Greg Gilmartin has brought alive a cast of characters that will charm you, offend you, make you laugh and make you cry. If you are a sailboat racer, you might recognize some of them. You might even be one of them! Each seeks the dream, taking different paths to avoid the inevitable nightmare. What could go wrong?
It's okay to fail, but you can’t sail in jail!
“Castle Fires” is Greg’s latest novel, released in April 2023 and while it shifts away from sailing and the islands, focuses on the world of a small town in northwest Connecticut with big dreams and bigger problems. Juliette Minotti learns of her father’s death, but she never knew him.
Now, her father is dead, murdered in bed, poisoned by one close at hand. Juliette arrives, the heiress that thrives, but knows not a thing of his brand. His castle is now hers, with a lawyer that purrs, and a crew of characters to love. But the earth isn’t stable, the rocks aren’t able, to hold back the waters from above. Now the castle’s in trouble, threatened by a bubble, of ego and a leader so rash. Is the mall to blame? The townsfolk, so vain, pushing hard for tourists and cash? Natural forces collide with the supernatural side, and Juliette is right in the middle. She must be strong, hear her father’s song, and learn to solve the riddle.
The castle is real, taken from my personal experience with the Chris Mark castle in Woodstock, CT, which would be the ideal location. I know Chris would love to do a film there! The other action includes Lime Rock Park and the town of Salisbury, the model for the story’s location. The story and characters deal with the supernatural thanks to Juliette’s father’s invention that allows her to hear from the beyond. Plus mystical apples and hi tech toys to help solve a very low tech, geological problem created by greed and hubris that threatens the castle. This is another character driven story that could lead to a series of sequels with the money, cast and problems that face all young red heads who are suddenly in charge of an enterprising empire! Learn more at www.GregGilmartin.com.