Why Riptide - Peter Hansen

Peter Hansen

Why Riptide?

When Aleks Voinov and Rachel Haimowitz approached me about writing for Riptide, they were taking a risk. At that stage in my career, I was inexperienced, unpublished, untested; their First Wave includes some of the big names names in m/m fiction, and no one had ever heard of Peter Hansen. I felt slightly like a Pomeranian who had wandered into the Rottweiler kennels, and I wasn't sure whether to expect a dogfight.

That's not how Riptide works, though. If the owners put their faith in my ability to deliver a story they'd love, they were also putting their faith in their own ability to mentor me and my fellow Riptide authors into the writers they deserved. I've received thoroughgoing editing, had serious discussions about title and cover art, and swapped military history and photos of disturbing marine creatures with the Riptide team--all for a single slim novella. At every step, Riptide showed a commendable degree of respect for my style and my vision ... while remaining firm on their developmental edits and ensuring that "First Watch" fit the image of their company.

Since those initial stages, I've had the good fortune to meet my fellow First Wave authors and to hear about their projects and their careers. At every turn, they impress me with their sensitivity to trans* issues or their eloquence and erudition; at every other turn, they make me howl with laughter. It's been an honor to get to know them, even though I still feel awed at times to be in their company.

I could say that I submitted to Riptide because I believe in start-ups, or because I was new to the market myself, or because I was a huge fan of the founders--and all of that would be true, to an extent, but none of it is why. What matters is that when I submitted to Riptide, they promised to respect my work and improve my craft, and I'm still surprised every day at how well they delivered.

Here's a blurb from First Watch:

What price would you pay to survive?

Do you want to live? In the darkness of a WWI battlefield, young Legionnaire Edouard Montreuil lies dying. As teeth nibble his flesh, a voice whispers, Do you want to live? Frightened and desperate, Edouard bargains his freedom for a second chance.
Aboard the Flèche, a grim submarine captained by the nightmare who granted Edouard new life, Edouard pays the price for his survival. Each night, he gives his body to his captain as the bells sound first watch. But surviving is not living, and as the days stretch into months beneath the waves, Edouard grows desperate for escape.
Can Edouard’s old comrade Farid Ruiz help him break this devil's bargain, or will Ruiz fall to the same fate, trapped beneath the waves at the mercy of a monster whose hunger knows no bounds? Edouard and Ruiz served together once before, and slept together too, but courage and passion failed to save them from the eldritch beasts who roamed the night. This time, the cost of failure is nothing so clean or simple as death, and the spoils of victory are not just life, but love.

Peter's book, First Watch, is available for pre-order at Riptide Publishing  

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