Who the @#$% are you and what is Norris Note?

Ahoy! I'm a working writer and sometimes mariner. Welcome to my e-newsletter Norris Note, a free weekly-ish dose of my usually Cascadian, sea salty, writing, travel, and whatever beat. I also release audio versions of my articles and bespoke additional pieces as possible. Included are Norris Reads segments highlighting a book, and sometimes other type of media, I’m enjoying.

These days I live in Seattle and am pulling off this working writer thing. I semi-regularly contribute to magazines like Power & Motoryacht, Passagemaker, Pacific Maritime, Fishermen’s News, Pacific Yachting, SAIL, Soundings, and other mostly boat-y or Pacific Northwest-y magazines. I’m also the editor of The Sea Chest, the journal of the Puget Sound Maritime historical society.

I've been a commercial fisherman in Alaska and the Pacific Northwest, lived aboard 1970s vintage sailboats in Tampa Bay and Puget Sound, have a BS in marine science and worked as an oceanographer in the Gulf of Mexico, and more such sea salty nonsense. Why? To be honest, I think such gigs have been my version of running off to join the circus. I've won twelve Boat Writers International Awards and an honorable mention in the 88th Writers Digest Annual Writing Contest. My book Salmon in the Seine: Alaskan Memories of Life, Death, & Everything In-Between published by MilSpeak Books in 2022 has won numerous indie book awards and critical acclaim. Check it out!

And yes, I was a contestant on the hit Norwegian Reality TV Show Alt for Norge (Season 5). Here’s me winning a troll-themed immunity award. There’s more of a taste of this stuff on my website here.

Anyway, that’s my deal. I hope you enjoy my stuff and, if you can, consider subscribing and upgrading to paid to help keep this boat afloat. Skål!