Accidental Author: Freewaters Footwear Co-founder Eli Marmar Creates New Children’s Adventure Novel

January 27, 2021

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Encinitas, CA (1.27.21)– There was no master plan. But in this time of increased fear and separation, industry veteran Eli Marmar felt compelled to put his creativity to paper and give the youth a spark of inspiration. Wind Quest, his debut novel, is an oceanic tale designed to inspire deep connections through adventures on the water, mysticism, ecology, and stunning illustrations.

The healing power of water has been a running thread through Marmar’s life. After eight years of designing wetsuits for O’Neill, Marmar has spent the last decade as co-founder of Freewaters Footwear whose brand ethos is centered on clean drinking water projects. Water even followed him to his wedding when rain fell on everyone at the outdoor ceremony. His sons, ages six and nine, were both born in the water – literally.

“One of the greatest gifts of being a parent is the ritual of reading your kids books and telling them stories,” Eli says. “Night after night, year after year of storytelling, I found my imagination reawakening to a level I hadn’t experienced since college. Stories just started coming to me at random times of the day. When the seed of Wind Quest hit me, I felt compelled to write it out because in these crazy times it is so important to spark children’s sense of adventure and reawaken their spiritual connection to the planet.”

Wind Quest follows a twelve-year-old boy and his parents living on a sailboat in the Arctic. Their fate gets intertwined with a narwhal whale, a medicine woman and her daughter. Adventure, ingenuity and suspense guide every turn of this middle grade fiction for ages 7-13.

“One of the things I am most excited about are the illustrations by my friend Isaac Mitchell, an avid sailor, surfer and artist.” Eli adds. “They are done in an old school, block print style inspired by Moby Dick. We also created illustrated footnotes, inspiring a deeper curiosity and understanding of select topics including: ecology, plant medicine, navigation and geography.”

Wind Quest is taking an unconventional approach to publishing as well. It will be self-published via crowdfunding on Indiegogo. “Crowdfunding tends to be dominated by hardgoods, but we always envisioned this project being community based,” Eli said.  “So crowdfunding is a great way to build grassroots support for the book. Like raising a child, it takes a village.”

About Wind Quest:

Join the village by pre-ordering the book on the crowdfunding page:

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Instagram: wind_quest

Contact: Eli Marmar

Email: Elimarmar@gmail.com

Mobile: 831-334-2636