The Ship of Stolen Words

Sam thinks he knows the power of words. After all, any time he’s in trouble, he just utters his favorite get-out-of-jail-free word, Sorry, and he’s off the hook. When he throws his trusty word out there after hurting a classmate, he finds that he can’t say the word at all. This is shortly followed by the loss of two more words that worked almost as well. Sam discovers that goblins have stolen his words, which are like gold in their world. Sam offers to trade Tollver, the goblin responsible for taking Sam’s favorite words, for enough words to save Tollver’s home in return for Sam’s missing utterances. Unfortunately, time is running out as there are other fierce goblins whose greed knows no bounds and who will stop at nothing to make their fortune.

This story is a little bit fantasy, a little bit steampunk, and a whole lot of fun. The fast-paced race between worlds for stolen words puts a fresh face on adventure and crosses several literary genres. A very creative look at the cost of casual speaking, Sam will leave readers with a renewed sense of the importance of what we say and how we mean the words we use.