By Sharron Luttrell

New York Times best-selling author and Mendon resident Michael Tougias recently published his latest book, a harrowing account of three men who survived 28 hours in open water after their boat sunk 12 miles from shore in the Gulf of Mexico. The trio endured eight-foot waves, jellyfish stings, hypothermia, circling sharks – and less than 1% odds of being rescued.

Tougias will be at the Taft Public Library on Wednesday, Oct. 14 at 7 p.m. to give a slide presentation and discuss the book, In Deep Water: A True Story of Sharks, Survival, and Courage. Kirkus Reviews said the book, an Amazon editors’ pick, “ …  is exactly how narrative non-fiction should be written.”

Tougias has written and co-written 30 books for adults and nine for young adults, middle readers and children. He grew up in Longmeadow and has lived in Mendon for 17 years. He has a son and daughter, both living abroad, and two young grandchildren.

Tougias answered a few questions about his career, his book, and what he’s working on now. (Hint: Much of the action takes place in his yard.)

What brought you to Mendon?

I considered several towns, but Mendon just had the right feel and location.

What started you on your path to being a writer?

I’ve always been an avid reader. Even going as far back as 10 years old, I was loading up my bicycle basket with books from the library. Most of my hobbies involve the outdoors so those were the kinds of books I read, and my first bit of published writing were magazine articles about fishing, hiking and later history.

In Deep Water is a gripping tale that contains all the elements of a classic survival story. How did you learn about the incident and how did you approach the subjects about telling their story?

I have contacts in the Coast Guard, and one of them told me this was a story I should investigate. Most survival stories cannot sustain an entire book, so they make good magazine articles, but the events described in In Deep Water are off the charts with twists and turns. It was a six-year search for this story!

Being entrusted with somebody’s story seems like an enormous responsibility. How do you craft a compelling tale while remaining sensitive to the subjects’ trauma?

I let the survivors see rough drafts of the chapters to make sure I was accurate. My way of addressing any trauma was to remind them that “we don’t have to do this book.” But they wanted their story told in its entirety. Other survivors have told me the interview process is like therapy.

This book is filled with fascinating details outside of the action – about search and rescue at sea, shark species, ocean weather … How do you achieve the right balance between providing the reader with information that deepens their appreciation of the story and telling the story itself?

The additional information must have a direct link to the story and the people in it.

As a deep-sea fisherman, do you approach your own fishing excursions differently after writing this and your other books about tragedies at sea?

I just came off the ocean four hours ago and the waves were building so my friend Adam (we co-wrote the book The Power of Positive Fishing) decided that if the waves got larger as predicted we would head in (only five miles away). Instead the waves decreased in size so we stayed out and enjoyed some fine striped bass fishing.

I’ve made many mistakes on the ocean, some the same as the ones highlighted in In Deep Water, but I try to learn from each one and still enjoy this wonderful experience of being on the ocean.

You devoted an entire book to qualities that survivors share (Extreme Survival: Lessons From Those Who Have Triumphed Against All Odds). Have you tried to apply any of those lessons to your daily life or emulate the qualities of those you wrote about?

I use the mindsets and techniques that survivors applied in their situations whenever I face difficulty. If I’m overwhelmed, I just focus on the next hour or two and try not to waste any mental churning on things I can’t control. But probably my biggest takeaway is to live a life of gratitude and don’t give problems any extra power. Too many, in my opinion, “manufacture” problems that are really just passing annoyances. Let those go and find or do something joyful each day.

I see that In Deep Water may be made into a movie. How is that coming along?

The first hurdle cleared was finding the right producer who saw the potential in the book. Lili Zanuck loved the story and she has won an Academy Award (Driving Miss Daisy) so I know I’m in good hands as she approaches studios and directors. She asked me to write the screenplay following closely to the book structure, and so I locked myself away for two months and got the job done. She was happy with the screenplay so I’d love to do another someday.

In addition to books about survival, you’ve written historical fiction and nonfiction as well as young adult novels, humor and memoir. Which genre is your favorite? Which one challenges you the most as a writer?

Whatever book I’m working on at the time is my favorite because I immerse myself in the characters and setting and love seeing it all come together. My historical novel about King Philip’s Indian War, Until I Have No Country, is one that I’m really proud of and when it went out of print I took the unusual step of republishing it myself under Michael Tougias Communications which is where it can be found on Amazon.

What are you working on now?

I’ve been a lifelong vegetable gardener. A few years back I decided I was never going to use fertilizer or chemicals on my lawn and instead I shrunk my area of turf and allowed a meadow to spring up and have islands of native plants growing along with the organic garden. That hobby and my belief that we are poisoning the earth with our “lawn care” of growing turf led me to write I Can Eat My Yard: Turn Your Lawn Into an Edible Garden. The book is already available for preorder on Amazon, and the publisher and I are putting the final touches on it. The book opens with an epic battle I had years ago with a groundhog who was raiding my garden! I Can Eat My Yard has plenty of tips for growing your own food along with humor and my personal journey to grow 30% to 40% of my food in the warm weather months. (Tonight my dinner was a fillet of striped bass I caught today and an assortment of roasted vegetables from the garden!)

Michael Tougias will discuss In Deep Water and give a slide presentation at the Taft Public Library, 29 North Ave., on Wednesday, Oct. 14 at 7 p.m.