We are
REBRANDING
A Life on Water
Commencing in 2026, a second edition will feature a new title, book cover, and description.
By December 9, 2025, I will reveal the new title and book cover here on Cavalarico.com
View of Lisbon from the Rio Tejo. Illustration by Helen Doner.
A Life on Water (2023) opens in Vancouver and Toronto in Canada, moves to Portugal, then to Anagni and Rome in Italy, and back to Portugal.
Where A Life on Water ends (and it’s not in Portugal), is where the sequel begins. I aim to complete a first draft of the sequel in 2026.
This website presents background about my books and the people who helped along the way. I published my first book, The Tale of Indigo, in November 2022. I would describe it as literary poetry. In November, 2024, I released A Bill to Pay, a two-act play. I look forward to hearing your comments so I may learn about you, too. Thank you for joining me!
Timothy Paleczny
Back cover of A Bill to Pay. Image by Patrick Blackler
“I’m a sucker for wartime shenanigans and science, so this was great for me, with spying and marine biology against the backdrop of WW2 Portugal, plus walk on parts for Ian Fleming and Kim Philby. The characters all came off the page. Pulling off multiple viewpoints and timelines is tricky but worked. The story weaves together a cast of characters as a nuanced way into the humanity and morality of the hard moral choices forced by wartime, more Graham Greene than James Bond, but more charm and warmth than either of them.”
Matthew Hurst
reviewing A Life on Water
“The characters are strong, the dialogue is well written and the story is excellent. The various storylines are built carefully and each is engaging. You feel that you know the characters. As they start to connect and weave together the overall effect is excellent.”
Mark Skalin
reviewing A Life on Water
A wonderful tale
of historical fiction
Set during the 1930s and 1940s in Portugal, A Life on Water is “full of detail, complex characters, and really interesting factual info concerning the activities of neutral countries during the war, the involvement of the church, etc. that is not well known … [and what] really stands out for me about your writing is how visual it is. You create a strong image of the time and place. I hope you are planning to write it as a screenplay. The imagery is magical, especially of the village and religious events. It would make a fantastic Netflix series.”
Suzanne Paleczny
Whitehorse