LEWISTON — Kevin C. Mills, an award-winning sports journalist working at the Sun Journal, has published his first novel, a work of historical fiction titled "Sons and Daughters of the Ocean."

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"Sons and Daughters of the Ocean" 

Author Kevin Mills

Mills spent much of the last decade researching his ancestry and produced a pair of books on his family history. He has followed that up with his first novel and expects to have "Sidelined," a nonfictional collection of off-beat stories from his journalism career, available by the end of the year.

"Sons and Daughters of the Ocean" follows the lives of three young teens growing up in a small Maine coastal village, Brooks Harbor. A close proximity to the sea defines the community and shapes the lives of its people. The community is filled with merchant mariners, shipbuilders and crew. Those who don't earn their keep directly off the sea-faring life either profit or benefit from it.

The story is based in the 1870s and takes readers back to the age of sail, when fortunes were made and lives were shaped by the fickle winds that raged across the oceans.

Albert Miller, Sammy Jones and Sarah Dyer are products of that environment. Their families have rich maritime histories and all three characters are about to embark on a distinctive course in their lives that will change them forever.

Mills has a rich maritime history of his own. His ancestors were shipbuilders, merchant mariners and lighthouse keepers. "Sons and Daughters of the Ocean" is based loosely on that heritage. Two of his ancestors, poetess Celia Thaxter and maritime author George S. Wasson, were integral parts of Maine's early literary heritage.

A native of Gorham, Maine, Mills graduated from Gorham High School and Gordon College in Wenham, Mass. He has worked for a number of New England's top newspapers, including the Boston Globe, the Portland Newspapers and the Lynn Daily Evening Item, and has been with the Lewiston Sun Journal for the last 18 years. He has been recognized numerous times by the Maine Press and New England Press associations. He has also been honored by the Maine Basketball Coaches Association and was recently recognized by the Maine Athletic Administrators Association for outstanding print media contributions to Maine interscholastic athletics.

"Sons and Daughters of the Ocean" may be ordered at www.kevincmills.com or at select area bookstores.

For more information, go to www.kevincmills.com or e-mail Lightkeeper1890@aol.com.