Thank you to everyone who joined me live today for the first reading from Loving the Sea, Questioning the System. I read Chapter 1 aloud, and we sat with the reflection questions together. It was a community beta test for a different way of talking about ocean work: honest, small-island, and grounded in lived experience rather than strategy documents.
This book is small-island field notes for boards, funders, and frontline practitioners who want ocean programmes that pay people as professionals, leverage real influence, and actually last. It comes out of my own story of loving the sea, burning out, and slowly naming the power dynamics, unpaid labour, and colonial legacies wrapped around “business as usual” in conservation. I’m telling the truth of what I’ve lived, with a view to creating something more innovative, more fun, and more creative for the future; so if this feels tender, stay with me. We’re not just complaining; We’re building.
As the book is now in its final “beta testing phase.” That means I’m inviting a small group of early readers to “test” the book with me: noticing what resonates, what feels unclear, and how these tools might actually be used in real decisions about budgets, governance, and wellbeing.
Graphic by Yung Pueblo, and shared via Tecca’s Substack
Photo credit: Veta Wade. Surgeon Fish, and Butterfly Fish, Isles Bay, Montserrat
Join the small beta test book club (5 people)
If you’d like to be part of a very small, focused group (just five of us) who read and reflect together, I’m opening a (Google Meet-up) Small Beta Test Book Club:
We meet on Saturdays, 4–5 pm AST. (8 weeks)
I’ll read sections aloud, we’ll sit with the reflection questions, and you’ll share what lands and what you’d want to see sharpened or expanded.
You don’t have to read ahead; you just need to care about the sea and how we treat people in their work.
If you’d like to join this five-person beta group, comment “I’m in for Saturdays” or reply to this post/email and I’ll follow up with details. My email is veta@vetawade.com
Live Substack readings as an alternative
I know many of you care deeply, but don’t have the bandwidth to sit with a full book club situation right now. For you, I’ll keep hosting live readings on Substack (3 weeks), where I read a chapter or section out loud, and we hold space for whatever comes up:
Tuesdays, 5–6 pm ASTWednesdays, 6:30–7:30 pm ASTFridays, 6:30–7:30 pm AST
You’re welcome to drop in, listen, and share a quick reaction in the chat. These sessions are part live audiobook, part listening circle, and part design lab for the next edition and for future talks, workshops, and collaborations.
Changed my mind. about all of that… what I’ll do is hold office hours during those times for the book, so I have dedicated time to work on it.
Looking ahead
The new release date for Loving the Sea, Questioning the System is June 8 (World Ocean Day). Between now and then, I’ll be:
refining the text based on what this small community reflects back,
shaping offers for boards, funders, and frontline teams, and
experimenting with more playful and creative ways to tell these stories.
Thank you for staying with me as I speak honestly about the costs of ocean work and imagine more joyful, sustainable ways of doing it. If any of this sparks something in you (or in a room you’re part of), I’d love to hear from you.
More soon, and thank you again for listening!
Veta xo
