110325 Paddle Back Out is #1 in Amazon New Releases in Surfing after releasing just two weeks ago!
INSIGHTS for “Paddle Back Out” BOOK by Scott L. Richardson’s Ghostwriter / Editor Casey Tennyson
Scott L. Richardson’s book idea started as a murder mystery that opened in a setting fishing on Mosquito Lagoon in New Smyrna Beach. The first thing we penned together with me, Casey Tennyson, as his ghostwriter was our agreement on Feb. 6, 2018. Two weeks later I printed the first eight-page draft of the untitled mystery.
We kept some of the content from that first draft, but the format of the book transitioned into a tapestry of self-contained chapters related through a main character, Jack Wander. The book reads like following someone talking to different close friends at a cocktail party. Intimate details about a topic are cocooned inside a single chapter, tethered to content throughout the book about three main topics of Florida lore and surf culture, the legal system and addictions.
Some chapters seem to start with the question Scott is often asked, “Are you working on any interesting legal cases?” Other chapters seem to answer, “Growing up in Central Florida, or going to Lake Brantley High School, or attending UF, do you remember …?” Some chapters take you on an ongoing roller coaster ride of addictions and recovery. A criminal defense lawyer has many stories. Scott also has many varied life experiences and social circles to draw from for intriguing content.
I hand wrote his spoken stories over numerous meetings in spurts spanning several years as he made time between legal cases and life events. (Other clients complete their books in mere months; the pace is fully in control of the client.) I then created multiple evolving versions of the manuscript, which we reviewed and edited together in detail, as is my typical process. I give a high level of personalized service to my writing and advertising clients.
Some topics and settings I could not enrich as I did not have personal knowledge of them. Scott and I took what we called “field trips” so I could better understand the topics in the book so I could help describe them. I watched him in action defending legal clients in the Orlando and Melbourne Courthouses. I drove with him through the downtown Orlando Parramore neighborhood. We visited the original Orlando Courthouse which is now the Orange County Regional History Center.
Throughout the ghostwriting process, the content and the voice is uniquely that of the author. My work, especially as a seasoned radio and TV writer / producer, trained me to write for different characters in distinct voices. I can enhance a work seamlessly in the voice of the author. I have been a ghostwriter for an elderly man who was an avid outdoorsman and waterman about world-class fishing and hunting around the world. I assisted a physician with his book about his achievements in the medical field and related world travels. I was the ghostwriter for a pending book about a set of citrus and rancher families tied to Florida history. I wrote the foreword in the voice of a public figure (with their permission and approval, of course) for a Christian couple’s book. I am the ghostwriter for a book in progress about the 100-year history of an international brand. I can write about any topic in almost any voice. I have edited, created covers and layouts and done marketing for a variety of books.
The “Paddle Back Out” manuscript was added to and edited periodically over three years until 2021. The work then sat dormant for four years until August 2025. Seven years after the first meeting, the first printed book proof was delivered on Sept. 10, 2025. It’s a remarkable and rewarding moment for a ghostwriter to see a client hold their printed book in their hands for the first time. The book released to the public in October 2025.
What is next? Readers will want to know more. As the ghostwriter who watched the manuscript swell then get slashed several times, I know there are many more unique stories to tell, updates on the intertwined lives of some of the characters, and more characters to introduce to the fans of the “Paddle Back Out” book. I predict Jack will be back with a sequel.
I also believe that Paddle Back Out is a lifestyle brand in the making. Everyone, especially those in darkest of hours, need and deserve a message that a person can recover from any circumstance or situation and that they can get back to what they love in life. Even if a reader is on a high in life, they can continue in the flow. They can Paddle Back Out.
Enjoy this book and follow Author Scott Richardson on www.paddlebackout.com . The website will be developed in 2026.
Follow @authorcaseytennyson on Facebook and now Instagram.
Documenting The American Dream One Story at a Time,
Author, Ghostwriter, Luxury Marketing and Chart magazine Publisher, Casey Tennyson
