COOS BAY, Ore. -Folks living or working off the coast know the dangers of the sea all too well. But for one Oregon author, she's sharing her story, both tragic and triumphant, of her life as a fisherman's wife.

For the past year, Author Michelle Longo Eder has been traveling the Northwest, including a stop here at the Coos Bay Public Library, where she reads passages from her book, 'Salt in our Blood: The Memoir of a Fisherman's Wife.'

Living in the coastal town of Newport, she tells us her husband and two sons made their living working off the ocean. But when Eder decided to write about her role as a Commercial Fisherman's wife, she could have never predicted the tragic turn her story would take.

In December of 2001, one our boats capsized at sear and our eldest son Ben, who was then 21, died, along with three other men," says Eder. "And what I did was I continued to write after wards and I wrote for another year to really finish that part, what it was like after wards."

Eder tells us it took some time until she was able pick up her work again but six years later she was at the publishers, ready now to share her story with the world. And an impact it has had, as she was recently honored with the Willa Literary Award in the Creative Non-Fiction category by the non-profit group, Women Writing the West.

According to Eder, "I hope to take the experience further and I feel very fortunate to be able to share what it's like to be a fisherman's wife. We're a pretty unique community and I'm very proud of it."

Eder will receive her award in Los Angeles California on September 12.