The Stories of Smirtz

I’ve Written a New Book – But Not Alone This Time

A Different Kind of Book (And Why I’m Writing About It Here)

If you’re a regular visitor to UNCLOS.net, you have probably arrived here looking for information about international maritime law, the law of the sea, MARPOL, or one of my books on those subjects.

This post is therefore a little different.

It has absolutely nothing to do with maritime law.

It is, however, very much about books.

And, it’s still about I’ve written… or more accurately, which I helped write.

As many of you know, writing books has occupied a large part of my professional life. Over the years, I’ve had the privilege of writing and contributing to publications on international maritime law and regulation, while this website has served as a companion to those projects.

Some of you may also have noticed that the “About” (About – UNCLOS) page mentions my oldest daughter, Esther.

Several years ago, she helped create this very website as part of a school project. Looking back, that small project became the beginning of something much bigger. Today, Esther has once again been instrumental …this time in creating the website for an entirely different book project… A family book-project called “The Stories of Smirtz” and you can read more about it here on our website dedicated to this: https://www.smirtz.com

From Maritime Law to Bedtime Stories

For almost four years, our little family has been working on something very different from international conventions and legal textbooks.

It all began with homemade bedtime stories to my youngest daughters, Arendse, several years ago when she was about five or six.

Every evening, I would invent a new adventure featuring a boy called Smirtz who manages to get into all sorts of crazy adventures.

The stories became increasingly elaborate, and eventually Arendse began writing them down herself.

Before long, Esther joined the project, helping expand, edit, and later translate the stories into English.

What started as improvised bedtime stories slowly evolved into a complete children’s novel written by two daughters and their dad.

If you’d like to read more about how the project began and how our family ended up writing a book together, you can do so here:
About the Authors of Smirtz: Two Daughters and Their Dad

And here: How a Family Writes a Book Together

IF you’re – by chance – also on Instagram, we’ve been documenting the last part of our writing journey there since 2024 here: @family_writing_a_book

(Will deep-dive into it shortly, but just want to also mention you can read a sample chapter from the book on the website: Sample Chapter and Table of Contents | The Stories of Smirtz.)

Meet Smirtz

Smirtz is a kind-hearted 11-year-old boy with a remarkable talent for turning ordinary days into extraordinary disasters.

Along the way, he’s joined by his loyal best friend Heinrich, the clever and quick-witted Tinka, the energetic Eric, and, perhaps most memorably, their wonderfully enthusiastic teacher, Erling.

Erling has one small weakness: medieval role-playing.

The moment he puts on armour, he ceases to be an ordinary teacher and transforms into the fearless knight Erling Alpha-Beowulf, tackling every challenge with complete confidence, heroic determination, and absolutely no intention of letting reality spoil a perfectly good quest.

If you’d like to meet the characters and learn more about the story, you can read more here: What is The Stories of Smirtz About?

A Book for the Entire Family

Although The Stories of Smirtz is centred around children, it was deliberately written for readers of all ages.

Younger readers (or listeners at bedtime) can simply enjoy the fast-paced adventures, funny dialogue, and increasingly chaotic situations.

Parents – and perhaps especially those who grew up during the 1980s and 1990s – will discover dozens of hidden Easter eggs, references to books, films, television series, and the occasional ironic observation about adult behaviour.

The perfect book for Family Reading Time and Family Book Club a

We therefore like to describe it as a the perfect book for family reading time and family book clubs, where children and adults can laugh at different things while reading exactly the same story.

You can read more about that here: The Perfect Book for Family Reading Time or Fam…

And here: Calling All Nerdy Parents! A Book for Imaginati…

Read a Free Sample Chapter

If you’d like to get a feel for the writing style before the book is published, we’ve made one complete chapter available free of charge.

The sample chapter is called “Smirtz at the Gym.”

There, Smirtz and his best friend Heinrich visit a gym and encounter:

A fitness influencer, complete with filming, duck faces and a profound dislike of children.
A bodybuilder who’s extremely fond of protein powder (quote from the book by him: “I take protein powder before training, during training, and after training. I also put it on my oatmeal in the morning, on my lunch, on my chicken dinner, and in my coffee. I even put protein powder on my protein powder!”)
And a divorced lifestyle coach who has reinvented himself, discovered spinning, and now is fully committed to having the right expensive equipment, incl. (unfortunately for all around him) Lycra!

As you might imagine, things escalate rather quickly.

The sample also includes the book’s Table of Contents, which gives a good impression of the humour and chapter titles throughout the novel, including some nice Easter egg references.

You can read it here: Sample Chapter and Table of Contents | The Stories of Smirtz

Another Free Chapter

The book will be published on 25 September 2026.

From that date, you’ll naturally be able to purchase it here:

Buy The Stories of Smirtz | Sign Up for an Extra Chapter and/ or here: https://www.unclos.net/book-purchase/

However, even before publication – and afterwards as well – you can sig-up to receive another free sample chapter: right there on the same website.

In this second free sample chapter, Smirtz and his class travel to London where you’ll witness several attempts to purchase Big Ben, a rather memorable visit to Buckingham Palace and learn that the London Eye has a “Mega Hyper Speed setting.” You’ll also meet the children’s lovable and gloriously unbalanced teacher, Erling.

Both free sample chapters are filled with our trademark funny dialogue, crazy adventures, Easter eggs and affectionate satire aimed at adults, that readers of different ages will notice in different ways.

A Small Personal Favour

If you’ve read this far, thank you.

I know most visitors come to UNCLOS.net looking for information about international maritime law rather than children’s literature.

Nevertheless, I hope you’ll consider taking a look at our family’s other book project.

If nothing else, perhaps you’ll enjoy reading the free sample chapter, or maybe you’ll know a child, parent, grandparent, teacher, or family who might.

Either way, thank you for indulging this rather unusual detour away from maritime law.

Best wishes,

Arendse, Esther, and Jesper