Pirate Anthology: Karen Bayly

The Black Beacon Book of Pirates is sure to shiver your timbers when it's published on Friday the 21st of June. The Kindle version is already available for pre-order at just $1.99 instead of $3.99 and you can add the anthology to your Goodreads "want to read" list today. In the meantime, to get you in the mood for a spot of swashbuckling, we’re interviewing the contributing authors.

Hi Karen,

Why pirates?

They’re a varied bunch, aren’t they? We find everyone from poor sailors to ex-Naval officers and wealthy landowners, male, female, English, Welsh, French, Dutch, Chinese, etc. There were privateers such as Francis Drake, who, although not noted as a pirate by English folk, was seen as one by the Spanish whose American settlements he plundered. There were buccaneers like William Dampier, who later explored parts of the coasts of Australia and New Guinea for the British Admiralty.

While rebellious, pirates were also skilled and disciplined, at least on the high seas. You can’t sail a brigantine or the like without either skill or discipline and taking other ships requires some level of organisation and guts.

Plus, there are so many legends about pirates. Much is written about Jacquotte Delahaye, the red-headed pirate in my story, “Les Femmes Sauvages”, but there is no proof she ever existed. Some stories agree (such as on her nickname, “Back from the Dead Red”), but others don’t (such as whether she continued to wear men’s clothing after she realised she was too feminine-looking to get away with pretending to be a man). These shadowy ‘facts’ give an author a lot to play with. And we writers love playing.

Are there any pirate legends set where you live?

No legends set where I live, but we had pirates in NSW. Two hours by car up the coast from Sydney is Stockton, whose original name was Pirate Point. In November 1800, a gang of 15 convicts seized the 25-ton sloop “Norfolk” in Broken Bay. They planned to sail the ship, laden with wheat, to Indonesia but ran aground in bad weather at what would become Pirate Point. They seized another smaller boat and set off again, this time with only nine crew. The Governor of NSW, Phillip King, sent an armed boat after the convict pirates. The authorities eventually captured them, declared them all guilty and handed down the death sentence. They hung the two ring leaders but gave the other seven offenders a last-minute reprieve. The penal settlement on Norfolk Island (ironically, the building place of the stolen ship “Norfolk”) became their home for seven years. The other six lived with Aboriginal people around Newcastle for the rest of their days.

If you were a pirate, what’s the first thing you’d do?

Steal a ship and find a crew who knows what they’re doing. I have some sailing experience, but not enough to handle an ocean-going vessel. And then I’d enact Bayly’s law (what I say goes or bear the brunt of my displeasure) to keep the motley crew in line.

Have you ever found treasure?

Does finding a $50 note on the pavement count? That happened in February this year. Also, the $100 in rolled-up $20 notes I found lying on a path through the bush twenty-five years ago must count.

What do you do when you’re not dreaming up tall tales?

I work in IT (for money, not love). I go for walks and birdwatch. I read and stream. I snuggle with my cats (or vice versa). I photograph with a DSLR camera and participate in groups on Flickr and Meetup. I plunk around on classical guitar and ukulele, sometimes murdering perfectly good songs by singing as well as playing. I used to dance a lot, but all my dance groups have disbanded, and I’ve yet to find new ones. When I get the chance, I love to go out on boats.

Where can we find you online?

My website (including blog): www.karenbayly.com
Other links: linktr.ee/karenbayly

Pirate Anthology: Cameron Trost

The Black Beacon Book of Pirates is sure to shiver your timbers when it's published on Friday the 21st of June. The Kindle version is already available for pre-order at just $1.99 instead of $3.99 and you can add the anthology to your Goodreads "want to read" list today. In the meantime, to get you in the mood for a spot of swashbuckling, we’re interviewing the contributing authors.

Hi Cameron,

Why pirates?

In the history of criminal enterprise, pirates really are at the helm. There are so many great noir escapades featuring gangsters and Wild West adventures with outlaws riding into town, but nothing shivers your timbers like a swashbuckling pirate romp. The dangers of the high seas, the flamboyant language and dress, the prospect of hidden treasure, and the endless possibilities when it comes to trying to guess where the winds will take us. There's so much range when it comes to pirate tales... talking about range - look out! The canons are firing! 

Are there any pirate legends set where you live?

Brittany is rich in pirate tales. The corsaires of Saint-Malo, including René Duguay-Trouin and Robert Surcouf are famous around the world. Here where I live, on the Guérande peninsula, there are stories of piracy as well, including Alain Bouchart's taking of three ships of the coast of Belle-Ile in 1471. However, the greatest figure from Brittany, in my opinion, is that of Jeanne de Clisson, The Lioness of Brittany. She waged war against the French during the Hundred Years' War, capturing vessels and their riches. Her fighting force was known by her enemies as the Black Fleet.

If you were a pirate, what's the first thing you'd do?

Honestly, I'd try to make my way to the nearest port, shack up with a buxom maiden, and enjoy the simple pleasures of life as best I could with my feet planted on firm ground.

Have you ever found treasure?

I stumble across spare change every now and then. No Louis d'Or to date.

What do you do when you're not dreaming up tall tales?

I'm a heritage tour guide in the salt marshes of Guérande, Brittany. You know what they say, don't you? Salt always has been the true "white gold".

Where can readers contact you to tell you their timbers have been suitably shivered?

You can find me all over social media: https://linktr.ee/camerontrost but I'm most active on Facebook. I keep a Goodreads profile and have a website at https://camerontrost.com

Lost Books, Forced Housekeeping, and Sunken Treasure: S. B. Watson

 Lost Books, Forced Housekeeping, and Sunken Treasure,

Or,

How I Wrote ‘The Ghost’

S. B. Watson

I’m often asked, ‘where did you get the idea for such-and-such story?’ The truth is, the birth of every story is different. Sometimes, I see the whole story, laid out in my headspace, and just write it out. More often, I have a basic concept, a little kernel, and draw it out and work it until there’s a tale to tell. ‘The Ghost,’ which appears in The Black Beacon Book of Pirate Tales this June, falls into the latter camp.

  My first idea was to do a modern piece on Somalian pirates in the Indian Ocean, telling the story from the viewpoint of a poor fisherman who turns to piracy. I still like the idea, however, there was a problem—it had a dingy tang of realism. Now, don’t get me wrong, I love gritty crime fiction. I’ve written a bunch of it. But in my mind, I wanted my story to have more in common with ‘Treasure Island’ or ‘The Gold Bug’ than Captain Phillips.

  So, I went back to the drawing board with nothing more than a theme. 

  And that’s when I remembered an old book, hiding somewhere in my personal library…

  Years ago, an old family friend downsized his private book collection. He had books on religion, history, science, the occult… Knowing that I collected books myself, he gave me around four crates of books. Among the volumes was a ragged little paperback of unusual size, entitled ‘The Burning of a Pirate Ship, La Trompeuse.’

  I remembered the book, from years ago… It was an unusual thing. It told the history of a treacherous Caribbean governor, and the pirate he sheltered, but did it entirely through official documents, court records, naval reports, and reproduced private letters between the different territorial governors.

  There was just one difficulty… I had no idea where the book was. It wasn’t on the shelf where it should have been, and I couldn’t find hide nor hair of it anywhere in my admittedly cluttered library. What resulted was two days of crawling all over my house, digging in boxes and uprooting piles of books and papers, looking for the darned thing. I even considered purchasing a new copy, out of desperation.

  Finally, after two days of forced house cleaning, I found it, not three feet from my bed, backwards, at the base of a pile of books, on a decorative bookshelf’s bottom shelf.

  Memory had served right. The tome was a goldmine of ideas. It told of the seedy Caribbean governor of St. Thomas, Adolph Esmit, and his politically devious wife, Charity. And it told of the rogue trader-turned-pirate, Jean Hamlin, and his voyages down the African Gold Coast and to Brazil.

  But the most impressive revelation came at the end. Adolph, his intrigue-laden wife, and Hamlin, all simply slipped away after their nefarious deeds. What became of them is a mystery. Some of Hamlin’s men can be traced through various pirates’ crews, but the man himself simply vanished.

  And the principal players weren’t the only things that vanished—To this day, Hamlin’s treasure is said to lie somewhere beneath the waters of St. Thomas. Some 24,000 pounds of silver, locked in a silty ship’s storeroom, at the bottom of the sea.

  All gone, lost, vanished, but not quite forgotten…
  And therein lies the tale I tell in ‘The Ghost.’ If you’d like to hear my version of what happened to the criminal kingpins of 1680s St. Thomas, and their treasures, be sure to pick up The Black Beacon Book of Pirate Tales this June!

Camille Pissarro, Creek in St. Thomas, Virgin Islands, 1856

Find S. B. Watson online at:

https://sbwatsonmysteries.wixsite.com/my-site

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Pirate Anthology: Rose Biggin

The Black Beacon Book of Pirates is sure to shiver your timbers when it's published on Friday the 21st of June. The Kindle version is already available for pre-order at just $1.99 instead of $3.99 and you can add the anthology to your Goodreads "want to read" list today. In the meantime, to get you in the mood for a spot of swashbuckling, we’re interviewing the contributing authors.

Hi Rose,

Why pirates?

I sometimes like to think stories were invented so they could be told about pirates. At so many stages of innovation in the history of narrative, there’s a pirate ship somewhere - anchored just outside the text or sailing through it. We could say every story about pirates is also a story about stories.

Are there any pirate legends set where you live?

What, London? I expect so, aye. Probably. I should look into it.

If you were a pirate, what's the first thing you'd do?

Head directly to the galley and make a start on the potatoes. It’ll take longer then anyone expects, and whatever adventures await will feel better if we know we’ve at least gotten them going. Plus it’s a good place to get your allies. Did you know Treasure Island’s original title was The Sea Cook?

Have you ever found treasure?

Materialism will be your downfall, friend.

What do you do when you're not dreaming up tall tales?

When I’m not writing fiction or gigging, I’m most likely on another art project. I am currently co-writing a libretto for a new alt. Opera for cinema screen, premiering in July.

Where can readers contact you to tell you their timbers have been suitably shivered?

Contact me or you can find more through my website; do get in touch, I’m always looking for more collaborations and projects and conversations! I’m also still on a certain sinking ship, as @rosebiggin

Goodreads profile: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/8076902.Rose_Biggin

Pirate Anthology: Edward Lodi

The Black Beacon Book of Pirates is sure to shiver your timbers when it's published on Friday the 21st of June. The Kindle version is already available for pre-order at just $1.99 instead of $3.99 and you can add the anthology to your Goodreads "want to read" list today. In the meantime, to get you in the mood for a spot of swashbuckling, we’re interviewing the contributing authors.

Hi Edward,

Why pirates?

Why not pirates? I was born, grew up, and live in Massachusetts, along the coast of which, beginning in the early 17th century, any number of pirates practiced their profession (sorry for the alliteration). Dixie Bull was the first, and many followed. My story, “Dungeon Rock,” was inspired by the historical Thomas Veale, although I had my pick of a least a dozen other notorious buccaneers.

Are there any pirate legends set where you live?

The story of the Wydah is probably the best known. The pirate flag ship was wrecked off the coast of Wellfleet on Cape Cod in 1717. Its wreckage was discovered in 1984. Since then more than 180,000 artifacts have been recovered.

If you were a pirate, what's the first thing you'd do?

If I was a pirate, the first thing I’d do is try to escape. Many crew members of pirate ships were innocent men captured by pirates and forced to choose between piracy and death. Philip Ashton was a young fisherman from Marblehead, Massachusetts. In 1722 he was captured off the coast of Nova Scotia by pirates led by Edward Low but refused to join them. He was beaten, threatened, and otherwise ill treated for nearly a year before he was able to escape onto a desert island off the coast of Honduras. He remained a castaway for 16 months before being rescued.

Have you ever found treasure?

Alas, I’ve never found treasure, though not for lack of trying when I was green and tender.

What do you do when you're not dreaming up tall tales?

Not much of anything. I lead a dull life compared to when I rove the seven seas in my imagination. Oops. My wife just reminded me that I’m happily married. Yes dear, I’ll put it in writing.

Where can readers contact you to tell you their timbers have been suitably shivered?

I can be found at edwardlodi@hotmail.com.

Goodreads profile: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/275844.Edward_Lodi