We are
having a swashbuckling day and it’s all about pirates. Yes, me lovelies, I did
say pirates! Top selling author of the Sea
Witch series, with the rouge pirate, Jesamiah Acorne, Helen Hollick is
going to shed light on real pirates
in her new publication, Pirates in Truth
and Tales. So please help yourself to a tot of rum and settle down for an
entertaining look at fact and fiction.
Writing Non-Fiction. How Hard Can It Be?
by Helen Hollick
Pirates were the terrorists of their age, the sailors of the
eighteenth century who went ‘On the Account’ hoping to gain an easy-come
fortune. The fictional world of pirates is somewhat different to the reality.
What are the facts behind the fiction? Where does fact end and fiction begin? Helen has written a series of nautical Voyages based around
her fictional pirate, Captain Jesamiah Acorne and his ship, Sea Witch, but her latest UK release in
paperback is a non-fiction book – Pirates:
Truth and Tales published by Amberley Press, which explores our fascination
with the real pirates and those who are favourites in fiction. Today, Helen
drops anchor for another interesting addition to her on-line two-week Voyage
around the Blogs with a pirate or two for company…
Quick
answer to the question in the title of this article: harder than you think, and
definitely harder than writing fiction.
For one
thing, when writing fiction you can make a lot of it up. Yes, you have to get
the facts right: the right dates for
historical fiction, the right technical knowledge for science-fiction, the
right detail even for contemporary fiction. I mean, if you were writing a novel
set in the USA in 2018 – let’s say a thriller, where there is a plan to
assassinate the President – you would not have him travelling along to a major
conference in a battered old Only Fools
and Horses-type bright yellow three-wheeler would you?
I was approached
by Amberley Press to write a book about Pirates in Truth and Tales. That was
basically the brief, which was fine as it seemed a fairly broad spectrum to
explore. Naturally, as a fiction author I took it exactly as was written on the
cover. Pirates as they were in truth, and as they are in tales. I wanted to explore
why so many of us are fascinated by these cutthroat men – and women – of the
past. They were not nice people. They were thieves, murderers, rapists,
kidnappers, torturers and the terrorists of their time. I’m talking the early
18th century, but those labels apply to any pirate of any age, even
those of today who haunt the seas off the coast of places like Somalia. What
we, the reader, like is the escapism fantasy created by Hollywood and novels.
The Johnny Depp / Errol Flynn type pirate and the loveable rogues of our
childhood: Captain Pugwash, Captain Hook, Long John Silver… my own Jesamiah
Acorne.
My plan
was to produce chapters of fact about the well-known pirates, men like
Blackbeard, Charles Vane, Sam Bellamy, Stede Bonnet et al, blend in a few not so well knowns and include some
interesting facts about life at sea – what did they do in their spare time when
they weren’t being pirates, what were their superstitions, what did they eat
and drink? (And no, pirates did not only drink rum!) In between these chapters
I wanted to introduce some fictional excerpts to compliment the preceding
section. So we have the scene where my character, Captain Acorne, meets with
Edward Teach, old Blackbeard himself. (This was in the third Voyage, Bring It Close.) Another excerpt was by Swedish
author Anna Belfrage, who included the subject of Indentured Service (or more
correctly slavery) into one of the books of her time-slip Graham Saga. I included Frenchman’s
Creek, the Pirates of the Caribbean
Disney Franchise and Starz TV series Black
Sails which was based around events before the opening chapter of Treasure Island, although this version
was strictly for adult viewing.
The
factual research required was hard work, but absorbing and highly interesting.
The fictional additions were fun. I was pleased with the result, despite the typo
bloopers which crept into the final published hardback version. Hopefully most
of these have been corrected for the paperback version which is on sale in the
UK now, and the US very soon. Hopefully you will sail over to Amazon to plunder
a copy for yourself – and enjoy dipping in and out of the different chapters at
moments when you can put your feet up with a glass of wine and a chance to
voyage off across the sea with some swashbuckling pirates. Maybe you will even
be tempted to increase your treasure trove by purchasing some of the novels I
mention? If you do, thank you!
© Helen Hollick
Pirates: Truth And
Tales published in paperback in the UK July 2018 and November 2018 in
the US – but available for pre-order.
Sign up for Helen’s Newsletter and be entered for an annual prize
draw.
One name ‘picked from the hat’ in December will win a £10/$10
Amazon gift voucher.
LINKS:
Twitter:
@HelenHollick
Follow Helen’s Tour:
These links will take
you to the Home Page of each blog host – Helen says thank you for their
interest and enthusiasm! For exact URL links to each article go to Helen’s
website: www.helenhollick.net which will be updated
every day of the tour.
30th July: Cryssa
Bazos - Dropping
Anchor to Talk About Pirates
31st July: Anna
Belfrage - Ships
That Pass…
1st August: Carolyn
Hughes - Pirates
of the Middle Ages
2nd August: Alison
Morton - From
Pirate to Emperor
3rd August: Annie
Whitehead - The
Vikings: Raiders or Pirates?
4th August: Tony
Riches - An
Interview With Helen Hollick (and maybe a couple of pirates thrown in
for good measure?)
5th August: Lucienne
Boyce - Anne
and Mary. Pirates
6th August: Laura
Pilli - Why
Pirates?
7th August: Mary Tod -
That
Essential Element… For A Pirate.
8th August: Pauline
Barclay - Writing
Non-Fiction. How Hard Can It Be?
9th August: Nicola
Smith - Pirates:
The Tales Mixed With The Truth
10th August: Christoph
Fischer - In The Shadow Of The Gallows
11th August:
Debdatta - What
Is It About Pirates?
12th August:
Discovering Diamonds - It’s
Been An Interesting Voyage…
13th August: Sarah
Greenwood - Pirates:
The Truth and the Tales
14th August: Antoine
Vanner - The
Man Who Knew About Pirates
ABOUT HELEN:
Helen is published in
various languages.
