Storms and shipwrecks

This morning I saw a shipwreck - or at least the aftermath of one.
It had been a wild, woolly night, with pouring rain, floods in some areas, and winds so strong that they knocked birds out of the trees. (Who'd want to be a bird? They must get so miserable.)
Anyway, for the past couple of weeks, down on our beach, there's been a yacht careened in a little cove. In other words, the owner has sailed it right up onto the sand, so he can work on the hull - last time I walked past he was stripping off some old paint, and patching the cracks between the wood. It's the old way of doing things. In 1770 Captain Cook had to careen the Endeavour after she hit the Great Barrier Reef, in the place where now you'll find Cooktown, should you ever be in the very farthest north of Australia.
So this yachtie has been working on his boat for a week or so. It's about 25 feet long, maybe more - a good solid yacht that looks like it's been around for a couple of decades. He worked alone - perhaps he lived on the yacht. He certainly looked like and old salt, with a grey beard and wiry legs. Most people pay to put their boats on the slips at the yacht club when they need fixing, but perhaps he couldn't afford it.
Big mistake.
This morning I walked on the beach again, and the boat was smashed into tiny fragments on the rocks. The cabin roof was embedded in the sand. Part of the mast was halfway up the hill. Bits of decking were splattered across the rocks, and pushed by the stormy sea right up against tree trunks.
The waves must have picked his yacht right up off the sand and smashed her against the rocks.
It was so sad. People were wandering around helplessly, wishing they could put her back together again, but that lovely old girl is nothing but firewood now.
May she rest in peace.

Tall tales and (not) true

Last night I read Iain Lawrence's The Wreckers. Wow, that man knows how to spin a tale. Everything happens so quickly in the first few chapters, you're left rather breathless. His The Buccaneers is also very good - just as thrilling, but perhaps not quite so relentless.
Over the last few weeks, I've read a couple of terrific books by Sherryl Jordan: The Hunting of the Last Dragon, set in medieval England, and The Juniper Game, a timeslip novel moving between our time and the dark witch hunting days.
Next I'm going to start on Knight's Fee, by Rosemary Sutcliff, which I read years ago but have mostly forgotten. Can't wait.
Now you can see what I've read lately in my library, on the left hand side of this page (scroll down).

The journey begins

Ocean Without End set sail on her maiden voyage last night, at the launch at Jabberwocky Children's Bookshop in Auckland.
Thanks to Jabberwocky, and to everyone who came along.
Not only did I get to launch my own book, but I was also presented with a copy of the new Pirates book by John Matthews, soon to be released here. It's fantastic - it even includes a fold-out map of places where treasure was lost or possibly buried in Jamaica.
Gotta go - I might need to sail on a High Wind to Jamaica on the morning tide to beat everyone else.

Enslaved by pirates

Perhaps the most famous pirate slave in history was the Spaniard Miguel Cervantes, who was captured by Memmi Reis after the Battle of Lepanto. He tried to escape four times, but was eventually released with the help of the Redemptionists, who paid 500 gold escudos for his life.
Cervantes went on to become famous as the author of Don Quixote de la Mancha ("The Man of La Mancha"), which includes a story about slavery, called 'The Captive's Tale'.
Famous fictional pirate slaves (besides, of course, Lily Swann and Carlo, in Swashbuckler, who aren't treated that badly - at first) include Sir Oliver Tressilian in Rafael Sabatini's novel The Sea Hawk. Sir Oliver is betrayed by his own brother, sold into slavery, but ends up becoming one of the most notorious Barbary corsairs.
On the other hand, in Captain Blood, Sabatini's hero Doctor Peter Blood is sent by an English court as a slave to Barbados. He escapes from there and becomes a pirate, and later buys his sweetheart, Arabella, from a French pirate who has captured her.
You might have seen the movie of Captain Blood, with Errol Flynn and Basil Rathbone - it's one of the first great swashbuckling films.

Growing up pirate

When I was about five, I think, I desperately wanted to be a pirate and have the hat and everything.
- Keira Knightley (Elizabeth in Pirates of the Caribbean)

Love those helmets

I’m sure you’ve heard stories of the Vikings: the fearsome raiders from Denmark and Norway who raided the coasts of Europe and Britain in their longships; terrifying small towns, enslaving the inhabitants, and carrying off cattle, food and whatever plunder they could find. The great stories of the Vikings are told in the sagas, which are long, complex tales of adventure, battle, heroes, gods – and Alfhild the girl pirate.
The saga was first written down in the twelfth century, and it tells the story of a beautiful princess, Alfhild, whose father tried to keep her locked away from everyone until he could find her a suitable husband. But Alfhild refused to get married. Instead, she “exchanged woman’s for man’s attire and …began the life of a warlike rover.” Alfhild had an all-female crew, and there were many other brave and warrior-like women described in the sagas.
Alfhild might even have come up in battle against one of the Vikings’ most brilliant opponents: the English general Aethelflaed, daughter of King Alfred the Great.
You can read more about the lives of real pirates on the Swashbuckler website.

Book launch

The first Swashbuckler book, Ocean Without End, will be launched on the evening of 20 April at Jabberwocky children's bookshop in Mt Eden, Auckland.
In the meantime, if you want to know more about the books, go to the official Swashbuckler website.

I'll also be at the Australian Children's Book Council conference in Sydney from 4 to 6 May.

B-Day

Today is the day the first book, Ocean Without End, goes into the shops in New Zealand (26 April in Australia).
Thank you to everyone in Australia, New Zealand and Malta who has helped me research, write, and finally publish the first Swashbuckler book.
Bless her, and all who sail in her.