Sassy, Swashbuckling Ladies of the Sea

-
“Not that there is anything wrong with Mathilde,” he assured her. “It is a perfectly lovely name for a young lady. It strikes me though as not being piratical. Women who are pirates have names that are simple, but do not detract from their fierceness. Girls like Anne Bonny and Mary Read.”
“There are girl pirates?” If she looked happy before, he feared now she would explode with excitement.
“Yes, indeed there are. I will show you Captain Johnson’s book of pirates when we’re aboard the Prodigal Son. So, what shall your name be?”
--The Pirate's Secret Baby

My most requested talk is "Good Girls Go to Heaven, But Bad Girls Go to Sea: Women Pirates Through History". It's no surprise that it's a crowd pleaser. My inbox this month was filling with friends and fans asking, "Did you see the Smithsonian article on swashbuckling women?" I had, and I enjoyed it, just as I've enjoyed tales of women pirates since I first learned about Anne Bonny and Mary Read when I was about Mattie St. Armand's (The Pirate's Secret Baby) age. 

Over the years I've learned there were many more transgressive women who took to the water, on rivers and on the ocean. It's excellent fodder for an author who loved pirates as a child, but like Mattie and other little girls I was especially entertained by stories of lady pirates. It gave me hope for my own future career options.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Do you have permission to waltz?

-
Image
"Would you care to dance as well?” Light-footed Captain St. Armand was standing behind Daphne, smiling down at her, but before she could answer Alexander said, “Mrs. Murray was about to favor me with a dance, Captain St. Armand.” “I was?” “Indeed you were,” Alexander said, helping Daphne to her feet. She cocked her head to the side, listening to the music. “That music is in waltz time, Dr. Murray. Do you know the waltz? It is my favorite!” “Then it will be my favorite also.” Daphne looked up at him as he took her into his arms, a quizzical grin on her face. “What a charming thing to say, Dr. Murray! I vow, you are becoming quite the gallant.” Alexander said nothing to this, concentrating on the music. Yes, he'd waltzed when ashore. On occasion he'd been invited to balls and assemblies, even a surgeon being a useful man to have when the navy was expected to provide gentlemen at entertainments. But he'd never felt the music, the dance had never mattered so mu...
Read more
-
Image
HOW I SPENT MY SUMMER VACATION Worldcon (Denvention3) was fantastic. I arrived Wednesday in plenty of time for my 4:00 panel, Survival Tips for New Writers. The other panelists were David Coe and this year's Campbell Award winner, Mary Robinette Kowal, and along with the audience I picked up tips from them on how to improve my work habits. On Thursday I had a full day of panels. How do Ebooks Change Writing--an Ebook Writing Primer was intriguing, and moderator Dave Howell worked hard to keep us focused on the topic and not wandering off into weird ebook stories. We talked about interactive ebooks with hyperlinks, but also about how many readers seem content with ebooks simply being an exact copy of a print book delivered through different media. Aaaargh! The Pirate Panel was just what you might expect from the title, an exploration of why we like pirates so much, and where pirate history and mythology collide. The other panelists--David Riley, MistyMassey and Linda Donoh...
Read more
-
Book Reviews--Dearly Devoted Dexter Dearly Devoted Dexter Jeff Lindsay 2005, Doubleday Dexter Morgan, the serial killer who only takes out the trash, is back in a novel that picks up where Darkly Dreaming Dexter ended. In that first novel we learned how Dexter’s foster father saw early what the boy was and channeled his social quirks into a more acceptable outlet. Oh, Dexter still likes to torture people to death–that will never change–but thanks to his cop dad Dexter has a mission–to only use his talents on really, really bad people. Specifically, other serial killers. Dexter works for the Miami PD as a blood spatter specialist and he cheerfully goes through his life, as he puts it, pretending to be human and letting his dark friend come out to play every now and then. Dexter’s sister is a Miami cop and while she has a pretty good idea what he’s up to, she leaves him alone to do his thing. The problem is, Dexter’s doing a little too good a job of passing for human. So much so that t...
Read more