Darlene's Digest

Today I was reading an old history of the early United States Coast Guard and I think I found the MacGuffin for my next novel. You don't know what a MacGuffin is? The Maltese Falcon is probably the best example. In my published novels, the pirate treasure in The Bride and the Buccaneer is a MacGuffin. I was reading about the USCG, actually the early Cutter Service aka the Revenue Marine, because they'd been part of the plot for Smuggler's Bride   and I always wanted to do another Coastie book. So much good material there, especially in Florida history! People ask me what kind of writer I am, a plotter or a "pantser", as in "I write by the seat of my pants." I'm a "pantser", though I prefer Nora Roberts' more elegant term, an "organic writer". I start writing and see where the story takes me. Once I start the "what if?" process, my brain cranks up and I find myself filling in gaps or raising questions at odd mom...

A Revenue Marine officer looked down on the crowd, his gaze seeking out one dancer, and Julia felt that stare from across the room like a hit from a nine-pounder. He was standing with [redacted], and as with the other Revenue Marine officers, [redacted] dress uniform was more subdued than that worn by the navy men, but he hardly needed gold braid to stand out. When he left [redacted] side, more than one pair of feminine eyes followed him as he crossed the ballroom, his dark blue coat set off by black braid and a black silk cravat. There was a flash of gold from the epaulette on his right shoulder, and from his service sword with its spread eagle beneath the Roman hilt. The sword with its gold bullion and silk sword knot was the most elaborate accoutrement of the revenue uniform, but it said what it needed to say. The Revenue Marine was a service that battled during peacetime, guarding the young nation’s borders and pro...

Fifteen hundred dollars worth of coffee coming in duty free meant a tidy profit, whether it was Delerue-Sanders behind the smuggling or someone else. A simple plan, but one that worked all too well given the poor state of the Revenue Marine. The revenue cutters couldn’t begin to cover all of the coast, not when the ships were spread thin with surveying, rescue operations, and winter cruising between Charleston and Key West. Underfunded, understaffed, looked down on by the regular navy, despised by the merchants who paid the tariffs, the Revenue Marine was no one’s darling. Well, except maybe Alexander Hamilton, he’d loved his revenue cutters that brought money into the Treasury, but look what happened to him, Washburn thought. Irritate the wrong people and there you are, worm food. -- Smuggler's Bride  The United States Coast Guard, aka the Revenue-Marine, aka the Revenue Cutter Service was founded on this day in 1790 by US Treasury Secretary Alexander Ha...

A simple plan, but one that worked all too well given the poor state of the Revenue Marine. The revenue cutters couldn’t begin to cover all of the coast, not when the ships were spread thin with surveying, rescue operations, and winter cruising between Charleston and Key West. Underfunded, understaffed, looked down on by the regular navy, despised by the merchants who paid the tariffs, the Revenue Marine was no one’s darling. Well, except maybe Alexander Hamilton, he’d loved his revenue cutters that brought money into the Treasury, but look what happened to him, Washburn thought. Irritate the wrong people and there you are, worm food. -- Smuggler's Bride When writing histories of the United States, including histories of the War of 1812, one of the most overlooked branches of the US armed forces is the USCG. Here reenactors from the Coast Guard demonstrate their vital role, and what life aboard a Revenue Cutter was like during the war.