linda collison's Sea of Words
charting a course from imagination to publication
“On board Old Ironsides, it suddenly occurred to Lieutenant Parker that thus far this battle had not been, and was not going to be, a mere pounding match. It was more a complex combination of skillful maneuver and artillery duel. He realized the two ships were much like fencers or boxers, with a succession of evolutions which resembled those kinds of changes of position – parries, lunges, ripostes, retreats, and advances – all accompanied by a continual play of the great guns, answering to the thrusts and blows of each individual movement…”
– from The Perfect Wreck –Old Ironsides and HMS Java: A Story of 1812.
The Perfect Wreck is the first book dedicated to the events leading up to the fateful encounter between the U.S.S. Constitution, one of the first of America’s frigates, and H.M.S. Java of the Royal Navy, with the battle itself the climax of the story.
Author Steven E. Maffeo is the associate library director at the U.S. Air Force Academy, a retired Navy Captain and a visiting history lecturer and tour guide instructor for the U.S.S. Constitution. Oh, and let’s not forget a credential that is even more valuable, which is his passion for history; especially the age of sail. 
In reading this realistic account I feel as if I’m a fly on the wall (or a weevil in the biscuit), seeing and hearing what went on aboard these two vessels. Maffeo explores the edges of nonfiction without falling into the sea of make-believe. This form of narrative is sometimes called creative nonfiction, which according to Lee Gutkind, founding editor of the journal Creative Nonfiction, is “reportage in a scenic, dramatic fashion” (author’s afterword). True to the form, Maffeo finds the inherent structure to the story, linking what is known with what is probable. The commands given by the officers, the lists of provisions, the weather and sea state, the casualties and damage to the ships are all authentic and brought to life on the page.
As Steve says in his afterword, “I’ve tried extremely hard to deliver to you solid historical truth, but at the same time bring the era to life and pull you into its time and place.”
Aye, Capt. Maffeo, that you have! My own sense of maritime history has been enhanced by reading this, and I hope my own writing will be enriched by having experienced it. (If you’ve read either of my historical novels you’ll know I don’t actually write historic naval fiction but am definitely having an affair with it!)
Steve Maffeo and I are shipmates aboard Fireship Press, a small publisher founded by the late Tom Grundner, who was also an author and aficionado of historic naval fiction. I have had the pleasure recently, of corresponding with Steve who is eager to share his passion for naval history.
Steve Maffeo and son, Micah
“Steve, I know you’re a retired naval captain but what piqued your interest in the age-of-sail? Was it all while you were serving in the navy?”
Steve: “It might seem funny, for a kid born and raised in Denver, but it seems I’ve always been interested in ships, and even more so the age-of-sail. Can’t remember when I wasn’t! There may have been other factors, but I think seeing the Trevor Howard/Marlon Brando “Mutiny on the Bounty” in ’63 (I was 9) was significant, and my mom bought me a beautiful edition of “Captain Horatio Hornblower” when I was in the 4th grade – with the great NC Wyeth book jacket. I’ve also always been interested in the historical period of, roughly, the French and Indian Wars thru the Napoleonic Wars with all the cultural, political, and military aspects of that period, so it becomes a larger “package,” as it were.”
“I loved all the details you wove into the account and the respect you obviously have for the officers and men of all the ships on both sides of the war. I imagine this authenticity stems from your 30 years in the navy – and your familiarity with Old Ironsides. On your website you mention having access to some rare sources of information and inspiration. Care to elaborate?”
Steve: “Well, there were those three evenings when I sat in the captain’s cabin and worked on the manuscript….and was the only soul on board the entire ship as the watchkeepers were pierside…that was truly memorable. I have been allowed to climb both fore and mizzen masts with the crew on two different occasions; quite the experience, even at pierside.
“Oh, you’re killing me here! To be able to have that ship all to yourself, just you and the ghosts of Commodore Bainbridge and his crew, what an enviable experience!”
(Click here for a mini-YouTube tour of the captain’s cabin where the author worked on the manuscript.)
Steve: “Another Age-of-Sail snapshot is when my wife Rhonda and I were at a Patrick O’Brian Symposium at the Royal Naval Museum in Portsmouth, just two weeks after 9/11. One night the group had dinner at tables on the lower gundeck of the Victory, and at one point I was apparently staring vacantly around in rapture at just being there; the noted British marine artist Geoff Hunt, sitting across from me, became concerned to ensure that I was OK – and of course I was…way more than OK!”
marine artist Geoff Hunt at work
Having read The Perfect Wreck Steve’s other books are now high on my reading list:
Most Secret and Confidential: Intelligence in the Age of Nelson (Naval Institute Press; 2000) A trade paperback edition is planned for Fall, 2012.
Seize, Burn or Sink: The thoughts and words of Lord Horatio Nelson (Scarecrow Press; 2006)
For more information visit the StevenMaffeo.com
The USS Constitution was one of the first six frigates authorized for construction by the Naval Act of 1794 and is most famous for her actions during the War of 1812 against Great Britain during which she defeated five British warships and earned her nickname, Old Ironsides. Launched in 1797 she is still a fully commissioned US Navy ship with a crew of 60 active-duty officers and personnel. Old Ironsides is berthed at Pier 1 of the former Charlestown Navy Yard and no visit to Boston would be complete without taking the tour and visiting the bookstore. Her crew and commanding officer Commander Matt Bonner are preparing for bicentennial observances of the War of 1812.
Explore Old Ironsides on line on this fun, interactive website Sue Hicken shared with me: http://www.asailorslifeforme.org/ironsides_explore.php
I have visited the town he was born in and I have stood on the black lava rock shore where he was killed, half a world away. I have sailed to few of the places he explored and charted so well. Join me today on English History Authors blog for a discussion about Captain James Cook, Royal Navy.
“Dublin is a grand place for an Ulsterman to get executed. Those not fortunate enough to have been born in the city of a thousand hurdles may seek consolation in the possibility of dying there.” –from Martyrs and Traitors: A Tale of 1916 by Marina Julia Neary.
Marina Julia Neary is the author of four historical novels, two plays and a collection of poetry. She is also an actress and a model, when called upon, and perhaps a bit of a revolutionary herself. Her fiction focuses on personalities, relationships and motivations and how those forces interact to direct history. I feel like she was close friends with her characters, like she knew them personally, all their quirks and weaknesses as well as their strengths.
On a recent trip to Dublin I took along Martyrs and Traitors, Neary’s latest historical novel that examines the life of Bulmer Hobson, a former Quaker who became a key leader in the Irish nationalist movement in the period leading up to Ireland’s 1916 Easter Rising. Reading Martyrs and Traitors while in Dublin kept the characters and the history ever close at hand. (We even took the train to the seaside village of Howth where Bulmer arranged to have the guns smuggled.)
I first met Marina through Fireship Press, publisher of three of Neary’s historical novels; Wynfield’s Kingdom, Wynfield’s War, and Lady with a Lamp: An untold story of Florence Nightingale. Marina and I began chatting online (I was fascinated by her in-depth knowledge of different historical periods as well as her unusual, somewhat dark perspective and I wanted to know how she knew so much about the different eras and events she chose to portray.)
Marina, you write about Dublin and the Irish Revolution so knowledgeably,” I say. ” What is your connection with the Irish?
“They are my spiritual family,” she answers. “I was “adopted” by the Irish. My husband is Irish-Ukranian.”
Our online messages evolved into a set of questions and answers in which she expounds.
Let’s start from the beginning: Marina, where were you born?
I’m from Chernobyl area. Still waiting for my third arm to grow. I remember my classmates passing out and suffering from severe nosebleeds. While American girls ask each other: “Does my ass look big?” my classmates would ask each other: “Do my lymph nodes look big?” My childhood experiences stirred in me a certain fascination with disasters – ecological, industrial and political. I was a very nervous, sad, angry little girl with a vivid imagination, a dark sense of humor and a talent for making enemies. Rivalry and animosity are subjects I understand very intimately. Creative writing teachers say you should “write what you know” – so I follow that advice.
My parents were classical musicians. My mother was a concertmistress, a taciturn sickly kitten with big eyes and sharp claws. When she was done tearing you apart, she would lick her bloodied whisker-pads contentedly. My biological father was an operatic coach, a flamboyant, bubbly nationalist.
How did you become a writer?
When you are so violently at odds with your peers, when you swim in a sea of antagonism, you have no choice but to become an artist. I’d love to be a painter, but I have two left hands, and both grow out of my arse (pardon my French). I can’t draw a straight line. Yet the need for visual expression must be satisfied. I always had a cinematic imagination, so I envisioned stories as colorful pictures, with microscopic detail. I heard every voice, every accent. I’ve always been fascinated by history and had so little interest in the world of my contemporaries. I found inspiration in Neo-Victorianism, French Romanticism and Irish nationalism. When you have no social life, you have all the time in the world to perfect your art.
When I’m not writing or researching, I do what most working moms do. I have a totally traditional family and a day job. After 10 years in the corporate world, I’m not working in the non-profit sector. It’s a mission-driven agency to help children who have emotional problems. As a teenager, I probably would’ve benefitted from their services myself. But yes, I do have a day job, and I’m thankful for it. A girl has to eat, and she has to feed her child and cat. Every once in a while I do modeling gigs to make some extra cash. My husband and I were in a few independent films.
What prompted Martyrs & Traitors?
Bulmer Hobson made a cameo appearance in my novel “Brendan Malone: the Last Fenian”. I wrote the first draft of “The Last Fenian” in 1997 and abandoned it on the account of negative feedback from one of my college professors. 13 years later, while purging my hard drive, I accidentally stumbled across the old manuscript and decided it was worth dusting off, polishing and submitting. Well, what do you know? A month later it gets accepted by All Things That Matter Press. The very same night I had a dream about Bulmer Hobson coming to me and reproaching me for giving him such a minor role. He said to me in his brassy Belfast brogue: “Without me the Irish Republican Brotherhood would’ve died.” Hobson was known for being a bit egotistic and claiming credit for various achievements on the nationalistic front – not always unfairly. He did contribute a great deal, but his contributions were swept under the rug by the De Valera administration due to Hobson’s refusal to support the Easter Rising in 1916.
In my defense, when I started writing “The Last Fenian” in 1997, there was no comprehensive biographical source on Bulmer Hobson. There were brief blurbs in various historical textbooks, but nothing definitive. Only a few years ago did a Canadian historian by the name Marnie Hay publish Hobson’s biography. I took it as a sign that time has come for me to write a novel in which Hobson would be the main character. He is such a controversial, romantic figure. Various sources describe him as bright, handsome, idealistic and … sexually naive. The last trait does not exactly set him apart from his contemporaries. He was born in Northern Ireland during the Victorian era. His English mother was a radical feminist, but she still had a fairly traditional family life. Her three children were raised to believe in equality of genders, but they were still expected to abide by the sexual norms of the day. Through his nationalistic activities, Hobson came in contact with women who were rebels on more than one front. All this was excellent material for a work of fiction. I feel truly honored that Hobson’s soul came to me of all potential writers.
What’s next, Marina?
Right now I am working on “Tears of Emer”, the story of Helena Molony. In “Martyrs & Traitors” she is one of Hobson’s main love interests. She entered history as one of the most militant Irish rebel women, a feral cat who never thought twice about resorting to physical violence in the name of her cause.
(And here Marina divulges a bit more, but I don’t want to spoil it!)
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