I’m excited to be meeting historian and novelist J.David Davies at the upcoming Historical Novel Conference this September, in London — having been introduced to his work by way of Richard Spillman’s review of Gentleman Captain on Old Salt Blog  (June 13, 2011).

In Gentleman Captain, the first book of the Matthew Quinton series, J.D.Davies transports us to Britain in the 1600′s — a time well before the glory days of Nelson and the supremacy of the British Navy.  He writes of the  Royal Navy; a time when English sea captains were not the well-trained mariners they were to become in the following century but were indeed, gentlemen captains who often had little or no shipboard experience.   An eminent historian, Davies has published academic articles and nonfiction books, among them the award-winning Pepys Navy: Ships, Men and Warfare; 1649-1689.  His blog, Gentlemen and Tarpaulins (after his book by the same name) is filled with fascinating historical tidbits, anecdotes and chronicles of his research excursions.

.

David, I read on your website that you became interested in 17^th century British maritime history at a young age, growing up on the south coast of Wales. What was it about that particular era that captured your imagination?

The seventeenth century was a really dramatic time in British history, and I was always interested in topics like the civil wars and the reign of Charles II. When I settled on the Restoration navy as a topic for my doctorate, I realized it was a hugely neglected subject – people tend to have heard about Drake and Nelson but often don’t know a great deal about what came in between.  The more I studied it, the more I realized that this was the really important formative period in the history of the Royal Navy – the time when so many aspects of ‘Nelson’s navy’ were first created. But the Restoration period as a whole is fascinating, with larger than life characters like King Charles and Pepys, court and political intrigue, and some of the most dramatic events in British history, such as the Plague and Fire. I think there’s something thrilling about one of the most high-minded of ages also being one of the bawdiest: after all, this was a time when the likes of Isaac Newton, Christopher Wren, John Bunyan, Aphra Behn and Nell Gwyn could all have sat down at the same hypothetical dinner table!

You are the author of three nonfiction books: Gentlemen and Tarpaulins, Blood of Kings and Pepys Navy; Ships, Men and Warfare; 1649-1689, which was awarded the prestigious Samuel Pepys’ award in 2009.  I’ve read on your blog that you’re working on a naval history of your native Wales, as well as continuing the Matthew Quinton series. How do you manage to write both fiction and nonfiction?

I love the different disciplines, and being able to move from one to the other – clearly there’s more freedom in writing fiction but in one sense it’s also harder work because you don’t have the ‘anchor’ of referring back to the sources all the time. I’ve also found that the one complements the other. I can use the fiction to bring some of the actual history of the period before a much wider audience, although I always have to be wary of a tendency to slip into ‘ex-History-teacher’ mode and write long passages of factual exposition! On the other hand, writing fiction has made me think much more about the language I use in my non-fiction, to make it more readable and interesting; I think there’s nothing worse than dry academic tomes about history that are written in deadly dull prose with no thought whatsoever for the readers. History is exciting and should be written about in an exciting way, regardless of whether it’s fiction or non-fiction!

The Quinton Journals are very layered, with lots of interesting back story.  Do you work with a detailed outline, or is your method more free form?  Do you keep notebooks about your characters’ histories, or is it all in your head? 

I do have detailed notes about the ‘back story’ – indeed, this was the first material I wrote, well before I started writing any part of Gentleman Captain. I think this was the crucial difference between the various failed ‘Chapter Ones’ I’d written and then abandoned in earlier years; the fact that I’d given so much thought to the back story and to the inter-relationships of the various characters meant that when I actually started writing the stories, it seemed straight away as though as I was dealing with real people who were affected by the ‘baggage’ of their pasts, as we all are. On the other hand, there’s a lot in my head, too. For example Phineas Musk was originally going to be quite a minor character, but from pretty much the first words I ever wrote for him, he seemed to keep barging in and demanding a bigger and bigger role! When I come to write the individual books, I spend quite a bit of time on plot construction (I usually hire a cottage somewhere on the coast or in the countryside so I can obsess about the plot 24/7 without driving my partner Wendy nuts…). I then have an outline that gives a number of key headers for each chapter, but when I actually start writing I always try to keep things flexible and to let the ideas flow, reworking the original outline as I go along if necessary. So the writing itself is usually quite easy – it’s the plot construction that takes the time and the really hard thinking!

When you’re not researching or writing, how do you unwind?  Are you still a rugby enthusiast?  Any other interests?

Yes, I still love rugby although I don’t get to as many games as I’d like. I also enjoy visiting historical places – this is something I’ve done from my very earliest days, and indeed, it was a visit to Pembroke Castle at the age of five that first turned me on to history. We’re quite lucky in that we live about 40 miles north of London with easy access not only to the city but also, going in the other directions, to the many wonderful historic sites in the English Midlands and East Anglia. I love listening to music, especially Handel and other composers of that era, and also reading, but I must admit I don’t read as much as I’d like to these days; I find it’s an unfortunate side effect of writing, namely that after spending all day looking at words on a screen I find it quite difficult to then look at yet more words in the evening!

Do you have any advice for aspiring historians or authors of historical fiction? 

I’d hesitate to advise aspiring historians these days, although I suppose I taught plenty of them over the years! As for authors of historical fiction, though, I think the most important thing I’ve learned is something I’ve already referred to. It seems to me from listening to aspiring authors speaking at conferences, etc, that people can be so concerned about doing their research thoroughly and getting every little element of period detail right that they sometimes forget the essential point – historical fiction is fiction first, historical second, and the critical thing is to have a good story with strong, believable characters. So really work on your characters and their back stories before you write anything, then develop a really cracking story, then worry about the period detail, not the other way around. And if you can, actually go to the places that you’re writing about. For example, the forthcoming ‘Quinton 4’, The Lion of Midnight, is set in Sweden in 1666, and although I’d been to the country several times before, I went over for a week last year specifically to visit the locations I’d want to use in the book. A strong sense of place is almost as important as the other ingredients of a good book!

Is there anything else you’d like to say about your work or about J.David Davies, the man?

Only that I thoroughly enjoy what I do, and one of the most enjoyable aspects of all is the really kind and positive feedback that I get from my readers. My main aims in writing the series were to produce stories that people would enjoy and which would hopefully increase knowledge of the seventeenth century navy at the same time, and so far, comments from my readers suggest that I’m achieving both of those objectives! So I’m really grateful to everybody who’s read the books, and I hope to carry on writing them for a long time yet.

I hope so too!  Teach me the sea, Mr. Davies…

Want to read more about J.D. Davies?  Check out David Hayes‘ interview, and reviews on Astrodene’s Historic Naval Fiction — an encyclopedic website and forum for all nautical fiction (and nonfiction too!)

The Blast That Tears the Skies, book 3 of the Matthew Quinton series has just been released in Britain by (publisher).  Britannia’s Dragon, his work-in-progress about the naval history of Wales, can be pre-ordered on the author’s website, J D Davies, Historian and Author

At the invitation of Sarah Kostin I met with the Young Writers of Steamboat Springs at the Bud Werner Memorial Library last evening to talk with them about being an author.  The theme of my talk and the workshop was Inspiration.  I shared the story of how I sailed aboard the Endeavour replica and how we voyage crew members learned how to climb the ratlines and go out on the foot-ropes to make and furl sail; how we learned to steer by the compass and navigate using a sextant.  How we took our turns on watch and slept in hammocks we strung on the deck head.  How we had to scrub the deck and perform other humble tasks.

“Wait — you mean you weren’t a passenger but you actually had to work?”  asked one girl, in disbelief.

“Yes, but that’s what we signed up for.  To learn what it was like to be an 18th century sailor; to learn the basics of seamanship in the age of sail.  Actually, it was fun.  Sort of like Adventure Club for adults.”

I went on to explain how we sailed across the northern Pacific Ocean from Vancouver to Hawaii, and that it took twenty days.

“How did you know where you were?” asked one astute young lad, about eight or nine years old.

I showed him a chart and explained briefly (and inadequately) about sextants are used in celestial navigation.

“Yes, but how?” he pressed.

When pressed by the child for a better explanation, I found myself blathering and dithering and saw all of their faces glaze over at once, like a dark cloud of confusion had passed overhead.  Ye gads!  Leave it to a child to find your weak spot…

“I bet Captain Cook would have liked to have had GPS,” the boy said.

“Hey, wait!”  said another.  “Was Captain Cook real?  I thought he was a Disney character.”

“You’re thinking of Captain Hook, not Captain Cook.  Captain James Cook was very real, and so was his ship.   And my character, Patricia MacPherson, was made up, by me.  But she might have been real.  She could have been real.”

We moved on to the method of time-keeping aboard an 18th century sailing ship.  I brought along a 30 minute sand glass and a brass ship’s bell which I let them take turns ringing.  One ring on the half hour, two rings on the hour, three, and so fourth until eight bells signified four hours had passed and time for the watch on deck to go below and get some rest.”

“That bell sure is loud,” someone remarked.

“That’s so you could hear it all over the ship,” a clever girl explained.

“Exactly so!” I said, pleased that the ship was beginning to come alive for them now as it had for me.

We shared ideas of what inspires us — and I was inspired by how they enjoyed playing with words and letting their imaginations out of the cage.  I’m going to draw on that energy and delve back into my own writing with the boldness of youth.  And I am going to brush up on celestial navigation so that the next time a kid asks me I can give them a better explanation!

Frankly, it’s a little daunting, especially when your interviewer is not only a published author but an English teacher as well!

The best and most memorable English teacher I ever had was Mr. Eaton, who taught senior English at Westminster High School, Westminster Maryland.  This was way back in the last century, and Mr. Eaton was old then, or so we thought.  At any rate, he is no longer with us; rest in peace, Mr. Eaton.  Or should I say, “Out, out brief candle!”  Mr. Eaton introduced thousands of teenagers to the joys of Shakespeare, Chaucer, Dickens, et al,  and he required us to memorize a number of soliloquies and sonnets.  He likewise had Great Expectations for us when it came to creative writing and compositions, as well.  I can truly say Mr. Eaton contributed to my becoming a writer. (For a biographical sketch of this influential teacher, see my classmate, fellow writer and former mayor of Westminster, Kevin Dayhoff’s blog post, Remembering Mike Eaton.)

Earlier this week I was honored to be interviewed by Elizabeth Caulfield Felt, an English instructor at the University of Wisconsin, Stevens Point, and an author  of four books herself.   (The grades aren’t in yet, but I’m hoping for an “A”…)  Here’s the link to Elizabeth’s grade book — er — blog:

Interview with Linda Collison

Now I wonder what Mr. Eaton would have to say about that?

Forget what I said on an earlier post, I love agents!  Especially mine.  I am pleased to announce that I’ve signed with James Schiavone of Schiavone Literary Agency to represent Looking for Redfeather, a contemporary young adult novel about three runaway teens on a road trip in a stolen Cadillac, in search of an Apache musician named Redfeather.

Professor Schiavone is just what I was looking for in an agent.  I am all a-blush, it was literary love at first sight.  We met via the internet, through a sort of on-line dating service called Publisher’s Marketplace.  (Don’t take me literally!  I like to compare the ego-bashing process of looking for an agent to the hapless process of looking for your soul mate on match.com or by trolling the singles bars.  What finding a reputable literary agent actually requires is studying agent websites and blogs and sites like Publisher’s Marketplace and to find possible fits, then writing a crack query letter (an irresitable pick-up line), then sitting by the phone waiting for the call, or the email, saying they’re interested in reading a “full” or “partial”.  This feels kind of like letting your date get to first or second base.  If he or she asks for the full manuscript and synopsis you eagerly send it off, heart a-flutter, only to wait for days, weeks, or months while they consider it.

During the coy waiting game it’s best to be monogamous or at least let him/her know up front that you are dating other agents.  Most don’t like that, unless you are a hot commodity, a celebrity author, say.  If he never calls back it means he just wasn’t that into you.  If he’s attracted, if your manuscript has that certain something, that je ne sait quoi he can’t resist, he will propose.  In writing.  And while the marriage between author and agent is only for one manuscript (you are free to date others to represent other works) both parties sign the nupital agreement in hopes they will live happily ever after in a relationship that makes them both rich.  Or at least comfortable.)

James Schiavone, I do!

View of the Lahaina roadstead

Bob and I enjoyed a quick stop on Maui on our way to Oahu…

On the west side of Maui, tucked in at the base of the emerald green West Maui Mountains is Lahaina — one of the few anchorages in Hawaii that is sheltered from the strong trade winds. Lahaina became a favorite resort of Hawaiian royalty and a favorite roadstead for European adventurers and explorers, missionaries, merchantmen and whalers. Tradewinds are great for powering a sailing vessel across and ocean but strong winds can cause a ship at anchor to drag and ground tackle to break.

Today Lahaina is a tourist town with snorkel, whale-watching and sunset cruise boats in the harbor and a few lone sailboats moored in the roadstead.  You can walk Front Street and get the feel of how it felt to finally get off the ship after months or years at sea, working four-hour watches in horrible weather eating salt pork and peas.  Lahaina must have seemed like paradise, and all those lovely, willing women to welcome you!  It’s no wonder so many sailors decided to jump ship here.

Bob and I spent the day walking old Lahaina, gathering the bits and pieces of maritime history and quenching our thirst at the Lahaina Yacht Club.  Lahaina was where Kamehameha I landed with hundreds of canoes of his warriors from the “Big Island” of Hawaii, to conquer Maui by a show of force.  Next came the European explorers and adventurers, the most famous being Captain James Cook, who charted the Islands and introduced cattle.  The Hawaiians got on well with the British and incorporated the Union Jack into their own Hawaiian flag.

Soon came the merchant ships for sandalwood, which was very prized in China.  The earliest Chinese to arrive on Maui came on trading or whaling ships.  Later, thousands of Chinese men were brought to Hawai’i to work on sugar plantations and build tunnels and irrigation systems.

Ships brought the first missionaries all the way from New England, around Cape Horn, a journey that took about six months.  The oldest house still standing on the island of Maui is the home of Dr. and Mrs. Baldwin, who were newlyweds when they left Massachusetts.  After ministering on Hawai’i Island they were assigned to Maui, arriving at Lahaina in 1835.  Dr. Baldwin was a graduate of Yale University and studied medicine at Harvard.  He is credited with saving the people of Maui from the smallpox epidemic of 1853, by vaccinating them.

Here is a photo of the Baldwin House in Lahaina, and inside is a display of 19th century medical instruments, similar to what Dr. Baldwin used.  (In Surgeon’s Mate, Patricia innoculates Andromeda‘s crew against smallpox.  Innoculation was a technique that was used before the safer method known as vaccination was discovered by British physician Edward Jenner in 1796, using the benign cowpox virus.)

A retired nurse, I’m always curious about old medical instruments.  Here in Dr. Baldwin’s dispensary I found 19th century urinary catheters, tenaculums, toothkeys, scarificators, enema syringes and other cool stuff.

19th century urinary catheters (made of metal)

Part of the story takes place in Denver, on the Sixteenth Street Mall, Tom’s Diner, and at Ziggie’s Saloon.  Other featured locations are Dulce, New Mexico, Tucson, Arizona and Inn of the Mountain Gods in Ruidoso, New Mexico,

Sponsored by Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers, the Incite Denver awards ceremony was held at Denver’s Mercury Cafe on February 20, 2012.   The first pitch, by author Terry Kroenung, was for a witty and literary sci-fi titled “Paragon of the Eccentric.”

“Looking for Redfeather” is the second presentation.  I began by reading the first 100 words of the novel, then followed with a brief synopsis, acted out behind me by Emilie (playing the parts of the three teens) and Matt Campbell as Redfeather.

Stephanie Carter’s “The bookshop at Whistlestop”, an intriguing historical novel for middle graders, is the third pitch.

“Bee Candy” by Sullamuth Smith is the fourth, and David Kelley’s “The Killer Wore Clown Shoes” provides a fantastic slap-stick finale to the short pitches.

Thanks to the Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers for sponsoring the contest that incited me to finish the story I started in 2007!  And thanks to the many friends, fans and family who supported me in my efforts.

Redfeather was fun to write and fun to pitch.  Watch all five short pitches on YouTube!

I’m looking forward to meeting other authors of historical fiction and learning from them, and anticipating the sweeping groundswell of energy and inspiration that inevitably forms when writers get together to further their craft.  I’m particularly excited to meet several authors of nautical fiction whom I’ve been corresponding with this past year:  Alaric Bond, Jenny Barden, Helen Hollick, Margaret Muir, and Richard Spillman are five salty authors — and David Hayes, who is an expert on nautical fiction and film set in the age of sail, connects us all.

Conference attendees can sign up for a boat trip to Greenwich plus Yeoman guided tour of the Old Royal Naval College.  You can bet I’ll be on board for that!  (Is anyone up for a nautical pub crawl and ale tasting, after?)  Alaric Bond, author of the Fighting Sail Series, is organizing a private roundtable for nautical fiction writers in the “wardroom” at Scolfes, sometime during the conference. 

The internet and social networking is a powerful media for connecting with readers and other authors around the world, but nothing beats getting together face-to-face.  HNS offers a moveable feast and this year it’s London, baby!  I can’t wait…

For more information about the Historical Novel Society, visit their website.

It is on the Caribbean island of Barbados, on the very sugar plantation where she was born, that Patricia comes face to face with the ugly truth about her father.  (As a writer I have written several stories in which fathers don’t measure up.  In fact, they fail miserably.  Which is funny since my own Dad was all a father could be, and then some.)

In my mind the estate Patricia longs to inherit is St. Nicholas Abbey, a real Jacobian great house in St. Peter’s Parish.  Despite the name, St. Nicholas Abbey was never an abbey at all and had no connections with the church.   Built between 1650 and 1660 by Colonel Benjamin Berringer, St. Nicholas is the oldest house in Barbados.  For me, it was the inspiration for the birthplace of the fictional Patricia Kelley MacPherson, the illegitimate daughter of the second son of an English baron.  The house would have already been a hundred years old when Patricia was born — and if walls could talk, it already had stories to tell.

The original owner of the plantation, Colonel Berringer, was killed in a duel with his neighbor, Sir John Yeamans, who subsequently married his rival’s  widow and left Barbados for South Carolina, where he became the governor.  Now, there is another novel for you, filled with all sorts of sordid details, I’msure!  The house was named after one of Col. Berringer’s descendants, according to a local historian.  Berringer’s son left the estate to his daughter Susanna, who married a man named George Nicholas.  Apparently no one knows how the “Saint” or “Abbey” came to be attached — and I rather doubt if any of the owners were worthy of canonization.   (God forbid, it might have been called Susanna’s house!  But not much has ever been named after women, except hurricanes and a few boats, fighter planes, and cannons…)

Bob and I visited Barbados in 2002, as I was researching the novel I called Orion Rising but that would be published by Knopf as Star-Crossed in 2006.  Now out of print with Knopf, the book will soon be reborn as Barbados Bound, under the Fireship Press label.  It is in press now.

The thick stone walls provide a respite from the hot, bright Caribbean sun.  Inside, was cool, dark and sparely elegant.  What I most remember about St. Nicholas Abbey was the heavy presence of ghosts.  The ghosts of indentured servants and countless African slaves who worked and died there.  We will never know their names or their stories, but we can imagine them.  I resurrected one possible ghost; that of Patricia’s half brother Rupert Hatterby — a mulatto who was given his freedom by his white father, but little else.  Except the name Hatterby, her father’s surname, which is something Patricia always coveted but as a natural child was never given.

Short jacket and white trousers this young girl she put on
And like a gallant seaman bold went roving through the town.
She did sign on with our Captain Blare a sailor for to be
And it was to seek her own true love all on the raging sea…

Ballads and stories about girls who dressed as boys and went to sea are part of our maritime culture, and are based on fact.  Hannah Snell, Mary Anne Talbot, Mary Lacy, and Jeanne Baret, are some of the more well-known 18th century women who were successful in their shipboard masquerades.  We’ll never know how many women actually chose this way of life because we only hear about those who were found out — usually due to injury or punishment in the line of duty!

How many women during the age of sail do I think dressed as boys or men and went to sea? (Or, as in the case of Mary Lacey, became a shipwright, “to whom the Government granted a superannuated pension of twenty pounds per annum, during her life.”)  Perhaps not a very great number — but I’ll bet there were quite a few more than have been noted in the official records.

As Samuel Johnson said, “Being in a ship is being in prison, with the chance of being drowned.”  So, why on earth would a woman put herself in such an uncomfortable and potentially dangerous situation?  For love?  Perhaps, but methinks more joined up for the the steady paycheck (though in a-rears), the lodging, the hammock, the three square meals and the chance for prize the navy offered.  Though a sailor’s life was hard and dangerous, so were the workhouses, the prisons and the waterfronts where the girls who had resorted to prostitution plied their trade.   If a young maid was in search of love, it was probably because her missing beau had been pressed into service and she had not heard from him, nor had she received any support from him!

Another reason may have been for the adventure and opportunity a ship offers.  I fell for that one myself…  But then, I confess, I have an ongoing shipboard romance with a sailor named Bob, who happens to be my husband.  And come to think of it, Bob is the one who introduced me to sailing.  But that’s another story!

  I thank Gavin Atkin for including this ballad sung by A.J.Lloyd on his blog, where I discovered it.

Barbados Bound

 Author’s preface

 Barbados Bound was first published by Alfred A. Knopf as Star-Crossed.  I wrote it as adult historical fiction, to explore what it might have been like to have been a young woman down on her luck, aboard an 18^th century ship.  Not as a passenger — but as part of the crew.

My curiosity had been piqued after my husband and I spent three weeks as voyage crewmembers aboard HM Bark Endeavour, a working replica of Captain Cook’s renowned ship of exploration.   As crew, we were taught everything we needed to know about sailing the ship by our superior officers.  Our duties included standing our rotating, four-hour watches, during which we climbed aloft to make or reduce sail, kept a look-out for other vessels, and took our turns at the helm.  When not on watch we were assigned cleaning and maintenance duties, and at night strung our hammocks from the deckhead, just as British seamen did for centuries.  Although Endeavour was equipped with a few modern conveniences Cook didn’t have, she was a time machine for my imagination.   While standing watch, or at the helm, I found myself thinking that if I could perform these tasks alongside my mates (perhaps a quarter of whom were women like me) then surely there was truth to the stories about women dressing as men and working aboard ships during the age of sail.

During the three weeks I was an 18^th century sailor, we sailed Endeavour across the northern Pacific Ocean, from Vancouver to Hawaii.  When I disembarked in Kona, I carried with me the seeds for a story — though there was years of research to be done while writing it.  The story I wanted to write was not about the Endeavour or Captain Cook, but it would take place on a vessel similar to the Endeavour.

Orion Rising was the working title for this story, written from the view point of a young woman who stows herself away in order to get to Barbados.  It was published as Star-Crossed by Alfred A. Knopf in 2006, and marketed as a young adult novel.  Although I didn’t write it for a teenaged market, I was honored when the New York Public Library chose it to be among the Books for the Teen Age – 2007.

Star-Crossed went out of print in 2011.   Fireship Press has republished it as adult historical fiction — the first novel in the Patricia MacPherson Nautical Adventure Series.

I have taken this opportunity  to correct a few minor historical inaccuracies – and to make a few other revisions, as authors are wont to do.  I have also put back in some of the original wording that was changed for a young adult readership.  Finally, I have retitled it because I always felt the title Star-Crossed (Knopf’s choice) was more indicative of a romance novel rather than a historical adventure story.  Although the working title was Orion rising, I feel Barbados Bound better reflects the spirit of the story.

I am very grateful to Tom Grunder, the founder of Fireship Press, who wanted to publish Barbados Bound as the first book in a series about a woman who goes to sea in the age of sail, and who published Surgeon’s Mate; book two of the Patricia MacPherson Nautical Adventure Series in 2011.  Tom didn’t live to see Barbados Bound  under the Fireship label, but I am greatly indebted to him.  I appreciate the support and editorial guidance he gave me while he was alive.