It’s been a bit quiet here today. I’ve been busy finishing the first draft of Renegade. As with all my previous novels, the bulk of the writing has taken place slowly over a period of several months. I have no particular timetable to work to as this is a hobby, not a living. However, when I start writing, I always have an end point in sight. The last page is already written in my head. Then, as that end point comes into sight, the whole thing becomes a sprint to get it all down on the page. The resultant splurge is barely readable due to typos and missed words as my brain races ahead of my fingers on the keyboard. As an aside, my handwriting is similarly messy for the same reason.
Yesterday evening and today has been just like that. Now that I’ve crossed that finishing line, I’ve told my story. It’s raggedy in places and there’s much to do in the way of rewriting and proofreading, but it’s down. I’m looking at some time in the New Year to get this one out, depending on Leggy’s schedule. He’s a bit overwhelmed at the moment and we are still waiting on the Underdog Christmas anthology.
Renegade is another historical novel set against the golden age of piracy.
Sounds interesting – is this a good old adventure tale? I’m running out of older authors to read – most of the new stuff is woke rubbish. I just want to escape into a good story once in awhile.
It’s a ripping yarn that is drawn loosely from the events in the life of Mary Read, so the golden age of Piracy.
All the best, Longrider.
Oh, and although you will find a mix of characters – this one has a couple of escaped slaves (cultural appropriation) and the lead character is female (not my lived experience) – there is no wokery.
Cool! I don’t mind a female lead in an adventure as long as she’s not some Mary Sue type that starts off perfect and we must all bow to her awesomeness. That’s just boring. And a mix of characters is great – as long as they get to be actual characters, and not just Black, or Gay, or Trans-binary-queer-BIPOC Deaf. TV, movies, even books now don’t tell good stories anymore. They’ve got every DIE (Diversity, Inclusion, Equity) box checked, but there’s no story. They are either boring as heck, or I find myself perversely rooting for the straight white male villain, just because the other characters are so insufferable.
She goes to war disguised as a man and ends up on a pirate ship – as did Mary Read and Anne Bonny. Those two are where I drew my inspiration. The quartermaster is a black guy. Pirates were easy going about escaped slaves on their ships and operated a democracy when it came to the running of the ship. The other black character is mixed race and is a female antagonist and she’s a nasty piece of work – handy with a knife and poison.
As an aside to this, Pink News tried to claim that Read and Bonny were lesbians. I’m mildly surprised they didn’t try to claim that they were trans. Neither is true. Women disguised themselves as men to live lives otherwise denied them. Read and Bonny were both pregnant at the time of their conviction for piracy, so the lesbian thing doesn’t stack up.
OK you are making me want to read your novel – sounds like a ripping good yarn!
They did that with a club owner in the US, historical person – claimed she was trans, but I think she was just a mannish lesbian who dressed like a guy at a time when women were still mostly expected to wear skirts. I don’t think she ever claimed to be a man though. Then the idiot trans mafia got the movie about her life canceled because a woman was going to play the part, not a trans person. Morons.
I’m currently working through the second draft. It will be the New Year sometime when Leg Iron Books gets it out.