The ‘Lure’ of the Pirate Life

"In an honest service there is thin commons, low wages, and hard labor; in this, plenty and satiety, pleasure and ease, liberty and power; and who would not balance creditor on this side, when all the hazard that is run for it, at worst, is only a sour look or two at choking. No, a merry life and a short one, shall be my motto."  ~ The Words of Bartholomew "Black Bart" Roberts

Bartholomew Roberts was born in Wales and is considered the most successful pirate that lived during the Golden Age of Piracy which spanned from 1650 to 1722. He invoked terror and invincibility to all who crossed his path. Even his death shook the world. "The Blackest Day" marks his death, February 10, 1722 and the end of piracy's Golden Age.

Why did he or anyone for that matter become a pirate? The largest source of information is from court records although a review of personal memoirs and letters also provide valuable information.

During the early 17^th century records indicate that almost three-quarters of a pirate ship crew was made up of seasoned seamen who previously served on merchant ships, warships, and even privateers.

According to historian David Cordingly Caribbean crews were made up of 35% English, 25% colonial Americans, 20% from the West Indies (Jamaica and Barbados primarily), 10% Scottish and 8% Welsh. The remaining 2% were from Sweden, Holland, France and Spain.

But, back to Bartholomew Roberts. What motivated him to become a pirate?

The Princess, the merchant ship on which Roberts crewed was boarded by Welsh pirate Howell Davis. Captain Davis gave The Princess’ crew few options. Sign on or die by outright execution or abandoned on a desert island. Roberts signed the charter.

Some sailors made a ‘career move’ from privateering to pirate. A privateer was an individual with a government commission who owned or officered an armed ship authorized to capture enemy merchant ships. In other words, a sanctioned pirate. War ‘encouraged’ people to become privateers, but once peace returned the privateers found themselves unemployed. These people had few ways of making a living. Privateering/Pirating was the life they knew and the financial benefits were still attractive. As a pirate all they pilfered they shared among themselves. Although the consequences were dire, execution, for them the alternative was dying of starvation, becoming a beggar, or a thief on land.

Bartholomew Roberts went off to sail when he was thirteen-years-old. He was 27 when he signed on with Captain Davis. Six weeks after he joined the crew, Captain Davis was ambushed and killed. Bartholomew Roberts had impressed his pirate mates. They took a vote for the Davis’ replacement and named him the new captain.

Reluctant to be a pirate, Roberts embraced his new position. It is believed that Roberts felt if he must be a pirate, it was better "being a commander than a common man." His first order was to attack the town where Davis had been killed, to avenge his former captain.

Pirates plundered ships and villages for their gold, silver, and jewels, but that wasn’t all. They also took clothing to barter and to wear. They kept those items that suited them either to wear at sea or as finery to wear ashore. There are records of pirates going to the gallows wearing velvet jackets, taffeta breeches, silk shirts and stockings.

Pirate captains were no different. They often dressed as a successful merchant, giving him the appearance of a gentleman.  Black Bart, as Bartholomew Roberts was now called, was the fashion leader of elegance among pirate captains. According to his crew he “dressed in a rich crimson damask waistcoat and breeches, a red feather in his hat, a gold chain round his neck, with a diamond cross hanging from it.”

Unfortunately, Black Bart’s fancy clothes did not make him invincible. He was killed in a broadside attack of grapeshot fired from the Royal Navy ship cannons tore out his throat. Obeying his standing order, his men threw his body overboard.

The greatest pirate of his generation, it’s estimated that over his three-year career, Black Bart took some 400 ships. He is not as famous as some of his contemporaries, Blackbeard, Stede Bonnet, or Charles Vane, but he was a much better pirate.

There were many reasons why Black Bart was successful, his personal charisma and leadership, his daring and ruthlessness and his ability to coordinate small fleets to maximum effect. Merchants feared him and his men to the extent that commerce came to a halt. Merchant vessels did not venture out of port when Black Bart and his men were about. He must have secretly been one of the Pirates of Britannia!

Now Available!

Deception and family honor are at stake – so is her heart.

Wesley Reynolds will do anything to avenge his family’s banishment from Dundhragon Castle even throw in with the notorious pirate, MacAlpin. His plan, ruin Lord Ewan’s trading network. He has a more devious plan for his father’s ‘best friend,’ the man who abandoned them at the eleventh hour. He’ll ruin the man’s most precious jewel, his daughter Darla. Wesley’s so close to ruining the trade network and succeeding he can almost taste it, but revenge is not nearly as sweet as Darla’s kisses.

Darla Maxwell, beloved by her parents has no prospects of marriage. Her father and Lord Ewan search to find her the right husband. Darla’s special gifts are frightening to many. She has visions that often come true. The murky image of a man haunts her, she’s sure it’s Lord Ewan’s soon-to-be son-in-law, but the vision morphs when she meets Wesley. The meaning couldn’t be any clearer to her, her destiny lies with Wesley.

When revelations surface indicating Wesley has been deceived and his revenge misplaced. Will he find the truth of what really happened to his family in time to stop the pirates? Will Darla ever forgive him? Will he ever forgive himself?

Amazon Free to Kindle Unlimited readers or on sale for $0.99

Who is your favorite pirate, Captain Blood, Captain Jack Sparrow, Long John Silver, Captain Hook (from the TV series) or anyone else? I’ve set anchor at RuthACasie.com or better yet, drop me a line at Ruth@RuthACasie.com

A Love Story

This week, I’m on pre-vacation. Yes, I made that up, but I’m going with it anyway. Last Friday, I turned in developmental edits on Monster Haven #4, Golem in My Glovebox. Tomorrow, I’m leaving for Disney World. This week has been all about getting the house back in order after Hell Week (a name given to any week which ends in a deadline) and getting ready to go—to Disney World, in case you missed that part.

This post is one last writerly thing I’m doing, but I’m not even going to talk about my books (Monster Haven books #1-3 available now wherever e-books are sold!) because for the next couple of weeks, I’m not even looking at my sales ranks (except once or twice a day or so), and I’m not answering any mail (unless it’s from readers or somebody from my publisher or if it’s really funny or maybe a friend needs me or my daughter needs my recipe for fried chicken strips).

I often feel a little weird because my books (which I’m not talking about) have a little romance in them, but they aren’t romances. I hang out with a lot of romance writers, though. Seriously. Take a look at the list on the right. I’m very often the odd girl out, like I'm missing a vital skill set. But we’re going to do something a little different today. I’m going to tell you a love story. A Disney love story. A fairy tale.

Once upon a time… 

A girl who was prettier and thinner than she knew at the time, and younger than she appreciated back then, got a job working for The Mouse (specifically, the Disney Catalog), got pregnant, and got married, all three in the space of about six months. Yes. In that order. A year later, a new boy started working there, too, and the girl and the boy were instant friends. They loved all the same things, you see. He made her laugh all the time. They tried to stump each other with difficult Disney trivia questions. They sang Dr. Demento and Tom Lehrer songs. They argued over which Enterprise captain was superior. (Kirk.)

Totally harmless, mind you. They were friends, nothing more.

Eventually, the girl had to move away when her husband joined the military. A second child arrived. She moved again, this time out of the country.

The boy waited a very long time for her to come back.

Of course, she did come back, many years later. She was getting a divorce. The boy, who was now a man, grew excited, but quickly became resigned. The girl, who was now a woman, had found someone new while waiting for her divorce. The two visited for awhile, and he listened to her stories before they parted ways.

Totally harmless, mind you. They were friends, nothing more.

She ran off to get married again and work for The Mouse once more (specifically, Walt Disney World). A few years later, she was back, having never remarried—a little bitter, a little tired, and having lost her belief in the magical forever promised by Disney.

As always, the girl who was now a much older woman and the boy who was now a much older man, went out together to catch up on all that had happened since they last saw each other.

Totally harmless, mind you. They were friends, nothing more.

Until he reached out and held her hand. In that one magical moment, everything changed. Everything

finally made sense to her. The thing she’d been searching for had been waiting for her all along. Less than six months later, they were married. He had a ring designed for her in the shape of The Mouse, so she would always know the magical forever promised by Disney was real.

They spent their honeymoon at Disneyland. They still play Disney trivia (mostly, she wins because she knows everything, and he should just accept that), they still sing Dr. Demento and Tom Lehrer songs, and he still won’t admit that it takes a Picard and a Riker to encompass all the qualities of a Kirk.

Tomorrow, they’re leaving for Walt Disney World, nine years after he first held her hand.

 …And they’re living happily ever after. 

Have a wonderful couple of weeks, folks. I know I will!

Rachel's head is packed with an outrageous amount of useless Disney trivia. She is terrified of thunder, but not of lightning, and sometimes recites the Disneyland dedication speech during storms to keep herself calm. She finds it appalling that nobody from Disney has called yet with her castle move-in date.

Originally from Northern California, she has a tendency to move every few years, resulting in a total of seven different states and a six-year stint in England. Currently, she's planning her next grand adventure. Rachel has one heroic husband, two genius kids, a crazy-catlady starter kit, and an imaginary dog named Waffles.

She doesn't have time for a real dog.


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Brawling in Love

With Valentine's Day upon us it's easy to fall into the trap of thinking all couples are destined to constantly swoon and coo over each other like turtle doves on meds. But having been married for over a decade and with the same man for over twenty years I can tell you there's a whole lot of brawling that comes with the sweet loving. But it's the fighting that makes the loving better, in my opinion – if you can agree to disagree with the one you love it makes for a better, more interesting life. So in keeping with the holiday here are some of my favorite battling couples!

Eve Dallas and Roarke from J.D. Robb's "In Death" series. If' you've read any of this long, wonderful series you'll find that mixed in with the hot passionate love scenes are just as many fights, some of them physical – let's face it, having a cop marry a less-than-squeaky-clean man with a mysterious (read: criminal) past isn't going to go perfect all the time. Add in a dash of BDSM (in my opinion) and this couple is going to still be madly in love and brawling well into their senior years.

Han Solo and Leia Organa (Star Wars). Yes, yes – we've all seen the movies multiple times over. But you have to love the verbal jousting going between these two in the most dangerous of situations where the stress is high and obviously so is the attraction and love. The whole "I love you… I know" exchange is priceless and if you don't giggle during the touchback in the two movies… well, I don't know you.

Richard Castle and Kate Beckett (Castle). I know it's not exactly paranormal (unless you believe crime writers can just hop along with the cops for months and months…) but this couple still makes my day every time I see them verbally joust. And who doesn't love Nathan Fillion, our favorite Browncoat?

These couples are all deeply in love – and don't mind getting into brawls, physical and mental, when they disagree. But it's the making up that's got me loving these people and makes them, for me, characters I can relate to and enjoy.

So let me toss this out to you – what couples do you enjoy seeing (or reading) getting into fights and arguing before a passionate make-up session?

Love Is a Magic Elixer

When Rapunzel’s tears of love fell on the blinded prince’s eyes, his vision was restored. Beauty’s love transformed a beast into his true, handsome form. Both Snow White and Sleeping Beauty, cursed into a death-like sleep, were awakened by true love’s kiss. In stories, the magic of love is the most powerful spell of all.

In our world, love has a different kind of magic.

I’m currently curled up on the couch, looking like a Snot Hag who’s recently crawled out of the Ancient Swamp of Eternal Suffering—greasy hair, one inflamed, reddened nostril (the other is still weighing its options and hasn’t committed to the war yet), and a greatly lowered IQ due to my need to breathe through my mouth. The noises coming out of my face are hideous and repulsive.

My husband is out at the store buying me tissues, juice, cold pills, and ice cream. There’s a good chance he’ll pick up a book or magazine for me, and an even greater likelihood he’ll come home with coloring books, a Pez dispenser, or a bottle of bubbles. No. Probably not that last one. He never lets me blow bubbles in the house.

The magic here is not that love will cure the common cold. It’s more like the magic in Demerol when you’re giving birth. It can’t cure you or even speed things up. The pain is still there, but you don’t care so much anymore. That’s how love treats the common cold, the pain of a rejection letter, or the hopelessness of a pile of overdue bills. It can’t take the problems away, but it can hold you up until you’re ready to face things again. Or you know, until your cold goes away.

There’s something else love does that’s so magical, it takes my breath away—or maybe that’s the congestion causing it.

My husband doesn’t see a Snot Hag with a low IQ sniffling on his couch. He sees a beautiful princess under a terrible enchantment.

And that's the most powerful spell of all.

I Wish You Magic

Valentine's Day is Tuesday. I'm not a big believer in the holiday just because I think romance should happen everyday and Valentine's is just a day for couples to spend money they don't necessarily have and single people to feel bad. But... sometimes people get that it isn't about the flowers, or the chocolate, or the jewelry, it's about doing something more magical than you do for someone you love the rest of the year. This is especially true for couples who have been together for a long time.

You see, when people first fall in love, it's (if you're lucky) a little like it is in romance novels. Sparks fly. You dream about their eyes, their smile, the feel of their hand in yours... their mouth on yours. You spend so much time thinking about this new person that when the phone rings and it's them, a tiny part of you believes that they felt your thoughts. New love haunts you. It seeps into your very pores and makes you carry yourself differently. It makes you smile more. Laugh more. And if it's with a person who really clicks with you on multiple levels, you might wonder if they were meant just for you or if you conjured them from thin air.

Every touch...
Every smile...
Every glance...
Every gesture...
Is a tiny piece of magic just for the two of you.

With familiarity though, we lose that. Days become jobs, and kids, and in-laws, and bills. No amount of flowers or chocolate can make up for that. Those things don't bring back the heat and passion of new love. And that's what most of us really want for Valentine's Day. We want the magic.

So my assignment to you this Valentine's Day is to spark some of that in your relationship. Try to let go of all the mundane stuff that clogs your world, and fall in love all over again. While the rest of the world spends money on things that don't matter, give the person you love something they'll remember--give them the gift of magic.