I’ll start with Pirate Tales. Though I talked about it in the last post, I’ll say a little more about it. Basically, I have to admit that it is essentially like my Civil War tales, only in a different setting. These stories are intentionally dark. It is difficult for them to be anything but, actually, if you consider the true-life history of pirates. Not that I’m an expert on the subject. I’m not even a semi-expert. That’s why I resorted to some reference material; and though I believe I had the book mostly written before I found The Great Courses lecture on Pirates.
I knew I wanted the stories to be dark and gritty, and not so much like Treasure Island; though I did read the Robert Louis Stevenson book in preparation. The Pirates of the Caribbean movies also were an influence, of course. How could they not be? Though I didn’t go back and watch any of them. And there were some other influences. Mainly older books on Pirates that I had read as a young boy. Some of these books can be found on Gutenberg Press.
I have to say I vacillated between the two extremes, the historical and the mythical side of Piracy. And there was the humor of the Johnny Depp movies, or my own sense of humor, all mixed together.
Let me cut to the chase, however, and give up my favorite stories. Now this is just off the top of my head, mind you. I haven’t read any of the stories in quite a while. “Cap’n’s Eyes,” comes to mind as the first. Maybe it is my favorite due to it being the first attempt I ever made at writing a pirate story, and I thought it turned out well. But part of the reason I say this is because of how the story affected me later on. After purchasing (yes, I have to purchase my own stories on kindle) the book on kindle so I could read it over and see that everything looks ok (and there are always things that are missed, typos, etc.) I was impressed. Here is why: After I read the story, I sat for a good ten minutes or so in the chair, while the Captain and the Chinaman lingered in the atmosphere about me. When characters are that strong, that real, that they linger in the air about me, that makes me feel good. One could argue that, yes, I was steeped in the characters and the story, because I had written it. So that might be the difference. But I would argue that a good month or two had passed since I had written the book. I would also say that after you have written enough stories, the fact of whether you wrote them or someone else wrote them doesn’t figure into it. You tend to just enjoy and appreciate the story on its own merits. You’re essentially “over” the fact that you are the creator. Most of my stories are character driven, in any case. I almost feel guilty taking any credit for the creation of any story. Once the characters start moving and interacting with one another, I’m just a bystander, trying to get it all down.
And the next favorite story would have to be “Marooned,” which turned out to be, more or less, a study of man’s mental stability (or the deterioration thereof) after spending months or years stranded alone on an Island. If you can get past the “wordiness” of the story, you might enjoy it.
These two stories are accessible to you even if you didn’t purchase or win the book. Just use the “Look Inside,” feature on Amazon to read the first story. And “Marooned,” is here in an earlier post (actually, I spread it out over three posts, if I remember correctly).
This isn’t to say that I don’t like other stories in the book. I do. “Otoo,” is one that comes to mind. And I truly had a blast writing “Bawdy, Bonny Sally.” Riley was one of the most fun characters I’ve ever spent time with. He was very down to earth, and had the most hilariously goofball sense of humor. Looking out at the world of pirates through his eyes was sheer joy. “Silent Cove, Haunted Cave,” now that I think about it, was so visually vibrant to me, that I can see it playing out in a cinematic way.
***
I Fear Only the Dogs. This is the second volume of the Civil War series, and perhaps the most tightly written of all of the books in the series. I believe I worked harder on this book than any of the others. Mainly, I say this due to the story “JWB.” I knew I had to get the facts right on this story, since it deals with actual history (for the most part). I leaned heavily on James L. Swanson’s book, Manhunt. As this book deals almost solely with Booth’s run, from Lincoln’s assassination up until Booth’s capture and death, which was the part I was writing about in my story, I reread (having read it previously, as would be indicated by the word Reread) large chunks of the book. I would highly recommend this book to anyone interested in the subject. I think I might have gathered a few more facts from American Gothic by Gene Smith, American Brutus, by Michael W. Kauffman, or Fortune’s Fool, by Terry Alford. I had all of these books for research for a novel I had been working on. I didn’t just collect them for the fact that they are all books on Booth and the Booth family. There are a million tiny details on life at the time that can be culled from these historical biographies that can be used in an author’s own creative stories. My only previous reading on anything Booth was the book Prince of Players: Edwin Booth, by Eleanor Ruggles. If you are interested in theater history and/or the life of one of the greatest actors of the American theater, then this book is for you.
Enough about the Booth family . . .
Now for my favorite stories in this volume. I would have to say that the title story, “I Fear Only the Dogs,” is my first favorite story. The second, or other, favorite story would be the final one: “All I Ever Wanted.” This story is sort of an old timey type ghost story. It also has characters from my novel, which makes it a little special to me. Another story that has characters from the novel is “Whirly-gigs, Fancy Dresses, and Spirit Visitations.”
If I could add another story to the favorites list for this book, that story would probably be the first one in the book: “The Messenger.” I have to admit, the idea isn’t original, however, as there was a true account of a young Indian boy who visited a village in India and claimed to have lived a previous life there. He could name individuals, and other details that he could have never known otherwise. I’m not sure where I read this account originally. I’m thinking it might have been in a book called Old Souls. I made the story an American one, and added a twist or two. I have a nasty visual of the fly playing in the stickiness of the blood. That scene is one that is clear and definitive, and a must as far as I’m concerned.
***
The Children’s Home. This third book of the giveaway is just a good, comfortable read. I admit that MacCallum isn’t quite as sharp as Sherlock Holmes. Perhaps he’ll grow more so in the future. I fault the author for this. MacCallum wasn’t always clear as a character to me. Maybe I need to write a short story or two about him to flesh him out a bit more. Perhaps I need to add a few more quirks to his character. I didn’t want to make him an exact duplicate of Holmes, either. In contrast, Benson could not escape being Watson from the Holmes stories. I tried to create some space, or make him different. I often felt I was moving along in a ditch. I tried to climb out of this Watson ditch several times. I would climb up the sides, trying to find separation of some sort. I would fall back into the rut, however. Benson became so much like Watson that it was all I could do to keep him from hollering “Balderdash!”
I have to say that I did enjoy writing this comfortable novella, and I hope you can forgive these faults (?) in the two characters. There is sort of a third character who partners with the two to some degree.
My favorite scene in this book might be the alley scene and just prior to it. Gregson is a wonderful character and I would have loved to have spent more time on him. I can clearly picture his long black bangs dripping rain, his grin, his raucous laughter and fearless entry into the alley.
And the rain . . . the rain is also a character.
To bring things to a close . . .
The ending of The Children’s Home is sort of homey and pleasant, in spite of the horrific scene in the prologue that begins the tale. And there might someday be a reunion of MacCallum and Benson. Maybe? I had the hint of an idea that there might be something happen, such as MacCallum’s fiancé, Victoria (I believe that was her name), disappearing on the eve of the couple’s wedding and Benson joins MacCallum to solve the mystery. Who knows?
Okay, so I think I’ve covered everything, for the few who might be interested.
Having done so, I once again want to thank all who entered the contests. And to those who won—Congrats, and Happy Reading!