And to those who won, Thank You for taking the time to read the stories. I hope you enjoy them!
This post is similar to the last one–just a different book. I sincerely do very much appreciate all readers (being one myself). Love reading the reviews also! My intent is to share. And my hope is that those who take the time, . . . well, I hope they actually get some enjoyment or pleasure out of the stories, even if it is only for a few minutes.
As far as which story would be my favorite from this book? Hmm . . . let’s see. “Cap’n’s Eye’s” holds a special place by dint of the fact that it was the first Pirate story I had written. When you try something for the first time, it’s always nice when it works out. As usual, I had no clue where I was going with the story when I started it. I was happy where it went. The last time I read it over, the main characters felt solid enough that they lingered–not the right word actually–for a few minutes after I finished. I don’t know exactly how to describe it. Strong? Bold? In form and feature, at least, for a good few minutes after reading, they held forth. Almost as if they had been real people who had actually been in the room a couple of minutes earlier. Not necessarily attributing it to any ability on my part, so much as that’s just the way they took shape in my mind. I didn’t notice it when I first wrote them. It was only after reading the story later on that I was pleasantly surprised by the solidity. You might have different feelings on this, of course. And perhaps it was just the mood I was in at the time of reading. The Chinaman is especially interesting and intriguing to me. I wanted to dig a little deeper into his psyche, though I’m not quite sure he would have allowed it. Being a short story, there really wasn’t a lot of room to play and explore that aspect any more than I did. The captain is, of course, a very practical man, cold and brutal. I have to laugh, as I suddenly feel as though I’m writing a review of something someone else wrote. And sometimes it seems just like that.
A story that was really fun to write was “Bawdy, Bonny Sally”. The character Riley really jumped up and took over the whole story. He sprang to life and just took off. He was a “hoot,” as they say. I was simply along for the ride. I won’t say too much more about him here. I believe I covered him in an earlier post.
Anyway, once again, Thank You all! Read and enjoy!