Monsters of the 1718 Caribbean Sea

 I love writing paranormal romance. There is something about showing a reader the redeeming qualities of a monster and demonstrating how everyone deserves to be loved. I’m also a homeschool mom with my own little classroom of monsters (some days). In teaching them about the 1700s and the origins of democracy, I found a new love: the pirate code. I wanted to share the connections between the pirate code and democracy in the world today. In a book series, I thought I could expand on the real attitudes of pirates and shine a light on the stereotypes which are more fiction than fact. But what about my commitment to paranormal romance and those whose fangs cover their heart of gold?

I needed a monster who lived in the Caribbean Sea in the 1700s. Here are my top five favorites:

1.      Mermaids – While today’s popular culture depicts mermaids as beautiful people with scaley tails instead of legs, the lore from the pirate accounts couldn’t be further from this image. The stories originating from the Caribbean tell of men jumping ship to join the manatees in the Florida keys because they heard the siren’s call. The round bodies, chubby cheeks speckled with whiskers, and rounded flippers of manatees are anything but sexy. Imagine risking your life for a sea cow. Of course, they were at sea years at a time. When Nassau and Port Royale were pirate havens, the crew would go ashore for fun and frolic with the wenches every few months. When those islands were conquered by England and turned into naval bases, those manatees started to look more attractive.

 

Photo by Gerald Harness of Manatee at the Cincinnati OH zoo

2.       Kraken – While the real giant squids are found in the northern Atlantic and all over the Pacific, they are found in the legends of the Caribbean. Could the stories originate from Norway and their legends written in the 1100s? Or perhaps from their miniature cousins who line in the Caribbean reefs? I found many stories in the original documents of British naval officers where sailors assumed they were under attack by a Kraken to find they had prop-fouled themselves with a tow line. Ropes from the rigging or extra line while dragging fishing gear would coil around the prop (fin under the boat for steering) called, “prop fouling.” Superstitious pirates would blame a Kraken before their inattentive hearties. Some brave soul would have to dive below the boat (without a scuba suit or oxygen tank) to cut the boat free. Historians agree the origin of the myths comes from the contents of sharks who hunt the giant squids in the north and then migrate to the Caribbean with the monsters digesting in their stomachs.

                                      Caribbean Cuttlefish at the Newport Aquarium photo by me

3.       Black Sam’s Ghost Ship and the Witch of Eastham (Mary Hallet) – Mary Hallet was the inspiration behind ‘Black’ Sam Bellamy’s going into the sweet trade. Too poor to marry her, he left the merchant fisheries of Cape Cod to sail in Hornigold’s pirate fleet. He rose to captain his own vessel and used the superstitious nature of slave traders to capture The Whydah. He and his crew (most of who were liberated slaves) traded clothes for chalk to become a ghost ship. They took over the largest slave ship in the Caribbean at the time with psychological warfare and not their cannons. Meanwhile, in Cape Cod, Mary Hallet gave birth to their child out of wedlock. When her child died, she was sentenced to whipping by the local clergy. Legend has it, she turned to witchcraft and haunted Eastham. Sam died at sea and the two were never reunited.

                                                    My doubloon from the Whydah Museum - photo by me

4.       The Devil Pirate ‘Blackbeard’ – My favorite fact behind the legend of Blackbeard is that his rise to fame, from joining Hornigold’s fleet to his disappearance, is just over eighteen months long. Imagine creating a monstrous persona so scary, in a year-and-a-half, you inspire the imaginations of creators over two hundred years later. His handwriting is the most monstrous of his attributes so historians can’t agree if he was born Edward Teach, Edward Thatch, or Edward Thetch. I found references to all three names in my research as the person behind the Blackbeard legends. Because of his fearsome reputation, his crew captured more plunder by raising their flag than by firing their cannons. Merchant vessels would surrender to the legend in the hopes of never meeting the man. Those stubborn enough to face the ‘Devil Pirate’ were terrified of the pistols he wore across his chest and the firecrackers he wove into his beard. Even though he impersonated the devil, he treated his crew with twice the fairness of Captain Bligh. Blackbeard’s crew had members who were women, escaped slaves, navy deserters, former merchant sailors, and unskilled adventure seekers—and everyone (except the doxies) had a voice. His boat was democratic, and his position was an elected one. He was a fair leader who played a monster when most legitimate Captains of the period were the opposite until a mysterious disease (suspected to be syphilis) had him trading crew members for mercury treatments. I fell under his spell in my research and decided to start my pirate book series on his boat, The Queen Anne’s Revenge.

5.       The Vampire of Charles Town Harbor – Okay, you got me. I made this one up. In my research on Blackbeard, I found in 1718 he blocked Charles Town Harbor (now Charleston) when a deal on shore went bad. As he was leaving, all the churches in the town burst into flames. In history, superstitious colonists blamed the devil who was leaving the dock. However, in my book, Walk the Plank, I offer a second explanation. Magda is brought to Charles Town Harbor as a scientific experiment from eastern Europe in chains. Thanks to a rogue pirate, she escapes and is on the run through Carolina. After spending her life under her abusive, vampire husband’s thumb, she is finally free—if only people quit following her with torches and pitchforks. By mixing historical events with ones from my imagination, I’m calling this series a ‘paranormal, historical faction romance’.

Get the eBook for 99c or Free on KU

Are you ready to Walk the Walk with me hearties? The first book in the trilogy is 99 cents or Free with your Kindle Unlimited subscription until Halloween. Here’s more about Walk the Walk Book 1: Walk the Plank:

Branko learns he will be sold into slavery when they dock in Charles Town, so he doesn’t hesitate to jump ship onto a neighboring sloop in the harbor. This boat will weigh anchor with him at the helm–once he decides what to do with the lady chained in the cargo hold who claims she’s a vampire.

Magda Dashkovari’s body has been given to science while she’s still living in it. Her prayers are answered when a pirate boards her boat, but she should have asked for her rescuer to be less bloodthirsty than she is…

Scientists hunt her in town, plantation owners hunt him from the north and south, Blackbeard blocks Charles Town Harbor to the east, and a war rages between settlers and natives to the west. These unlikely allies will have to link together to escape a life in chains…but will their trust in each other endure their journey to freedom?

                                                Get the eBook for 99c or Free on KU