Gran Baha

kayaking 01Gran Baha, the location of Jack’s base in Pirates of the Bahamas, is actually Grand Bahama Island where I live and write from.  Gran Baha was the 18th century name of this island, originally named by the Spanish and, roughly translated, means “great shallows” because of the surrounding reefs which made it difficult to land on.  Knowing the passageways through the reefs enabled the pirates to come and go without having to be concerned about the authorities finding them.

In order to be able to effectively describe the island I’m required to do extensive research.  Here is a picture from yesterday where I am diligently researching the ocean swells for my next novel

Cool
14
Feb, 2016

Writing from Paradise

After a successful career as a research scientist, corporate manager and 25 years as an entrepreneur in the United States, in 2015 I cut loose and moved to the Bahamas to follow my passion, the life of a full time author.  I have several books already published in non-fiction, contemporary fiction and historical fiction, but I’m concentrating on the historical fiction niche going forward.

I find the study of history to be quite fascinating when contemplating what the motivations were of the people who were making it happen.  I believe that people haven’t changed over the millennia in terms of their desires, prejudices and biases, so we can easily identify with the characters from previous eras.  I perform thorough research to make sure the history is up to snuff, and then create characters that will put the reader inside the heads of the people of the time.  My storylines will then enable my readers to indulge themselves in the adventure and romance of a bygone time.

My previous historical works are Wolf at the Threshold, a historical romance between and Iceni princess and a Roman officer in first century Britain, and Pirates of the Bahamas, set here in The Bahamas in colonial times with a romance between Jack and Mary, the children of the pirates Anne Bonny , Mary Read and Jack Rackham.

My current projects are both the prequel to Pirates of the Bahamas, delving into the lives and times of Anne Bonny and Mary Read, and a sequel where the pirates begin to assist the growing American colonies.  This theme will continue over several books and the reader will learn how instrumental the free living pirates and privateers based in the Bahamas were to the independence of the colonies from Great Britain.