When The Mermaid Sings
(A prequel story to The Sea Witch Voyages)
By Helen Hollick
(A prequel story to The Sea Witch Voyages)
By Helen Hollick
Publication Date: 21st June 2021. Publisher: Taw River Press. Page Length: 190 Pages. Genre: Historical/Nautical Fantasy.
A prequel short read story to the Sea Witch Voyages of Captain Jesamiah Acorne
When the only choice is to run, where do you run to?
When the only sound is the song of the sea, do you listen?
Or do you drown in the embrace of a mermaid?
Throughout childhood, Jesamiah Mereno has suffered the bullying of his elder half-brother. Then, not quite fifteen years old, and on the day they bury their father, Jesamiah hits back. In consequence, he flees his Virginia home, changes his name to Jesamiah Acorne, and joins the crew of his father’s seafaring friend, Captain Malachias Taylor, aboard the privateer, Mermaid.
He makes enemies, sees the ghost of his father, wonders who is the Cornish girl he hears in his mind – and tries to avoid the beguiling lure of a sensuous mermaid...
An early coming-of-age tale of the young Jesamiah Acorne, set in the years before he becomes a pirate and Captain of the Sea Witch.
Trigger Warnings:
Sexual content, adult language.
Praise
“Ms Hollick has skillfully picked up the threads that she alludes to in the main books and knit-ted them together to create a Jesamiah that we really didn't know.”
Richard Tearle senior re-viewer, Discovering Diamonds
“Captain Jesamiah Acorne is as charming a scoundrel as a fictional pirate should be. A re-sourceful competitor to Captain Jack Sparrow!”
Antoine Vanner, author
“Helen Hollick has given us the answer to that intriguing question that Jesamiah fans have been aching for – how did he start his sea-going career as a pirate?”
Alison Morton, author
“I really enjoyed the insight offered into Jesamiah's backstory, and found the depiction of our teenage hero very moving.”
Anna Belfrage, author
“I loved this little addendum to the Jesamiah series. I always had a soft spot for the Lorelei stories and enjoyed that the author cleverly brought her over from the Rhine valley to fit into the story.”
Amazon Reviewer
A DISPATCH FROM THE AUTHOR
A brief bit about the Sea Witch Voyages:
I wrote the first Voyage (Sea Witch) back in 2005 after thoroughly enjoying the first Pirates of the Caribbean movie. Like most avid readers, however, I wanted more than just the movie, I wanted to read something that was as entertaining and as exciting. A nautical adventure with a charming rogue of a pirate captain, written for adults (with adult content) but with a dash of supernatural fantasy as well – elements of which had made that first movie such fun to watch. I found many nautical-based novels, but they were all ‘serious stuff’ – Patrick O’Brian, Alexander Kent, C. S. Forrester ... all good reads but without the fantasy fun, and barely a female character in sight. I simply could not find the book I wanted to read. So, I wrote my own.
The first Voyage led to more books in the series, and also generated several emails from fans who wanted to know how Jesamiah had become a pirate in the first place.
When the Mermaid Sings answers that question.
Excerpt
Atlantic Ocean - June 1709
On the far side of the Sargasso Sea, the wind gusting with more strength, they sighted yet another ship. Excitement flew around Mermaid’s decks, accompanied by laughter and chatter, with men leaning over the rail to point and look. Was she friend or foe? Was she a Spaniard coming into their clutches laden with treasure? Despite Taylor repeating, several times, that she might be Spanish but she was outbound so would not be carrying gold and silver, no one paid him heed. The disappointment was deep when she was identified as Dutch. Taylor would not touch English, Portuguese or Dutch shipping. Anything else was fair game. Except, nothing else appeared to be sailing neither east nor west across the Atlantic Ocean this June month of 1709.
An hour after dawn, two days out from the first of the Azore islands, another vessel was spotted – behind them, not ahead, and coming up fast. This time the activity was anxious, not excited. She could be a treasure ship, a trader, another privateer, or she could be Stannis come to find them and wreak revenge. Taylor, doubted it would be him, but took prudent precaution by ordering the guns made ready and more sail set to take advantage of the sprightly wind. Mermaid was sleek and fast, but this vessel coming up behind was faster still.
On edge, constantly looking over their shoulders or up to the crosstrees of the mainmast where Hench sat on watch, the men were restless. None of them cared a hoot for the risk of a fight, but it was the waiting that gnawed at the nerves and frayed them raw. What vessel was she? Why was she pursuing them so doggedly?
Then a laugh, a hearty cry plunged from the masthead, followed swiftly by Hench himself, descending hand-over-hand down the backstay to the deck, his face split from ear to ear by a wide grin.
“She’s the Barsheba!” he announced. “It’s Jennings!”
Whooping and cheering, they stood the guns down, took in sail and waited for Captain Henry Jennings to catch up; one of the best privateers in all the Northern Oceans.
How I met Jesamiah Acorne (the tru-ish) story - click here.
You can pick up your copy of this book at the following bookstores: Amazon UK, Amazon US, Amazon CA, Amazon AU This novel is available to read on #KindleUnlimited
Her non-fiction books are Pirates: Truth and Tales and Life of A Smuggler. She lives in an eighteenth-century farmhouse in North Devon, runs Discovering Diamonds, a review blog for historical fiction, and occasionally gets time to write...
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Thank you so much for hosting the blog tour for When The Mermaid Sings.
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Mary Anne
The Coffee Pot Book Club
Thank you so much for hosting today's Port Of Call on my Coffee Pot Book Club Voyage!
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