13 Apr HELEN HOLLICK When The Mermaid Sings Coffee Pot Book Club Blog Tour #MermaidSings #HistoricalFantasy #BlogTour #CoffeePotBookClub @HelenHollick @maryanneyarde

FEATURED AUTHOR: HELEN HOLLICK

I am delighted to welcome Helen Hollick again as the featured author in The Coffee Pot Book Club Blog Tour being held between April 11th through April 15th, 2022. Helen Hollick is the author of the Historical/Nautical Fantasy, When The Mermaid Sings (A Prequel Story to The Sea Witch Voyages), which was released by Taw River Press on 21st June 2021 (190 pages).

Below are highlights of When The Mermaid Sings, Hellen Hollick’s author bio, and a dispatch from the author that includes her motivation for writing the Sea Witch Voyages series and an excerpt from her book.

To follow the blog tour, CLICK Tour Schedule Page

HIGHLIGHTS: WHEN THE MERMAID SINGS

When The Mermaid Sings

(A prequel story to The Sea Witch Voyages)

By Helen Hollick

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.

Praise:

“Ms Hollick has skillfully picked up the threads that she alludes to in the main books and knitted them together to create a Jesamiah that we really didn’t know.” Richard Tearle senior reviewer, Discovering Diamonds

“Captain Jesamiah Acorne is as charming a scoundrel as a fictional pirate should be. A resourceful 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

Trigger Warnings:

Sexual content, adult language.

Buy Links:

Available on #KindleUnlimited.

Amazon UK  ♠  Amazon US   ♠  Amazon CA   ♠  Amazon AU

AUTHOR BIO: HELLEN HOLLICK

First published in 1994, Helen became a USA Today Bestseller with her historical novel, The Forever Queen (UK title: A Hollow Crown) with the sequel, Harold the King (US title: I Am The Chosen King) being novels that explore the events that led to the Battle of Hastings in 1066. Her Pendragon’s Banner Trilogy is a fifth-century version of the Arthurian legend, and she writes a nautical adventure/fantasy series, The Sea Witch Voyages.

She is now branching out into the quick read novella, ‘Cosy Mystery’ genre with her new venture, the Jan Christopher Murder Mysteries, set in the 1970s, with the first in the series, A Mirror Murder incorporating her, often hilarious, memories of working as a library assistant.

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…

Social Media Links:

Website  ♠  Twitter  ♠  Facebook  ♠  Amazon Author Page  ♠  Goodreads   ♠  Newsletter

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: When the Mermaid Sings

The Windward Islands – 1709

Browsing the stalls and bothies arrayed along the harbourside, Jesamiah had already made several purchases: a new three-corner leather hat, three second-hand shirts and pairs of breeches that better fitted his maturing height and build, and a buckram long coat that was also not new, but all it required were replacing three missing buttons. He bought a short dagger and sheath that fitted comfortably into the hollow of his back, and from the same trader, a fine-honed cutlass with a sturdy brass knuckle guard, its scabbard boasting an intricate pattern of birds in flight. To tame the hair on his face into what he considered to be the prospect of a rakish jawline beard and elegant mustache, he selected a fancy ebony box containing a shaving kit: a razor that was ‘as sharp as a razor’ – he had laughed heartily at the journeyman’s joke – two bars of Castile soap, a leather strop, a small mirror and a pot of alum. Fitting neatly beneath the lid nestled a square linen towel.

Laden with his bargains, he stopped at one last stall, his attention caught by a set of brass buttons. Ah! Just what he needed for his coat! On peering closer, he was delighted to find that there were a dozen of them, all with an acorn design. Perfect.

“I’ll take them,” he said to the woman behind the stall, who stank of body odour, fish and gin. “How much?”

She named a price. Jesamiah shrugged and felt in his pocket for the required coins, handed them over and slipped the buttons into the same pocket. As he turned away, elegant fingers caught at his arm.

“They were overpriced, my Adonis. You should ’ave bartered.”

“They are exactly what I want. I saw no point in attempting to beat her down.”

Dolly laughed. “Traders will soon learn to love you, Jesamiah Acorne. As will the ladies.” She flapped her hand in the direction of Mermaid, tugging restlessly at her anchor cable. “Malachias tells me you sail with the tide. You will come back to see me, non?”

Jesamiah grinned. “Certainement, mademoiselle, certainement!”

“Bon,” she answered, “I ’ave grown most fond of you.”

As I grew fond of your papa, she thought. She reached up and unthreaded the blue ribbon entwined in a lock of Jesamiah’s hair. “I shall keep this,” she said, putting the trophy to her lips to kiss it. “To remind me of my Adonis.”

(excerpt edited. Adult content)

How I met Jesamiah Acorne (the tru-ish) story

https://ofhistoryandkings.blogspot.com/p/how-i-met-jesamiah-acorne.html

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