Blackbead

Hmmm, I hear tell that Red Bess will be there with the "Fool's Gold" crew and she'll have plenty of copies of Raising Black Flags and "A Night at Devil's Tavern" for sale! This'd be a fine time to get a copy of either - when ye can have one of the poets making her mark on what ye buy! Make sure ye go by the slip where "Fool's Gold" and Bess be anchored and at least peruse her wares . . . and that be the books and CDs I mean!

Here be a sampling of a new short story from the currently untitled new anthology from Blackbead Books. If you liked the poetry and artwork in Raising Black Flags then you will love the new works from these same seadogs. The new book will include short stories, poetry and artwork. Expect new pieces from the likes of Diamond, Captain Emerald Shaunassey, "Slippery Jack" Beaver, Captain Jane Jasper, and Blackbead. We present here a short excerpt from "John Nagle", a short story, which will be included in the book, about a character who is a cross between a detective and a pirate . . . “John Nagle” (An Excerpt) By Stephen Sanders ©2009 "Batson! BATSON! Get in here before I have your skin peeled from your back for the slinking toad that you are!” The shout was coming from the office at the end of the hall and I knew that I’d better comply or Captain Griffin would most assuredly carry out the fate which he had assigned me. I rose from the stool on which I had been sitting and, at a run, nearly flew down the hall to the open door. Arriving there, I was witness to a scene that was totally foreign to the Captain’s office and nature. Captain Griffin was standing in front of his desk instead of sitting behind it. If this wasn’t unusual enough, in his chair, instead of the Captain, was a woman. And she was crying. Standing next to the crying woman was an older man, dressed in the clothes of a laborer, perhaps even a smith. He was massive; he looked like he could take the building apart by pulling the pegs out with his bare hands and then breaking the beams in half across his thigh. If that wasn’t bad enough, the expression on his face suggested that he was only seconds away from making the decision to begin this previously described renovation project. “Batson! Finally! You will, instantly, leave these premises and find, and then return with, Able Seaman Donald Driver. Bring him, immediately, to my cabin, er, office. Here. To this place.” I had never seen the Captain so flustered. Whatever was happening was worse than being repeatedly raked by a French corvette, being almost awash in a gale storm, or finding oneself without a pistol in a public house full of Spaniards; all things I had survived at Captain Griffin’s side. In each of those occasions, the man had never blinked an eye but today he was positively stuttering. “Captain,” spoke up the large man standing behind the desk, “I would take it as a kindness toward me and me daughter if ye’d ask this feller to be quiet about what ye’ve asked him to do.” “I assure you, Mr. Black, my yeoman will act with the utmost discretion in this distasteful affair, er, that is to say, incident. I can also assure that I will see Driver hung from the nearest yardarm! To take a woman against her will, only the lowest knave . . .” At that moment, I gasped, the girl started crying noisily, and her father let out a “Captain!” while eyeing me. I knew Donny Driver; my immediate reaction was that there was no way on Heaven or on Earth that he could ever do such a thing. I also knew Captain Griffin and if he believed this girl then Donny was as good as dancing the hempen jig, as the old hands say. But I also knew it was my duty to go and find Donny and bring him back to the Captain’s onshore office. I said, “Aye, aye, Sir,” did an about face and grabbed my hat as I ran by my writing desk. I had a feeling that I knew right where Donny was. He had taken me to this place on a couple of occasions last summer when we had returned to port for provisions, powder and ball. There was no doubt in my mind that Donny would be at his sister’s townhouse not a cable from the wharfhouse where the Adventure was docked and where the Captain now sat pondering the fate that would bring one of his best young seaman to be accused, and most likely guilty, of rape. Racing out of the front door of the wharfhouse, I considered my options. Captain Griffin, and his rather unusual guests, wouldn’t expect me to return for an hour or more as I searched for Donny and did whatever was necessary to bring him back. I had at least time enough for one side trip. I was deathly afraid of what might happen to Donny and there was only one man I knew that could help me, and him, in this situation. I had met this individual about a year earlier. At the time, I had the intention of becoming a man of the cloth, a destiny which I eventually avoided. I was sitting on a bench outside of a small book shop on Ratcliffe Highway, where I had just purchased a rather old and tattered Bible when I suddenly realized that there was someone standing behind the bench, obviously reading over my shoulder. I looked up and . . . “I doubt very strenuously that you would enjoy a life spent within the Church, young man. I am sure you would much prefer a life at sea.” This was my first meeting with John Nagle, a man who would come to have a profound effect upon my life. When I first met him, he struck me as a mediumly-placed gentleman, dressed in well-fitting, though somewhat worn, breeches and hose with a coat and waistcoat of a handsome, though plain, brown color. His head was unadorned at the time, without hat or wig, and I thought he might have been a merchant who had just stepped out of his shop for a breath of fresh air pleasant stroll. “How did you know . . .” “It is the middle of the afternoon on a Tuesday; the sun is shining and the weather is beyond fair; and you are sitting on a bench reading the Good Book with the look on your face of a man trying to decide whether to have an aching tooth pulled. You are too young to be a parson and too old to be a school child. And” he said sitting down next to me, “it seemed like the best guess.” “Well, Sir, you happen to be correct but I don’t know why you would disparage my goal when you do not even know me.” “My thought was born from your ‘aching tooth’ look. I have nothing against preachers of the Word but I believe if yours was a true calling you might have a more serene look about you.” At this I had to chuckle and my small laugh brought a smile to his lips. He was the sort of man that looked better smiling and who you wanted to make smile. He reminded me, then, of a headmaster of a school I attended when I was young. When he was smiling, the world could be at ease. “Well then,” I said, closing the Bible in my lap, “Why do you believe that I would be better off devoting my life to the sea?” “Ah! In the first place, your shoes. I can see from the pattern of wear that these are the shoes that you, most likely, wear every day. They show the signs of walking on cobblestones and hard surfaces, scuff marks and the fact that your heels are almost as level as my reasoning. From that, I conclude that you are a city dweller, rather than the offspring of a tiller of the soil. “Secondly, you can read. That suggests that you grew up in a more urban setting than a child of the fields who would, of necessity, be required to work alongside his family instead of having the opportunity of education. The fact that you had some form of education provides for a more fertile medium for an imagination. Also, growing up in a city exposes you to a more world-traveled populace and might make you wonder more about the qualities of places other than your native shores. “And, finally,” and here his own face took on an almost haunted look, “I find that there is no life better than a life at sea.” He paused, looking off into the distance, his voice trailing off into the clutter of sound that is found along the Ratcliffe Highway. Even with the noise of the horses and wagons and the myriad cries of the vendors, his sigh was audible. “Well, my young friend,” he said after a pause, “shall we venture up to the Town of Ramsgate and I shall be more than happy to let you stand me a pint or two in repayment for this fair share of advice! I hope ye saved a few coppers from the purchase of your Bible!” This was my introduction to Mr. Nagle. Over the intervening months, I had come to know him as a genius in most anything I ever asked. We spent many a night discussing everything from the Ark of the Covenant and its storied place in history to the signs of the zodiac and how the study of the generalizations that form the basis for this mystical circle truly can provide insight into a person’s character. Mr. Nagle was, without a doubt, the most intelligent, learned and wise individual I have ever known. He was also a drunk and a vagrant. In the year that I had known him I had never seen him perform an honest day’s work. I had never seen his home and I never knew whether he lived in doors or out. His clothes were always thread bare but clean; his personal hygiene was on a par with a laborer – he shaved every few days and seemed to find the wherewithal to bath from time to time but by midnight of most nights, and I was witness to this on many an occasion, he would be almost catatonic with drink but he would somehow contrive to slink off into the night before I could follow him. On several occasions, I had invited him to my own lodgings and he often accepted. But he never overstayed his welcome and, after a long day of my own employment, I would arrive home to an immaculately cleaned apartment and a cunningly wrought dinner made from whatever Mr. Nagle could find around my home. We once had a wonderful soup he made from nothing but an onion, some scraps of bread, and a lump of cheese. On this terrible day, when I knew that my duty was to find Donny Driver and bring him back to face the Captain’s wrath, I also knew where I would most likely find Mr. Nagle and that at this time of day he would be still in shape to help me. If there was any person in the world that could assist Donny, and I knew that I was totally helpless in this situation, it was John Nagle, presently sitting with a pint of stout at Devil’s Tavern. TO BE CONTINUED!

Ahoy, ye mighty seadogs! If ye please, go check out me new Zazzle store at www.zazzle.com/Blackbead where ye can find t-shirts, mouse pads, greeting cards, and more, all pirate themed! Also, Blackbead Books has now published a sixteen track CD entitled "A Night at Devil's Tavern"! It includes eleven poems and five instrumental songs. If you be interested in acquiring a copy ($8, order now and we pay the shipping!) then drop me a line at blackbeads_tc@yahoo.com. I thank ye! Blackbead

Check it out! http://www.zazzle.com/the_perfect_fathers_...920578081572400

Eris, Thank you! I looked for something like this awhile back and never found anything I liked. These will do nicely! Excellent posting! Blackbead

http://www.zazzle.com/pirate_mothers_day_c...802893399724520

I have to admit, you got me right between the eyes with that one! I have been trying to get a couple of my works in front of him to see if he'd be interested in recording some of me poetry for a CD (especially "A Tale from Devil's Tavern" - he would be GREAT as the "laughing unbeliever"!) and when I saw that post my heart actually skipped a beat! Well done, I says!

Proud pirates boldly sail the Seven Seas, Taking advantage of every little breeze. Their cannon are always blazing, Seeking booty that is amazing, Poseidon's wild fury to appease!

. . . scribbling furiously, taking down all of these excellent suggestions . . .

El Capitan! Please let him know that the group that put out Raising Black Flags is planning on doing two more books before the year is out - another pirate anthology and a scifi/fantasy anthology. I'd love to have him submit some artwork for inclusion in the book! It would cost him nothing, he would keep the copyrights, and while it might not make him rich it sure is nice to walk into an interview with a published, International Standard Book Numbered book with your name on it! If he is at all interested, drop me a line at blackbeads_tc@yahoo.com. Blackbead

I've always liked that one, too, Graydog, and I totally agree that it gives you a chance to add more knowledge to the public's pirate genius rating. THank you, very much, for the response!

Ahoy, mates! The crew of the Adventure is putting together a stage show and we're looking for original but period lyrics to "Drunken Sailor." We intend to open the show and draw the crowd by singing "What Do Ye Do With A Drunken Sailor?" If you have a favorite lyric that is period but isn't one that is song often, send it in and you may hear it at Lawton, Middlefaire, or Pirate Days in The Colony! Here's an example - "lash up his chest and show him the keel!" I thank ye! Blackbead

Rumba, Thank you for the info! Blackbead

Sam, I'm probably going to be using a half dozen poems in the first batch. If you're still interested, let me see some of your work. Send what ye will to blackbeads_tc@yahoo.com. Blackbead

Ahoy, mates! Please navigate over to - http://www.cindyvallar.com/raising.html! Cindy Vallar, AKA "The Pirate Lady," has been reviewing books for two decades for such publications as Appraisal: Science Books for Young People, The Book Report, Library Media Connection, and School Library Journal, and online for Ivy Quill Reviews and Simply E-Books. Today, and for the past decade, she reviews historical novels and history books for Historical Novels Review and piratical and maritime books for Pirates and Privateers. She also has her own website and has become internationally known as "The Pirate Lady" as a result of her lectures, articles, and publications. I met this amazing lady at Pirate Days in The Colony and she was kind enough to take a copy of Raising Black Flags: Original Poetry By and About Piratesin order to write a review. Well, the review is completed and ready! She said something very nice things and I am proud to invite you to go by and read what she had to say. If ye stop by, tell them that Blackbead sent ye! Thank you, Pirate Lady! And thank you to all of our readers!

I wonder why no one has come up with a website to sell handmade goods that alows you to pick what modes of payment you wish to take? Hmmm, perhaps I need to look into that. Maybe a Renaissance faire on the web . . . with merchant having storefronts. Now, there's an idea!

Bloody peasant! ________________________________________________________________________________ You were lucky. We lived for three months in a paper bag in a septic tank. We used to have to get up at six in the morning, clean the paper bag, eat a crust of stale bread, go to work down t' mill, fourteen hours a day, week-in week-out, for sixpence a week, and when we got home our Dad would thrash us to sleep wi' his belt.

Rumba, I'll have to wait till I get home to see them but have you thought about putting up an Etsy page? I've got to get back on the web and I think that's how I'm going to do it. I'll keep my home website and just put a hotlink to my Etsy page. GO take a look at Etsy.com and tell me what you think? Blackbead

Ahhhh, I thank ye, most kindly! On a cold, icy night like this, a jigger of rum in me coffee is most appreciated!

Ahoy, one and all! The fifth annual Scarlet's Mid-Winter Renaissance Faire has come and gone! It is sad to think that I will have to wait another year to sail up to OKC and experience this great little faire full of laughter, friends, and a great way to start off the New Faire Year! Thanks to everyone that made this such a fantastic event this year but special thanks to the Ladies of the Salty Kiss for making our crew feel so much at home in their "palace." And thank you, thank you, thank you to Scarlet and Angela for being such great hosts! We WILL be back next year!

Ransom, Eris makes some very good points and I agree with her in a large part but here's my slant - All of this is so much more an art than a science and the real answer is "know your market"! THe problem with that is that your market is constantly fluctuating and changing and things that work one weekend will not work the next! Part of that is the fact that every customer is different and this market is such a personal one. Another part of that is the area you are selling in. Another part is the environment our economy is in. My answer - beflexible and present a flexible edge to the market place. For every one thing you have that is very nice and priced that way, have a half dozen items that are priced between $5 and $15. I do all kinds of shows and I've been in business long enough now that I've seen some good times and bad. I can recall a few years ago doing a women's Federal forum and having one lady buy EVERY piece I had that was made with African trade beads! Last weekend, at ScarletFest, I only sold ONE set that was over $30. The rest of my sales were earring/bracelet sets that ran from $9 to $12. I did a pirate show a couple of months ago where I sold everything I had that had a skull and crossed bones on it. This last weekend, heavily pirate oriented, I couldn't GIVE away some of the same kind of stuff! Why? Who knows? I do know that jewelry is VERY personal thing and what a dozen people would never be caught dead in there will be one person that will just HAVE to have it. Don't get impatient - expect a piece to loiter for awhile and then it will jump off the shelf. Pricing - me personally, I price it by the cost of my components and what I think the market will bear. I've made things out of components that were very inexpensive and yet if it is something that people like they don't mind paying for it. I also don't think of myself as a true artist (my true artistry is in my poetry) and think instead of myself as an "artisan." I applaud people that automaticall triple or even quadruple their component cost; I just can't bring myself to do that unless I think the item is worth it. I still say have a wide range of prices in your booth! You will be surprised how those dozen $8 sales added to that one $30 sale will make your day! In the end, the idea that pricing is more of an art than a science holds true over anything else I have ever seen. I think Eris's suggestion that you look at what similar stuff is going for is a good one. I charge what I think someone will pay for it otherwise these things become very expensive souvenirs! But every show is different, every customer is different. Oh, and sets or not? My fashion coordinator (Captain Jasper) says whether you make a bracelet to go with the necklace is optional but never, never, NEVER make a bracelet or a necklace without matching earrings! I don't know if she's right but 90 percent of the time people buy the set. Raising the black flag! Blackbead

Ooooh! Aaaaaah! Some very nice work there, m'Lady! You can take a look at some of my stuff by going to me website, www.Blackbead-jewelry.com, and navigatin' to me page of homemade swag. I'm off to Scarlet's Mid-Winter this weekend and hope to have more pictures up before it's all over. Been doin' a lot with glass lately and some not-so-precious stones!

I thank ye, most kindly, Eris! And, YES!, ye do need to find the time so's I can return the kind words!!

I saw some of it and I have to say I agree, for the most part, with Pappy. If there's nothing else on, I'd watch it again. But I'd have to be really bored to do so. And it held such promise, too! Ah, well, anything to keep the genre on its legs, I suppose!

Huzzah, Rumba! Let's see 'em!