Win it before you can buy it--only from KeepToTheCode.com!
We're pleased to announce the latest book release in Keep To The Code's popular author series. Well known historical fiction writer (and Keep To The Code member in good standing!) Helen Hollick's latest novel, Sea Witch, will be published on June 1 by BookForce UK.
As usual, Keep To The Code has secured a few signed copies, and you can win it before you can buy it thanks to BookForce UK, the author and Keep To The Code. On Wednesday, May 17, visit our message forums at this link and enter our contest to win one of five signed copies of Sea Witch. Each book winner will also receive a special surprise from the author. (note: you must be a registered member of the forums to enter--it's easy and free!)
Helen tells Keep To The Code that Sea Witch is the first in a planned series of novels; more information about the author and her previously published books can be found at her web site, HelenHollick.net
At last -- a pirate adventure for the grown-ups.
Not since Daphne du Maurier's Frenchman's Creek has there been anything suitable for the more mature pirate lover. Sea Witch blends a mixture of swash-buckling action, romance and fantasy - all wrapped up in Helen Hollick's meticulous research - and with a charming rogue of a pirate and a white witch too.
Order Helen Hollick's Sea Witch via Amazon.com by clicking the cover image
Set in the early 1700's, the golden age of piracy, Sea Witch follows the first voyage of Captain Jesamiah Acorne with breathtaking action and fantastic characterization. After escaping the clutches of his bullying elder brother, Jesamiah sets out to become a pirate, but his life is to change after an attack on a merchant ship off the coast of South Africa. Jesamiah befriends a white witch, but their happiness together is threatened as Jesamiah's enemies seek revenge and he must choose between his life as a pirate and the woman he loves.
Helen was inspired to write Sea Witch during a holiday in Dorset:
"As I gazed out at the ocean (well, it was the English Channel really, but an author has a vivid imagination), I began thinking about the Florida Reefs, 1715. Eleven Spanish galleons went down laden with treasure. What if...What if there was a 12th ship that went down? A Pirate ship? A ship that a young, handsome rogue had just commandeered? His first captaincy...As I looked down the beach I saw a man standing there. He was tall, rugged, had an untidy chaos of curled, dark hair, with a few blue ribbons fluttering in the wind. He wore knee high boots, a faded coat and a three cornered hat, he turned to grin at me showing a flash of two gold teeth and an earring shaped like an acorn dangled from one ear.
I had found my pirate...Jesamiah Acorne."
Author Helen Hollick. Click the image to order Sea Witch via Amazon.co.uk
Jesamiah is set to rival Bernard Cornwell's Richard Sharpe and Patrick O'Brien's Jack Aubrey and according to author Sharon Kay Penman would give "Johnny Depp's Captain Jack Sparrow a run for his money in a sexiest pirate contest" -- he is already intriguing potential readers; he has a fan club and receives email!
Helen Hollick is renowned for her historical fiction, with the hugely successful Arthurian Trilogy - The Kingmaking, Pendragon's Banner and Shadow of the King under her belt, plus her compelling Harold the King and A Hollow Crown. Sea Witch is set to take the public by storm. Previously published by Random House, Helen decided to self-publish Sea Witch through BookForce UK.
The time: the golden age of piracy -- 1716 The Place: the Pirate Round -- from South Africa to the Islands of the Caribbean. Escaping the bullying of his elder brother, from the age of fifteen Jesamiah Acorne has been a pirate, with only two loves - his ship and his freedom. But his life is to change when he and his crew unsuccessfully attack a merchant ship off the coast of South Africa. He is to meet Tiola Oldstagh, an insignificant girl or so he thinks - until she rescues him from a vicious attack, and almost certain death, by pirate hunters. And then he discovers what she really is; a healer and a midwife - and a white witch. Jesamiah and Tiola become lovers, despite her guardian, Jenna Pendeen's disapproval, but Stefan van Overstratten, a Cape Town Dutchman, also wants Tiola as his wife, and Jesamiah's half brother Phillipe Mereno is determined to seek revenge for a stolen ship and the insult of being cuckolded. When the call of the sea and an opportunity to commandeer a beautiful ship -- Sea Witch -- is put in Jesamiah's path, he must make a choice between his life as a pirate or his love for Tiola; he wants both - but Mereno and Von Overstratten want him dead. In trouble, imprisoned in the darkness and stench that is the lowest part of his brother's ship, can Tiola, with her Craft, and the aid of Roux, Jesamiah's quartermaster and the rest of his loyal crew, save her pirate? And can she keep Jesamiah safe from another who wants him for herself -- the elemental being that is Tethys, Goddess of the Sea? |
Praise for Sea Witch:
"Sea Witch gives us everything we want in a grand pirate adventure - swashbuckling action, great villains, lovely women in distress, sea fights and adventures on land, all grounded in solid research that gives the book a real feel of authenticity. This is a terrific read for lovers of pirate tales, lovers of historical fiction, and lovers of great adventure stories."
--James L. Nelson, best-selling US maritime fiction & non fiction author
"A wonderful swash-buckler of a novel. Fans of Pirates of the Caribbean will love this to pieces of eight! A fabulous splash of piratical adventure on the high seas. Prepare to be abducted by a devil may care pirate and enchanted by a white witch. Mayhem and magic, splendor and squalor, beautiful ships, dangerous pirates and wild women, Helen Hollick has written a fabulous historical adventure that will have you reading into the small hours!"
--Elizabeth Chadwick, best-selling UK historical fiction author
Sea Witch will be published by BookForce on June 1, and will be available in all good book shops.
About Sea Witch:
Paperback, 421 pages
Publisher: BookForce UK Ltd (June 1, 2006)
ISBN: 1905108141
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