From whence a name?

 

 

Some names of the characters of my books are straight out of the history of our world. If such is the case, I have tried to portray them as history has: Admiral Nelson (1800's) was a bold and daring leader, Commodore Wright (1690's) was a coward who was finally court-martialed for his malefaction, etc.

 

Other names derive from friends and relatives. Still more have been taken from lists of common names of the period(s), and some are - forsooth - simply made up.

 

Although I strive to place the real characters and events that they lived through reasonably correctly in time, all specific situations, "scenes", and conversations are purely fictitious. I endeavor to apply Samuel Clemens' (Mark Twain's) advice: "Never let the truth get in the way of a good story".

 

What's real?

Almost all the ships are real, as are the major battles. I have attempted to depict the latter as closely as I could imagine they might have appeared from the deck of Neville's ship. As

to characters, they are explained below...

 

     Neville Burton is the quintessential handsome hero of my series. His growing list of battle wounds do not detract much from the looks of the stocky, good-looking Englishman who is easily recognized by his bright blue eyes. His need to make the Worlds he lives in as fair as can be for the common seaman and fellow officer alike fuel his ability to lead his men and advance in rank. A quick wit, an early aptitude for foreign languages, and relative comfort with risk-taking combine to place him in situations that further his career.

 

In affairs of the heart, Neville's good looks and that same quick wit will always win him the desired beauty. He learns to be the dedictated lover, but with that goes the grieving of great loss and the pain (real or imagined) of deception.

 

     Daniel Watson is Neville's best friend, with whom he went to sea as a boy. His companionship made a difficult transition easier, but they grow apart after the Glorious First of June.

 

     Sir William Mulholland is not widely known outside of Whitehall as anything but a high-level bureaucrat, but the man who has been Neville's mentor and a family friend routinely pulls the strings behind Britain's clandestine operations. He can insert Neville into sticky situations and  - sometimes - can get him out. A bachelor, he lives in Neville's hometown of Bury St. Edmunds, County Suffolk, England when he is not at work in London.

 

     The Officers of HMS Castor, Neville and Daniel's first ship, include Captain Troubridge (real), Lieutenants Froste, Tripp and Ratcliffe, Midshipmen Colson, O'Hanlan and Hunt, Boatswain Tillman, Purser Goode, and Sailing Master Graesson (all fictitious) are collectively significant as the community that raises the Castor's midshipmen, giving Neville his proper start in the Royal Navy.

 

      Georges Cadoudal (1771-1804) was a real French politician and then spy for England against Napoleon. Although quite a bit is known of him, we don't know a lot about his spy exploits, so I have simply made up those parts of his life that interact with Neville Burton's. Why not? You aren't supposed to know what he did then, anyway.

 

      Thomas and Maria Fuller, my father-daughter team of Jamaica in the 1690's, are an amorphous pair. Colonel Thomas Fuller was a real man, instrumental in the taking of Jamaica from the Spanish in 1655 and active in the Council of Jamaica in the time of both the famour "pirate-become-statesmen" Captain Morgan and Governor Inchiquin. Maria never existed. Thomas had a wife but no progeny, which accounted for the sale of his house to the Verleys after his death. The re-built house, known as the 'Thetford Great House' stands today near Kingston. It is one of Jamaica's National Heritage Trust properties. Maria, the young and curvy beautiful combination of a Hispanic mother and English father, learned commitment to her community as well as Spanish from her Mother and independence from her father, all without losing her Jamaican charm. When Neville lands at the Fuller home/hospital with a battle injury, the stage is set for two young people to fall in love.

 

      Vincent Verley, carries the name of the family that actually bought the Fuller home after the Fullers died. He is entirely a figment of my imagination, but I think he's a good one. Neville meets him as the emaciated acting-captain of the frigate Experiment, and later discovers him to be a capable officer and faithful friend. Together they capture a French frigate in the waters south of Cuba and serve Governor Inchiquin as the protectors of Jamaica in a time when British warships in the Caribbean were scarce.

 

      William O'Brien, 2nd Earl of Inchiquin, was the first Governor of Jamaica and Vice-Admiral of the CAribbean Seas from 1690 to 1692. I have perhaps pictured him as being more friendly and magnanimous than the real man would ever have been. He recognized the need for ships to protect Jamaica against the ravages of pirates (such as the pirate Lorens deGraaf, also real). Through his association with Thomas Fuller, a member of the Jamaican Council, he learns of the navy lieutenant Neville Burton who is recovering at the Fuller home. Since the crew of the newly-arrived frigate Experiment in Port Royal Harbor have suffered the scourge of tropical diseases, a new commander is needed. Inchiquin puts Neville back to work in Jamaica's own private navy. This episode gives Neville experience as a frigate captain well before he would otherwise have had such an opportunity. As I depict, Inchiquin grew ill and died in Jamaica.

 

      First Lieutenant Aderlay of HMS Elephant (flagship of Admiral Nelson at the Battle of Copenhagen) is a figment, although the ship and battle were real. This fellow is notable for his slimy nature and run-in with Neville (his underling at the time) Neville over an injustice that Neville cannot overlook. The incident precipitates Neville's assignment as liason to the American frigate Boston involved in the Barbary Coast War in the Mediteranean. It also provides an opening for a foray into enemy France.

 

      Marion and Chester Stillwater are my father-daughter team of Jamaica in 1800. They are both purely fictitious. Why "Stillwater"? I just thought it would be a good name for the book.

 

Chester is a businessman from the United States who went to Jamaica for tobacco and discovered rum. He made a business of it, and a fortune at the same time. For some reason, Sir Mulholland suspects him to be spying against Britain. Can Neville find out if he is?

 

Marion, who bears an uncanny resemblance to Maria, Neville's now-deceased lover, is the same sort of independent young woman. Just as Maria would have taken over the Fuller plantation, Marion plans to take over the Stillwater Rum Trading Company one day, if she can be sure Michael Stearns won't get in the way. Neville cannot keep himself away from the reincarnation of his lover, resulting in a cross-Atlantic chase fueled by international intrigue and personal duplicity.

 

      Michael Stearns was rejected from United States Navy training for his inability to grasp the basics of navigation. The reader learns early on that he chose to spy for the government as an alternative way to get back at the French and English for the death of his father. But he didn't show great promise there, either, and was sent to collect routine data through an undercover job at the Stillwater Rum Co. (It's a British Island). As the years passed and he came to like the place, he also noticed Marion. Much to her displeasure, she can tell he thinks she will be his, and her father doesn't seem to disagree. Such feelings lead him into an internal company rivalry with Marion, a duel with Neville over Marion, another failed sortie into Napoleonic France, and arrest for espionage. Is he guilty?