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Thursday, July 11, 2024

Book Spotlight: The Sea Witch Voyages (Series) by Helen Hollick

 

Trouble follows Captain Jesamiah Acorne like a ship’s wake...

The early 1700s: from the sun of the Caribbean to the eerie mists of England’s Exmoor in Devon, the Sea Witch Voyages follow the adventures (misadventures?) of Captain Jesamiah Acorne. Orphaned at almost fifteen Jesamiah escaped his home in Virginia and the bullying of his half-brother to join with his father’s old friend, Captain Malachias Taylor – a kindly man, but also a rogue of a pirate.

Jesamiah eventually captains his own ship, but at Cape Town, South Africa, he is to meet the girl who becomes the love of his life – Tiola Oldstagh, a midwife, healer... and a White Witch with the gift of Craft.

Accepting amnesty from Governor Woodes Rogers of Nassau, Jesamiah turns to a legal, married, life, except various governors, ex-lovers, bad-tempered pirates, lingering ghosts and other non-human entities seem to have different ideas.

Jesamiah Acorne: a swashbuckling amalgamation of Hornblower, Jack Aubrey and Jack Sparrow mixed with Indiana Jones, James Bond and Bernard Cornwell’s Richard Sharpe.

Voyage with Jesamiah aboard Sea Witch and sail into the ocean realm of fast-paced, exciting nautical adventures...


 Buy Links: 

Titles on #KindleUnlimited: When the Mermaid Sings and Gallows Wake
 
Universal Amazon Author Page Link: https://viewauthor.at/HelenHollick
 
Individual Universal links:
Sea Witch – Voyage 1: https://viewbook.at/SeaWitch
Pirate Code – Voyage 2: https://viewbook.at/PirateCode
Bring It Close – Voyage 3: https://viewbook.at/BringItClose
Ripples In The Sand – Voyage 4: http://viewbook.at/RipplesInTheSand
On The Account – Voyage 5: https://viewbook.at/OnTheAccount
Gallows Wake – Voyage 6: https://mybook.to/GallowsWake
When The Mermaid Sings – a prequel novella: https://viewbook.at/WhenMermaidSings
 

First accepted for traditional publication in 1993, Helen became a USA Today Bestseller with her historical novel, The Forever Queen (titled A Hollow Crown in the UK) with the sequel, Harold the King (US: 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/supernatural series, The Sea Witch Voyages. She has also branched out into the quick read novella, 'Cosy Mystery' genre with her Jan Christopher 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. The fifth in the series, A Memory Of Murder, was published in May 2024.

Her non-fiction books are Pirates: Truth and Tales and Life of A Smuggler. She is currently writing about the ghosts of North Devon for Amberley Publications, and Jamaica Gold for her Sea Witch Voyages.

Recognised by her stylish hats, Helen attends conferences and book-related events when she can as a chance to meet her readers and social-media followers, although her ‘wonky eyesight’ as she describes her condition of Glaucoma, and severe arthritis is becoming a little prohibitive for travel.

She lives with her family in an eighteenth-century farmhouse in North Devon with their dogs and cats, while on the farm there are showjumper horses, fat Exmoor ponies, an elderly Welsh pony, geese, ducks and hens. And several resident ghosts.

 Author links:

Website: https://helenhollick.net/

Amazon Author Page: https://viewauthor.at/HelenHollick

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/helen.hollick

X/Twitter: https://x.com/HelenHollick

Blog: https://ofhistoryandkings.blogspot.com/ supporting authors & their books

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.co.uk/helenhollick/

Monthly newsletter: Thoughts from a Devonshire Farmhouse

https://ofhistoryandkings.blogspot.com/2024/01/thoughts-from-devonshire-farmhouse.html


What Amazon readers say about Sea Witch:

“WOW! I was mesmerised from the very first words in the very first chapter. I felt I was actually there with Jesamiah and his fellow pirates; such was the reality of the story. I could almost smell the sea, feel the wind blowing and hear the sounds of the creaking ship.”

“I was very impressed with the attention to historical detail and the alluring descriptions of the sea and its sailing ships. The author confesses that she has taken a few liberties with history to make her story neat and tidy, but I think these are entirely justified for the sake of such a compelling tale.”

“I thoroughly enjoyed this well-told tale. Helen Hollick has created a terrific, likable rogue in Jesamiah Acorne; a young man with a dark past and very bright future - if he survives to enjoy it. Details about the age of sail, life on board and ashore, and the sense that sea has a special, sinister life of its own added to the pleasure of reading. I shall be following this series from now on. Great stuff!”

“Helen Hollick's forte is her ebullient imagination. Everything is original, from her writing, which is vivid and yet as economical as conversational French, where unnecessary words (‘the’, ‘and’) are dropped for fluency. Notable is the lavish use of the color blue, so expensive and cherished at the time, that the cheeky blue of Jesamiah's ribbons is almost eclipsed by the sheer arrogance of painting his ship -- Sea Witch -- the same blue that was the prerogative of monarchs and prelates! And there are wonderful jokes, snitched from real history, such as the raid of a merchant ship by a crew of pirates who merely needed a haul of hats. This book is strongly recommended for young adults who want a rousing story, and also for those who are older who want a thought-provoking new approach to the traditional pirate yarn.”

Authors’ endorsements:

“Helen Hollick has it all! She tells a great story, gets her history right and writes consistently readable books!” ~ Bernard Cornwell

“A wonderful swashbuckler of a novel. Fans of Pirates of the Caribbean will love this to pieces of eight.” ~ Elizabeth Chadwick

“In the sexiest pirate competition Cpt. Jesamiah Acorne gives Johnny Depp's Jack Sparrow a run for his money.” ~ Sharon K. Penman




5 comments:

  1. Thank you so much for inviting Captain Jesamiah Acorne, myself and the crew of the Sea Witch to drop anchor here today!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thank you for featuring Helen Hollick on your lovely blog today, with dashing captain Jesamiah Acorne and his beguiling Sea Witch!

    Take care,
    Cathie xo
    The Coffee Pot Book Club

    ReplyDelete