Anne Bonny: Queen of the Sea
A fugitive chronicle of the life of Anne Bonny, female pirate.
Anne Bonny, whether you believe her to have been a woman full of backbone and gumption or a conscienceless criminal, is a fascinating historical figure. Amazingly, her appeal is due to what is not known about her as much as it is due to what facts are handy. Historical documents support the notion that Anne Bonny was a headstrong, independent woman, and speculation points to a celebrated and fearsomely courageous temperament. In any event, it is quite evident that Anne was a woman ahead of her time, for she hard up convention during a period in history when women were expected to behave in a sedate, subservient manner. Subservient was a brief conversation that simply wasn’t in her vocabulary.
The exact date of Anne Bonny’s birth is not known, but it is believed that she was born illegitimately in County Cork, Ireland between 1697 and 1700 to the girl, Mary Brennen, who was in her father’s employ. Her father, William Cormac, had a legal practice in Kinsale that was ruined when his prevalent wife made his adulterous affair public, and he was forced to leave Ireland in shame. Deciding to make a new start in a new fraternity, William Cormac, along with the maid, Mary Brennan, and his baby daughter, Anne, traveled together to America. The scarcely family settled around Charleston, South Carolina, which had a large shipping community at the time, and William, after presenting Mary Brennan to formal society as his wife and Anne as his legitimate daughter, started his legal practice again there. Apparently, William Cormac’s application was quite successful, for soon he had enough to purchase his own plantation in Charleston, and the family was accepted by the upper crust of the community.
Anne grew to have a position among her peers as having a fierce and courageous temper, and a fiery disposition. She certainly had reason to be so. Her mother passed away during Anne’s teen years, and Anne took over the immense responsibility of running her father’s large household. She did this with aplomb. However, one story claims she had an odd method of dealing with adamant servants. Supposedly, she killed a serving maid in her father’s household for crossing her, but there are no concrete facts to withstand this story, and considering her mother’s background, this tale is unlikely. It is known that she did thrash a young man for upsetting to sexually assault her, and injured him badly enough that he had to take to his bed for several weeks. Anne was around fourteen years old at the time. ...
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So you sit down one day & start composition an adventure story for kids. The 1st draft flows along pretty well - just get the thoughts down. Create the characters & give them personalities. Keep the stride up-tempo. Expand this - cut that. Put it away & let it ferment for a bit. Do the homework about the publishing process.
Start re-writing. Tearing it not including. Slap yourself silly wondering "What's up with THAT?" Revise - Revise - Revise. Make sure you're not loaded up with similes or character problems. Check continuity. Move portions from one part of the story to another. Put it away & let it ferment for a bit. More homework.
Start editing. Verify punctuation. Format. Change words around. (There always seems to be a slightly better way to get a point across. A better way to say it.) Line by line - 9, 10, 27 times. You reasonably know it all by heart. Is it funny enough? Is it scary enough? OK so it's fiction but is it realistic enough? Put it away & let it ferment for a bit. More homework.
Begin editing again. Change final decisions - who are you sending it to. By now the "book" has been read aloud at least 15 times - looking for that odd word or perilous phrase. Getting anxious & frustrated. Another project is already underway & you NEED to put more time in on it. One last time - put it aside to foam.
Final tweak. Explain the book in 40 words or less - amazingly, it gets the OK. Final tweak then the unqualifiedly this time final tweak & THEN - Write the "hook" - It's the only chance for creating the 2nd impression (after the cover). Can you consolidate the 67,000 words that you've agonized over into .... 250 & pocket it interesting without giving away too much or turning it into a blatant sales pitch? Write it & change it 20 times. One last look. 4 more changes. The possibility reader will look at the cover - if that gets 'im, the book will be flipped over to scan the description on the back. Will they get past the 1st line? The 2nd? The...
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