Sunday, September 4, 2016

Troubles & Cannibalism in the New World by Katherine Pym


Jamestown House c. 1630


I’ve decided one of the reasons it took so long to get the original settlers off the ground and their colonies successful was due to their origins. Merchants wanted money and power and they felt they could get it by banding together to outfit a fleet of ships and send men to the North America. Their money would establish these settlements. Their money would insure the men in these new settlements would give a great return for the merchants’ investments.

There were several merchant companies that ranged up and down the East Coast of North America. Given grants by their monarch, they considered the land theirs from Florida to Newfoundland to do with as they pleased. The colonists were ‘employees’ of these companies. They had to obey what the merchant companies dictated. With the spoils, these merchants in turn, were to give wealth and power to their monarch.

Men came first, then women. They used the tools and supplies provided by the merchant company to build, to trap furs as payment to the merchants. If the colonists found the passage to the Northwest and the Pacific, if they found gold or silver, these, too, were to be given to the merchants.   

Merchant companies did not provide well for the extremes that pervaded this new land; i.e., harsh winters, unyielding soil, wild beasts and the original peoples who could turn violent.

It seemed little thought was given to establishing long term settlements. To do this, one must have tools and the know-how to use these tools to build new tools and implement them into the task at hand. They must have livestock, not for eating but for breeding. When the herd could provide, then the colonists could eat. They must learn the type of seeds that would grow in their soil, their climate.

Settlers relied on the merchants returning each spring/early summer with clothing, food, more implements, powder and shot for their guns. If the governments changed during this time, or the merchant company disbanded, if it took years to obtain more money, sometimes merchants did not return, or if they did, it was years later. This put the colonists at great risk.

Many died of starvation. In the latest archeological digs, signs of cannibalism have been discerned.

Take Jamestown.

George Percy, of early Jamestown, wrote how badly life was. He sadly mentioned people were so hungry, they dug up corpses and ate them.

Capt. John Smith wrote: “One amongst the rest did kill his wife, powdered (salted) her, and had eaten part of her before it was known, for which he was executed, as he well deserved... Now whether she was better roasted, boiled or carbonado’d (barbecued), I know not, but of such a dish as powdered wife I never heard of.”

In the spring of 2013, archeologists revealed they had located the first evidence of cannibalism with the discovery of a 14 year old (Jamestown circa 1609-10). Found in a refuse pile, her remains showed she had recently died.

Someone, or several, cleaved at her body and head. She was dismembered and her flesh removed. Knife tips gouged away at her skull and chin as if to cut away her tongue or throat tissue. “Her brain, tongue, cheeks and leg muscles were eaten, with the brain likely eaten first, because it decomposes so quickly after death.

The clumsy attempts to cut away flesh shows whoever had done this had never butchered an animal for food. This was done by people desperate enough to eat another human being after she was dead.

The skull was restructured, so you can see what she looked like. Due to copyright issues I’m not sure if I can share this young girl’s picture.

Please see:

For the whole article:

And another:

Other sources:
Coleman, R.V., The First Frontier. Castle Books, NJ, 2005
Kirke, Henry, The First English Conquest of Canada, London SE, 1908

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Saturday, September 3, 2016

Welcome to new BWL author David Anderson



David Anderson brings his thriller novel The Beachhead to Books We Love. Welcome David!


BWL: How long have you been writing and in what genres?

DJA: I’ve been writing seriously for about a decade.  I write adult thrillers and now YA thrillers.  I’m particularly interested in updating some classic thriller tropes such as man-on-the-run and the classic heist novel.  The Beachhead might be summed up in the cry, “I am not a number, I am a free man” from the Sixties TV cult series, The Prisoner.


BWL: Where do you get your inspiration?

DJA:  From the books I’ve read throughout my life, and still like to read, and from experience and reflecting upon experience.


BWL: Tell us about your books.

DJA:  Earthly Powers is a novel about old (and new) Nazis and buried treasure on a remote island.  An innocent man is relentlessly hunted in the depths of the forest while his female partner is locked in a race against time to uncover a vital artefact.  I told you I like modernising classic thriller tropes!  

Meaner Things is a heist novel centring on a fiendishly difficult vault robbery.  Unlike, say, the movie Ocean’s Eleven, my heist is ethical, and also feasible (as it’s based on a true crime that succeeded).  I’ve woven in moral quandaries about trust and humanised it with some good old-fashioned romance.
 
The Beachhead is a ‘prison break’ kind of thriller, again revisiting the man-on-the-run trope which I love so much, and again dwelling on themes of trust/suspicion and the value of teamwork.  


BWL: What about your next book?  Will it be part of a series or a standalone?  Can you give us a taste to whet our appetites?

DJA:  I’m currently working on a sequel to The Beachhead and, simultaneously, an adult thriller provisionally entitled Shadow of a Killer.  The latter will deal with guilt, shame and vengeance, and have my usual fast pace and action.  I try to push myself harder and further with each new project I write.  My aim is that both these new novels will blow my readers’ socks off!


BWL: What are your hobbies and interests?

DJA:  Reading and philosophy.


BWL: What does the future hold for you?


DJA:  Preferably, bestselling author status and several movie contract offers!

Find David at Books We Love here: http://bookswelove.net/authors/anderson-david/

and his blog here:


Friday, September 2, 2016

VACATION FOR MY CHARACTERS - MARGARET TANNER


MARGARET TANNER’S FAVOURITE VACATION



I have to say I don’t really have a favourite place for a vacation, anywhere is good for me as long as there is plenty of sun, and I am waited on hand and foot, and have lots of yummy food.



Because I write historical romance, vacations are usually the honeymoon for my hero and heroine, but not always.



In my novel, Allison’s War, which starts a few months before the commencement of the Great War (1914 – 1918), the vacations are a little different.

The first one belongs to the villain of the piece, Phillip Ashfield, an aristocratic young Englishman, the second one is Allison’s honeymoon, and the third one is Allison’s desperate journey to find her son after Phillip kidnaps him.



 PHILLIP

Phillip Ashfield uncrossed his cramped legs and stood up to reach into the overhead luggage compartment. What an imposition, having to manhandle his own luggage.

“Good God, man, when you’re in the colonies you have to look after yourself.” He remembered the advice he’d received from Tony, one of his friends from Eton. How true, the Godforsaken bloody backwater.

If his father hadn’t been so ill, he would have refused point blank to come out to Australia. Had his mother not been so distraught about the old man, he would have ignored her entreaties to visit relatives at the back of beyond.

God, it was hot. The temptation to loosen his collar became almost unendurable. He wore the latest summer fashion for 1914, a three-piece suit with a shaped coat that had a vent down the back. His linen, as always, was the finest money could buy. Neither one helped keep him cool in these temperatures.



TOMMY AND ALLISON

The zoo proved to be much larger than Allison expected. The monkeys and giraffes were her favorites. Tommy insisted they have a ride on the elephant, and as the animal swayed along, they got a wonderful view.

“This is fun,” he said, squeezing her hand. “I like hearing you laugh; it’s such a happy sound.”

“I never knew we could have such an exciting time. Such places we’ve seen! I have to pinch myself to make sure it’s not a dream,” she said.

His teasing smile faded, and his blue eyes burned fiercely. “I’ll never forget, either.”

The bears lumbered around in a concrete pit, and Tommy leaned so far over the edge she worried about him falling in. He laughed loudly at this fear, and several people turned to look at them.

“Tommy, shh, people are staring.”

“I’ll give them something to really talk about.” Quick as a flash he pulled her close and kissed her, and she felt hot all over.

“Well, really, how could a young woman cheapen herself so?” A prim matron with two school-aged children complained to her male companion. “Those young larrikins think they can do what they like, just because they’re in the army.”

Allison’s embarrassment gave way to anger. “I happen to like my husband kissing me. At least he’s man enough to fight for his country.”



ALLISON

At the railway station, Allison spoke to the stationmaster and told him about Paul being taken by an English relative, and he promised to make arrangements about seeing to the livestock on the farm.

What a dreadful journey. She wanted to scream at the train to go faster, and by the time they pulled into Spencer Street station her hands shook and her head ached. A young man helped her off with Daphne’s pram, and then she found herself alone on a platform swarming with people.

The last time she’d stood here was with Tommy, as Jim bid them farewell. She hadn’t known it at the time, but she would never see her brother again. She shivered in the Melbourne dusk, and it wasn’t from cold. Dear God, why wasn’t one of them spared to help? Why did both of them have to die? She closed her eyes, and the noise of busy people was blocked out, replaced by the muffled sounds of marching feet, as ghostly battalions passed by on their way to immortality.

It was too late to find Phillip now; they had to get somewhere to stay, first. The only place she could think of was the hotel where Tommy had taken her for their honeymoon. It was dark when they reached the hotel, and by the light thrown out from the street lamps, it appeared the same as it had in 1914.



Allison’s War – Blurb

In 1916, on the French battlefields, a dying soldier’s confession has the power to ruin the woman he loves.













Thursday, September 1, 2016

September Blog Comment Giveaway

Win this gift basket in our
September Young Adult
Blog Comment Giveaway


Visit the Books We Love Insider Blog and comment on any September post. Be sure to leave your email address in the comment. Then go to the sidebar and follow the blog either with Google follow or Networked Blogs. One random commenter who meets these requirements will be chosen to win the pictured gift basket plus the Books We Love Young Adult title of their choice at the end of September. Winner will be announced in the October newsletter. http://bwlauthors.blogspot.com/
 
Good luck and Happy September!
 
 

Canadian Historical Brides - the Series that celebrates 150 years of Canadian History - Book 1 now in Pre-release







Each of the Canadian Historical Brides novels features a historical event in one of the ten provinces and three territories of Canada. The books, based on actual historical times, combine fact and fiction to show how the brides and grooms, all from diverse backgrounds, join in marriage to create new lives and build a great country.

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