Shana Galen and hero pirates. Oh yeah!
My guest today is the beautiful Shana Galen. And I mean that literally. Just look at her! I’ve met Shana and can attest that the pic below is not doctored. LOL! Best of all, Shana is as lovely inside as out. Shana came to Sourcebooks a year or so after me, and we have been acquaintances since. It is my great pleasure to welcome Shana Galen here today. She will be talking about pirates and what makes them (or doesn’t make them) “bad guys” – Ooh! Read on and be sure to comment because Shana is including a giveaway!
Shana Galen is the bestselling author of fast-paced adventurous Regency historicals, including the RT Reviewers’ Choice The Making of a Gentleman. Booklist says, “Galen expertly entwines espionage-flavored intrigue with sizzling passion,” and RT Bookreviews calls her “a grand mistress of the action/adventure subgenre.” She taught English at the middle and high school level off and on for eleven years. Most of those years were spent working in Houston’s inner city. Now she writes full time. She’s happily married and has a daughter who is most definitely a romance heroine in the making. Shana loves to hear from readers, so send her an email or see what she’s up to daily on Facebook and Twitter @shanagalen
Shana’s website: http://shanagalen.com
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email address: [email protected]
Who’s The Bad Guy? by Shana Galen
Recently a friend of mine took her kids to see a pirate exhibit, and one of her young children said, “So were pirates the bad guys?” I can see why the kid is confused. Captain Hook is a pirate, and he’s bad. But what about Jake and his mates on the Disney Junior show Jake and The Neverland Pirates? What about Captain Jack Sparrow? Aren’t we supposed to root for him? And yet, the history books are filled with tales of the death and destruction pirates wrought. So my friend looked at me and said, “You write books with pirates. What should I say? Who’s the bad guy?”
I don’t know that I had the right answer for her. Pirates in the nineteenth century were definitely the bad guys. They sank ships, they took slaves, they killed indiscriminately, and they stole property that wasn’t theirs. Of course, in the nineteenth century, life in the navy wasn’t all that great either. Sailors lived under conditions that were always harsh and often abusive. The democratic nature of a pirate ship must have been appealing to at least some sailors. Pirates now—be they ebook pirates or Somali pirates—are also the bad guys. I’d have to say, in real life, pirates are usually the bad guys. In fiction? Not so much.
I don’t know about you, but I love a book with a bad by hero. That’s where the pirate comes in. In the nineteenth century, he’s the ultimate bad boy. He might not have a motorcycle, but hey, he has a whole ship and crew to command. There’s usually a reason a hero in a book has resorted to life as a bad boy pirate. That’s Nick Martingale’s story. He’s the pirate hero in The Pirate Takes a Bride. He’s vowed revenge on the Barbary pirate Yussef (Barbary pirates were the corsairs who terrorized the Mediterranean) for the terrible wrongs Yussef has done to Nick’s family and friends. Nick cares little that his quest for vengeance puts his own life at risk. He wants revenge at any cost.
Until he becomes involved with Ashley.
Ashley doesn’t particularly like Nick. Months ago, he took her virtue then snubbed her. Through a series of unfortunate events, Nick and Ashley are accidentally married by an anvil priest in Gretna Green. The funny thing is that this accidental marriage is historically accurate. A drunk anvil priest really did mistakenly marry the wrong couples. That’s Nick and Ashley’s fate, and they’re stuck together as a result. Even though he’s an awful pirate, Nick can’t abandon Ashley when his pirate crew comes to fetch him. It’s a life or death matter, and he has to leave immediately, so he takes Ashley with him. He’s obviously in possession of some honor, and that’s one mark in the Good Guy column.
As Ashley learns more about Nick, he racks up more points in the Good Guy column until she falls in love with him. He might be in love with her too, but remember he also wanted to have his revenge, and he’d sacrificed everything to have it. I’ll let you read the book to see what happens, but I believe at the end, you’ll place Nick firmly in the Good Guy column. Or at least as good as a bad boy pirate can get.
So what about you? Do you love a bad boy hero?
The Pirate Takes a Bride by Shana Galen~~
Ashley Brittany is living a nightmare. She’s been mistakenly married to the one man she despises. Months ago, Lord Nicholas took her virtue then scorned her. Now, Ashley will do anything to have her revenge…anything but expose her ugly secret.
Nick Martingale has a secret, too: he’s Captain Robin Hood, a pirate with a fearsome reputation. But when Nick learns his archenemy, the Barbary pirate Yussef, attacked innocents Nick has sworn to protect, he can think of nothing but vengeance.
Only one person stands in his way.
His wife.
Shana has graciously offered to giveaway one print copy of The Pirate Takes a Bride. Just comment on this post, answering Shana’s question about bad boy heroes before the deadline on Sunday, June 22 at midnight. Winners will be contacted. *Us/Canada only, please.
Some of Shana’s novels~~
Thanks Shana and Sharon for a lovely passage!
I agree with you Sharon. That is a beautiful pic of Shana. I follow you on Twitter Shana which I tend to use more than anything at the moment because is quick and easy on my phone. I loved hearing about the characters in your latest book. I have one of your books on kindle on my TBR list. It’s always fun to hear an authors passion about their books and characters.
As for whether or not any character is a bad guy. IMO that always depends on their actions. We can’t judge someone by their title or status only by their actions and treatment of others. I have to agree with you when reading novels it’s fun when the ‘bad’ guy turns out to hae a big heart.
I look forward to reading your stories too!
Thanks so much for stopping by, Vee. Nice to see you off twitter. I do recognize you from there. I agree that I love a twist or when a character surprises me.
Love a bad boy hero. They are more interesting, more complex. I like that.
That’s true, Lois. Usually bad boys have a reason for why they’re so bad.
…and Julie Garwood’s pirate, Pagen.
I love him too. That book is so funny and charming. I love all of her historicals.
One of my favorite pirates….Johanna Lindsey’s James Malory!
Yes! He’s my favorite Malory.
Let’s put it this way, I love fictional bad boys with a redeeming quality. They have to have that soft spot for something or someone that makes you go “oh, he may not be so bad after all.” And that reckless attitude that makes you want to go against him only to prove you can, to test his boundaries. Oh, I think I’m fantasizing here LOL 🙂 *long sigh*
Your fantasy is mine, Joanna. I completely agree. I think Nick has that something 🙂
Of course, and just can’t get enough of our most recent bad boy Captain Hook! Which I never miss on Sunday night’s, “Once Upon A Time”. I can just imagine him as my pirate book boy friend. O.M.G. I’m there~!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And thank you so much for the giveaway. I’d adore winning your book Shana, as I have not found it at my store as yet. I just LOVE getting to know new authors this way. And then I need to go out and buy everything they ever wrote. Oh YEAH~!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Oh, I love the actor who plays Captain Hook. So cute! The book isn’t in stores. It can be ordered, but it’s self-published and most of them aren’t carrying it. The print copy is available on BN.com and Amazon, and if you don’t win it, the ebook is only 99 cents this week.
Wow! Accidentally married to the wrong person…. and he’s a pirate. At least he’s a good pirate. I like bad boys who have a heart of gold.
Can you tell us more about the two couples who did not have such a happy fate? They shouldn’t have used a drunken anvil priest!
Thank you, Shana!
June, the real couples had Joseph Paisley, the priest, do the ceremony over. Not as much fun as my story.
They didn’t need to get divorced first? Whew!
I don’t think so. It was all pretty informal.
Sad, don’t have an ereader. But LOVE that printed word~!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I do too. That’s why I made sure to do a print and digital copy of the book.
I love reading about pirates, and all their adventures. I especially love following the journey of a “bad boy” up to his redemption and “happy ever after”. Thanks for the chance to win Shana, as I adore anything that you write.
Thanks, Diane! Good luck!
I like an honorable man, whether he has a good reputation or not.
We just went to the National Geographic Society pirate exhibition in San Diego for Captain Sam Bellamy, a young gentleman pirate who pursued that profession to be able to afford to marry a woman above his station. He rescued slaves and offered freedoms. But the carnage he left behind was terrible. I appreciated in your comments, Shana, that though you are aware of the realities of the pirate life, your love of romance helps you see these events through eyes that focus on the redeemable. Good for you. Great post.
Joy, that sounds like a fabulous exhibit. I definitely like to focus on the fiction aspects of pirates.
It is an exhibit that every pirate lover should see. They have a treasure chest filled with a real treasure last seen and touched in 1717 by real pirates. Amazing!
Please do not enter me in the giveaway as I couldn’t wait. It’s now on my Kindle. Thanks!
Thanks, Joy! Good time to buy. It’s on sale 🙂 Enjoy.
Hi Shana & Sharon.. I like bad boys. You know they more honest, sexy, and fun. I’ve some friends and they’ re including in ‘bad boys’. I like to talk with them. They talked to me honestly, maybe it sometimes hurt but it better than they have to pretend of something.
Honesty among men is not so rare as women seem to think. I’ve found men generally say what they mean, but we women don’t want to hear it!
I appreciate a bad boy hero as long as he redeems himself at the end of the story.
I completely agree, Elizabeth. Redemption is the whole point, isn’t it? 🙂
Thanks so much for having me, Sharon. I’ll be stopping by to chat with readers all day.
It is my tremendous pleasure, Shana. I am honored and thrilled to share the spotlight with you! And your bad boy pirate too 😉