Interview with Jeffery S. Williams

Pirate Spirit: The Adventures of Anne Bonney
Jeffery S. Williams with Katherine Williams
iUniverse (2006)
ISBN9781583484678
Reviewed by Debra Gaynor for Reader Views (12/06)

Today Juanita Watson, Assistant Editor of Reader Views is talking with author and teacher Jeffery S. Williams about his award-winning, historical fiction novel, “Anne Bonney: My Pirate Story.” Jeffery was awarded 2nd place in the General Fiction category for the Reader Views Annual Literary Awards 2006.

Jeffery has been a high school English teacher for 20 years and recently received the CATE) California Association for Teachers of English) Classroom Excellence Award for 2007.  Periodically, he writes educational chapters for classroom publications, and prior to teaching, Jeffery worked as a journalist and copy editor, writing for many national publications such as Leadership Journal, Catholic Digest, Columbia Magazine and Christianity Today. He has published short fiction in literary journals Epiphany and the San Joaquin Review.

Juanita:   Welcome to Reader Views Jeffery and congratulations on your award in the Reader Views Annual Literary Awards.  How does it feel?

Jeffery:  First and foremost, I want to express my appreciation for Readers Views’ recognition of my work. Without a doubt, all writers hope their work will be read, enjoyed and respected for its craft. This award is an encouraging development for Anne Bonney.

Juanita:  “Anne Bonney: My Pirate Story” is your debut novel.  With such a long writing history, what inspired you to write your first book?

Jeffery: I’ve always enjoyed stories and anecdotes — listening to and reading them. My father was an avid reader and a good storyteller. In college I discovered my own “fire in the belly” to tell and write stories. But my first attempts at writing fiction college were not promising; teachers deemed my writing too cliché and florid. I majored in English nonetheless because I savored reading the world’s literary masters. After a stint as a journalist and editor, I experienced a Hemingway-ian realization: simplify your syntax and word selection. In other words, “half of art is knowing when to stop.” After a couple years of churning out news and features stories, my interests turned toward fiction. I thought had a novel or two in me. Oliver Wendell Holmes principal, “It is the poor man who dies with his music still inside him,” prompted me to return to college, earn my master’s in creative writing in the mid-90s and begin writing fiction. After writing several short stories, I yearned to tackle a novel.

Juanita:  Would you describe “Anne Bonney: My Pirate Story” to your readers?

Jeffery: Anne Bonney, a strong-willed and reflective young woman, is a historical figure of the early 1700s. The story dramatizes her often-troubled childhood in Ireland and the New World. Her mother dies when Anne is still young, and shortly after turning 15, she is nearly raped by a suitor. When she seeks her aristocratic father’s support she discovers he is more concerned with social reputation than her health and welfare.

In anger, she ventures into Charles Towne where she witnesses a pirate hanging and meets an indentured servant named James Bonney, who plans to turn pirate. After a few weeks of becoming acquainted she capriciously elopes with him and they sail for the pirate-infested waters of the Caribbean. What follows is an amazing adventure of the body and soul, which includes Anne disguising herself as a man and working alongside pirates for nearly two years aboard Calico Jack Rackham’s sloop as the crew pillages ships along the Spanish Main. During her experience as a pirate, she makes a close friend, Mary Reade, struggles with her spirituality and choices and eventually experiences a transformation of the heart that helps her find peace. 

Juanita:  This book is considered a historical fiction.  How much of this story is true?

Jeffery: I plundered the local libraries for every volume on pirate history I could find. The Golden Age of Piracy and the stories of Anne Bonney, Mary Reade and Calico Jack Rackham are well documented, but I found the research is largely broad strokes with few specifics concerning what the principal characters said. So while most of the names and events are historical, what the characters thought or said in my story is a product of the creative process. While the historical documents recount Rackham’s and Reade’s last days, Anne Bonney’s are unknown. I considered various historically plausible theories before I decided which direction to take the conclusion of the novel.

Juanita:  How did you originally hear about Anne Bonney?  What was it about this story that intrigued you enough to write a book around her?

Jeffery: About a dozen years ago, I was sitting in bed with my son Calvin and reading him bedtime stories. We were reading about the colorful pirates of antiquity and I came across a snippet about Anne Bonney. Curiosity got the better of me. After I tucked my boy into bed, I went downstairs and started web search. Anne’s story captured my imagination and stayed with me for years. I thought it had rich themes, intriguing plot twists and a modern quality. Health issues in my family caused significant delays in finding the motivation and time to write the novel, but each year I would tell the story to my AP Literature students, which kept the story alive for me. They encouraged me to put it down on paper. Meanwhile, my wife nudged me frequently — expressing the idea of finishing the book for the sake of leaving a legacy.

Juanita:  Anne was quite an enigma for the 1700’s. Would you give us some background into who Anne was?

Jeffery: Indeed she was. An illegitimate child and misbegotten aristocrat, a teenage runaway who eloped with an indentured servant, a woman who disguised herself as a man and lived as a pirate for nearly two years. She didn’t seem to fit neatly into any particular society, and yet she adapted to a diverse array of stations and situations. After her capture and imprisonment, her life disappears off the historical radar screen. Likely, she was ransomed by her wealthy father William McCormac and returned to a more civil life in America.

Juanita: Where did this story take place, and why was Anne compelled to become a pirate?

Jeffery: She spent the first 8 years of her life in Cork, Ireland before sailing with her family to the aristocratic part of Charles Towne, South Carolina. When she turned 15, she became an object of desire — for her beauty and family background. But after a traumatizing yet empowering incident in which she was nearly raped by a suitor, she decided to search elsewhere for a meaningful life. The death of her mother, tensions with her father, and the social expectations of the aristocratic life prompted her to elope with James Bonney, an indentured servant, who had romanticized visions of becoming a pirate.

Anne and James travel to New Providence, an island in the Bahamas, which is known as a piratical paradise. But the island proved a cesspool of disease, drunkenness and barbarity. Anne felt like a target amidst the pirates and her husband proves spineless among the rogues. One day Anne donned male clothing, wondering if she could effectively pass herself off as a man and free herself from the constant lewd comments and lascivious touches she had to endure. It worked so well Anne began to routinely dress as a man. About this time, Calico Jack Rackham sailed into the harbor. Anne, an impulsive and flighty girl of 17, fell for Rackham and left her husband. James, who worked as a spy for the British government, complained to the authorities and they threatened to arrest Anne if she didn’t return to her husband. Anne convinced Rackham to let her join his crew and sail upon the high seas.

Juanita:  What was daily life like for Anne on the pirate ship?  How did she manage to fool her shipmates into thinking she was a man?

Jeffery: Besides the sailing and repairing, the cooking and cleaning, the seeking and taking of prizes, Anne would have had a few other challenges to overcome. Going to the bathroom, for example, usually meant standing or sitting on a board, which protruded out over the stern of the ship. Women disguised as men sometimes used a tube when urinating in order to stand and simulate a man. Dealing with menstruation required finding a private place onboard — someplace in the bilge. Women would tightly wrap their breasts and create reasons for not shedding their shirts even on the hottest of days. It had to have been a pretty gritty existence.

Juanita:  Jeffery, who are the other characters that are significant to this story?

Jeffery: Mary Reade, Calico Jack Rackham, Woodes Rogers, William McCormac and Edward Brannan. Each character provides texture to the plot, perspective for Anne to consider and interaction for Anne to contend with or relish in. Those who have reader my book often speak with fondness of Edward’s love and support, and the memorable bond of friendship Mary and Anne share in the story.

Juanita:  Pirates and pirate themes still captivate audiences today.  Why do you think this is, and how real is the true-life version of pirates, as in the days of Anne Bonney, compared to the more romanticized version we associate with today?

Jeffery: One of my intents in writing the novel was to realistically portray the life of pirates. They were bands of thieves on the sea, prone to cruelty, and often quite sadistic towards their victims. Not Robin Hoods. Most were physically maimed through violence or disease. The life expectancy of a pirate was only a couple years. Today, pirate stories are mostly for children, and Hollywood definitely romanticizes their lives and minimizes their cutthroat nature. With that said, the appeal of pirates for us today works on several levels. They are the rock stars of history, the bad boys who rage against the machine, the rebels who stand up to the establishment. They are colorful personalities who bravely battle the social and legal restrictions of the day. We like the idea of rebels with style and attitude.

Juanita:  It is interesting that as a male writer, you wrote a story with a strong woman as your lead character.  Would you comment about your choice?

Jeffery: To write from the perspective of a 1700s female at first seemed a course fraught with literary peril. But after reading several novels, such as Mary Tremaine’s Restoration and Tracy Chevalier’s Girl with a Pearl Earring I began to gain confidence in my ability to write convincingly from a woman’s point of view. Of course, I turned to my wife Katherine for honest responses. She helped a great deal in clarifying the female perspective on a wide variety of experiences.

Juanita: Jeffery, how did Katherine assist in writing process?  Did you enjoy the collaboration?

Jeffery: Early on I enlisted my wife to assist me in editing scenes as well as providing her perspective. Several times she helped me understand the feminine mystique and the experience of pregnancy and childbirth. I also have to give her credit for helping me with the romantic scenes. After reading my first romantic scene, she set it down and said, “How can you leave me so unsatisfied?” At first I had to make sure she was talking about the book and not me. She shook her head and said, “MEN, THEY JUST DON’T UNDERSTAND ROMANCE” and then proceeded to help me rewrite some of the romantic scenes. Our interactions about what was a female vs. male view of romance got pretty hilarious sometimes. Katherine also has a keen sense for the consistency of character. She has always enjoyed observing people, reading stories and watching movies. She is quick to point out inconsistencies in character and offer suggestions that would have made the book or film better. I don’t believe I’ve met anyone intuitive than her. She contributed a great deal of insight to me as I developed Anne’s character from child to teen to adult. She has also been a source of continuous encouragement and support, not to mention one who has worked behind the scenes as a publicist in getting the word out to friends, family and strangers. It has been an awesome experience working alongside of her. And she has been pitching in a literary hand on my latest project as well.

Juanita:  Jeffery, what is Anne’s legacy?

Jeffery: She is the most famous of female rogues during the Golden Age of Piracy. Mine is not the only novel out there dramatizing her life. Personally, I am surprised there hasn’t been a movie made about her life.

Juanita:  As a teacher, what did you learn writing your first book that you could turn into advice for your students?

Jeffery: First and foremost, I exhort my students to read. Among my students, I see them showing more interest and time to their video games and movies than to appreciating the written word. From there, I suggest that their vision and motivation must match the time and energy they devote to their writing. Thirdly, constructive criticism must be accepted in a way that doesn’t rob them of their muse. I tell them to listen carefully to the feedback you receive, keep what is insightful and pitch what is doggerel. There are thousands of writers out there in the world; to be noticed and read requires patience and commitment to honing one’s craft.

Juanita:  I understand that “Anne Bonney: My Pirate Story” has been taken on as a screenplay project.  You must be excited, would you tell us more? 

Jeffery: A former student of mine, Tara Pinley, who earned her film degree at USC and now works as an associate producer and director of DVDs, (Double Indemnity and Poseidon), thought my novel had definite cinematic qualities. She felt the characters, time period, events and themes that could catch Hollywood’s attention, especially in light of the success of the Pirates of the Caribbean trilogy. Competition in the film world is extremely tight, but her knowledge of the film industry, her scriptwriting experience and her contacts will hopefully bring greater attention to the Anne Bonney story. Time will tell.

Juanita:  Do you have any future projects in the works?   How can readers find out more about you and your books?

Jeffery: I recently completed my second novel Redeemer. It is a psychological crime thriller set in Fresno, California where I have lived since 1967. I would describe the story as a cross between the novels of James Lee Burke and James Connelly and the film Se7en. I am currently seeking an agent to represent it. Obviously, it has nothing to do with pirates. Probably the only similarities the two books share is the extensive use of historical and literary allusions for the purposes of plot, and the fact that the main point of view character is a woman. My website is www.jefferyswilliams.com. Feel free to check out my short fiction, nonfiction, satire, plays and lesson plans. And feel free to email me.

Juanita:  Jeffery, thank you for talking with us today.  We appreciate the opportunity and thoroughly enjoyed hearing about your compelling novel “Anne Bonney: My Pirate Story.” Do you have any final thoughts you’d like to share with your readers today?

Jeffery: What’s it say in Ecclesiastes? “Be warned: the writing of many books is endless and excessive devotion to books is wearying to the body”? How’s that as a final plug for my novel? There are literally millions of books readers can choose from. The competition for the eyes, mind and time of the reader is incredibly stiff — so I want to sincerely thank those who invest their time, energy and expense into reading my work. It is flattering and humbling. And I can only hope you enjoy Anne Bonney’s story as much as I loved writing it.
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