Quarterdeck€¦ · like an A-6 Intruder catapulting off the deck of an air-craft carrier. In eighteen novels to date, Coonts chroni-

March / April 2016

QuarterdeckCELEBRATING HISTORICAL LITERATURE & ART

InsideStephen CoontsEric Jay DolinDavid DyerReviewsNew Releases

2 | Quarterdeck | March / April 2016

INTERVIEWS

5 Stephen CoontsStephen Coonts discusses his writing career, which was launched

with the publication of Flight of the Intruder.

10 Eric Jay DolanNew England author Eric Jay Dolin reveals his approach

to writing history and discusses his new book, Brilliant Beacons.

17 David DyerAustralian author David Dyer reveals the story behind

his debut novel, The Midnight Watch.

COLUMNS

3 ScuttlebuttNews from nautical and historical fiction, naval and maritime

history, maritime museums and marine art

4 By George!The Gift

DEPARTMENTS

9 ReviewThe Art of War by Stephen Coonts

16 ReviewBrilliant Beacons by Eric Jay Dolin

24 ReviewThe Midnight Watch by David Dyer

25 Sea Fiction

29 Historical Fiction

31 Sea History

ContentsM / A 2016

QuarterdeckA B-M J

Quarterdeck is published bi-monthly byTall Ships Communications

6952 Cypress Bay DriveKalamazoo, MI 49009

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EDITOR & MANAGING DIRECTORGeorge D. Jepson

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ON THE COVER:South Haven, MichiganLight during the gales

of November (photo byGeorge D. Jepson)

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T SC


New BookLaunches

2016US (United States)

UK (United Kingdom)TPB (Trade Paperback)

PB (Paperback)HB (Hardback)

EB (Ebook)NF (Nonfiction)

APRIL

The Winds of Folly (USTPB)by Seth Hunter

Brilliant Beacons (USHB)by Eric Jay Dolin

MAY

The Pride and the Anguish (USTPB)by Douglas Reeman

Valiant Ambition (USHB)by Nathaniel Philbrick

Fatal Thunder (USHBby Larry Bond

JUNE

Ice Station Nautilus (USHB)by Rick Campbell

Liberty’s Last Stand (USHB)by Stephen Coonts

JULY

A Dawn Like Thunder (USTPB)by Douglas Reeman

AUGUST

The Flag of Freedom (USTPB)by Seth Hunter

The Commodore (USHB)By P. T. Deutermann

P. T. DEUTERMANNAmerican novelist P. T. Deuter-mann’s previous novels about theUnited States Navy in World WarII – Pacific Glory, Ghosts of BungoSuido, and Sentinels of Fire – havebeen acclaimed by reviewers andreaders for their powerful dramaand authentic detail. In The Commodore, which willbe launched in August, the Navyin 1942-1943 is fighting a losingbattle against Japan for control ofthe Solomon Islands. Vice AdmiralWilliam “Bull” Halsey is taskedwith changing the course of thewar. Halsey, a maverick, goes on theoffensive and appoints a host ofnew destroyer commanders, in-cluding a wild-card named Har-mon Wolf. An American Indianfrom a Minnesota reservation,Wolf has never fit in with the tra-ditional Navy officer corps. Butunder Halsey, Wolf’s aggressivetactics and gambling nature bringimmediate results, and he is swift-

ly promoted to Commodore of anentire destroyer squadron.What happens next will changeWolf's life, career, and the fate ofhis ships forever. This epic storyof courage, disaster, survival, andtriumph culminates in the pivotalbattle of Vela Gulf.

DOUGLAS REEMANMcBooks Press will launch twonew trade paperback editions ofDouglas Reeman novels in itsModern Naval Fiction Library thisyear. The Pride and the Anguish(see page 21) will be published inApril and A Dawn Like Thunder inJuly.

ERIC JAY DOLINEric Jay Dolin, whose Brilliant Bea-cons: A History of the AmericanLighthouse (see page 12) will bepublished in April, is currentlyworking on a popular narrativehistory of America’s pirates duringthe Golden Age of Piracy, fromthe late 1600s to the mid-1720s.

SCUTTLEBUTT


ON MY DESK sits an inelegant,dark-brown brick, with achip on one corner. The re-

cent addition to the mementos in mystudy came to me as a complete sur-prise. On a snow-blown Sunday morningin December, Amy and I sat in thestands at our local ice arena watchingour eleven-year-old grandson, Nick,skate for his hockey team. As the fi-nal horn blew, signaling the end ofthe game, a couple approached us. Mike and Natalie Mason, parentsof Nick’s teammate, Sean, handedme a weighty Christmas gift bag.Inside, wrapped in red-and-greentissue, was the brick. A strange gift, you mightsay, but it immediately tugged at my heartstrings. It represented my boyhood “rock,” theschool for which I have had an abiding affectionsince a September morning in 1951. Entering the second grade that autumn, justshy of my seventh birthday, I embarked on aneight-year journey at Milwood. Dedicated teach-ers, with at least one who ruled with tough loveand an ever-ready ping pong paddle, taught usreading, writing and arithmetic and, most im-portantly for me, United States history, a subjectwhich seems to be sorely lacking in early educa-tion today. Each morning we recited the Pledge of Alle-giance, standing smartly before Old Glory.The emphasis placed on American history in myclasses ignited flames that still burn within me. Ibecame a regular in the school library, where Ifound books that related the story of our coun- CONTINUED ON PAGE 33

try. Landmark Books, an imprint of RandomHouse featuring stories about American heroesand institutions, were favorites. I read aboutGeorge Washington, Ben Franklin, John PaulJones, the Erie Canal, the Pony Express, OldIronsides, the U.S. Naval Academy and WestPoint, and much, much more. These booksmade history fun. Independent book dealer Dan Glaeser inModesto, California, says, “Landmark Books areperhaps the most sought after out-of-print chil-dren’s books by home schooling families. Writ-ten in a novelistic style, these biographies andhistories are geared for mid-range readers in fromthe third to sixth grade. I am currently trying toread the entire series and enjoying them im-mensely.”

BY GEORGE!

Th e Gift

INTERVIEW

STEPHEN COONTS

STEPHEN COONTS BURST onto the fiction scenein 1986 with the launch of Flight of the Intruder,which spent twenty-eight weeks on the New York

Times bestseller list. Three decades later, the book,which introduced young Navy Lieutenant Jake Grafton,remains in print and recently has been released in a newpaperback edition by St. Martin’s Press.

Flight of the Intruder launched Coonts’ writing careerlike an A-6 Intruder catapulting off the deck of an air-craft carrier. In eighteen novels to date, Coonts chroni-cles Grafton’s career from a young carrier pilot duringthe Vietnam conflict to a retired two-star admiral serv-ing with the CIA. Along the way, Coonts created an engaging newcharacter in Tommy Carmellini, who first appearedwith Grafton in Cuba, and eventually spun off into his

own series. In his latestnovel, The Art of War (seereview on page 9),Grafton and Carmelliniface a treacherous plot tocripple America’s navalcapabilities. Besides the Graftonand Carmellini series,Coonts co-authoredThe Deep Black seriesabout a covert CIAteam that battles badguys around the world.A science fiction seriesfeatures tales of flyingsaucers. He has also written

several other works, including Cannibal Queen, hisfirst venture into non-fiction, detailing his cross-countryflight in a 1942 Stearman open cockpit bi-plane withhis fourteen-year-old son.

The author discusses his writing career in this inter-view with Quarterdeck:

What was the spark that ignited your passion for flying?Did you always have your sights set on naval aviation?

Reading Fate Is the Hunter by Ernest K. Gann con-vinced me that flying would be a great adventure. TheNavy offered a program that would allow me to com-plete Aviation Officers Candidate School while in col-lege (the program is long gone) and guaranteed to sendme to flight school when I got my degree. So I joinedthe Naval Reserve while I was a sophomore in college.

Stephen Coonts


Phot

o by

Deb

orah

Jean

Coo

nts.

In the twentieth anniversary editionof Flight of the Intruder, you wrotein the preface that the idea for thenovel “occurred to me while I wasflying A-6 Intruder attack jets fromthe flight deck of the USS Enter-prise.” Was this the first time youhad considered writing fiction?

Essentially, yes. I quicklyfound I didn’t have the craft,nor a plot. So I scribbled atflying scenes for ten years, andfinally thought up a plot formy flying story. After a divorcein 1984, I found I had the timeand no money, so I got seriouslyinto my story.

Once the idea took hold, how longdid it take to complete the Flight ofthe Intruder manuscript? Did youhave any difficulty in finding a pub-lisher?

I had a manuscript in about sixmonths writing nights and week-ends. It was rejected by thirty-two

publishers before the U.S. NavalInstitute picked it to publish astheir second novel, after The HuntFor Red October by Tom Clancy.

Were you surprised at the over-whelming success the novel generat-ed?

Not surprised, flabbergasted.Amazed. Stunned.

Was Jake Grafton, your now well-known protagonist in Flight of theIntruder and in subsequent novels,including The Art of War, based onany one in particular from your ex-perience in the Navy?

No. He was a character I created totell Flight of the Intruder, and assuch was an amalgam of all the guysI knew in naval aviation.

At what point after Flight of the In-truder was launched did you decide

to write full-time? Had you starteda second novel?

The out-of-the-ballpark success ofFlight of the Intruder raised the pos-sibility that maybe I could write fora living. My oil company employerwas on the skids, and I was going tohave to do something to earn a liv-ing. So when they laid me off, withall 2,200 other employees, I tookmy severance pay and started

writing the book that became FinalFlight.

Once you set a course to write fulltime, did you find it difficult tocome up with new story ideas?

The difficulty is not dreamingthem up, it’s getting New Yorkpublishing editors excitedabout them. They want you todo the same book that just soldwell with different charactersand a different setting, but thesame plot, essentially the samedynamic that Hollywood pro-

ducers face. Recycle the plot. It’senough to make you tear your hairout, and I don’t have much left.

Tommy Carmellini initially ap-peared in the Jake Grafton novelsbeginning with Cuba. Why did youspin him off into his own series?

I felt like I needed a new, young,hip hero, and I wanted to try first-person narration, so Tommy was a


“. . . I scribbled at flying scenesfor ten years, and finally

thought up a plot formy flying story.”


natural counterpoint to JakeGrafton. I tried out the new formu-la in Liars and Thieves, and thoughtit worked rather well.

What was the genesis of theSaucer novels?

I needed a break from thrillers,and liked the idea of takingyou, the reader, flying in a fly-ing saucer. What would it belike? Who would the charac-ters be? What is the plot? I hada lot of fun with all three books.

The Deep Black series is writtenwith co-authors Jim DeFelice andWilliam H. Keith. How does thecollaboration work?

We did nine books, and that wasenough. I am still not sure exactlyhow we did it. I worked with thelate Martin H. Greenberg, the book

packager who invented the co-au-thored novel for Tom Clancy. Thepublishers wanted more than onebook a year, and that was the onlyfeasible way. It’s a very popular for-mat now. Clive Cussler has three orfour co-writers, and James Pattersonhas turned writing fiction into acottage industry of scribblers pro-ducing six books a year.

Once started on a novel, do youreview a previous day’s work andre-write? Do you write a certainnumber of words per day? Is theregenerally more than one completedraft?

I am not sure how I do this, either.I write scenes, with the goal of onea day. Some days I am lucky to do aparagraph; on rare occasions I get awhole chapter. Getting started isthe difficult part. I have written asmany as five beginnings for thesame novel, trying to get it right.Liberty’s Last Stand, due out on

June 13, had three beginnings andtwo endings before the publisherand I were satisfied.

How do you research your novels?

On the Internet, if possible. Askingquestions of experts, if necessary.

Do you maintain a reference li-brary?

Well, I owned ten tons of booksuntil the last move, when commonsense (and my wife) finally agreedenough was enough.

Please describe where youwrite?

At my desk in my office. Bigbook shelf, overloaded, andtwo deer and two antelopeheads. Windows. A little patiobeside it to smoke a cigar whilecontemplating my literary sins

and my toes.

What has been the greatest influ-ence in your writing career?

Fighting the war on poverty. I makemy living doing this, and likeChurchill, am always satisfied withthe best. So my wife tells me,“Write faster.”

“Some days I am lucky to do aparagraph; on rare occasions Iget a whole chapter. Gettingstarted is the difficult part.”


Do you re-read your novels? Doyou have a favorite title?

Occasionally. Not often. I knowhow they end. As for my favorite,it’s always the next one. Right nowthat is Liberty’s Last Stand, out onJune 13, 2016.

What’s next for Jake Graftonand Tommy Carmellini?

They save the nation in Liber-ty’s Last Stand, which may wellbe the most politically incor-rect book of the twenty-firstcentury. I found out that mak-ing good action-adventure out ofpolitics is a rough road to drive,which is probably why so few writ-ers try it.

When you look back over your ca-reer, is there one moment thatstands out as having been particu-larly exhilarating?

Holding the first copy of Flight of

the Intruder in my hands, with myname on the dust jacket, did it forme. I was hooked. I decided thenand there that I would do this aslong as I could make enough moneyto eat. So far, so good.

Name three historic figures, livingor dead, with whom you would en-joy chatting over dinner.

George Washington, Abraham Lin-coln and U.S. Grant. And Jesus, ifhe could spare the time.

Is there anything else you wouldlike to share with our readers?

Reading fiction is the way we liveadventures that won’t fit into ourlives. Books allow you to swingthrough the jungle with Tarzan,float down the Mississippi withHuck Finn, fly jet fighters with JakeGrafton, fight sea battles on wood-en ships in the age of sail, fly space-ships between the stars, solve

mysteries with Hercule Poirot andChief Superintendent Maigret, out-shoot the bad guys on a dusty west-ern street, and (for those soinclined) have fantastic romanceswith rich, hunky men, all withoutleaving your armchair. You can doS&M, save the planet from aliens orevil politicians, be an alien or evilpolitician, or fight to the death withcreatures that live in the sewers and

come out only at night to eat dogsand children. In fiction, anything ispossible. I feel sorry for people whotell me they don’t read fiction. They are missing entire worlds. Fiction is the most personal ofthe art forms. It is the only artform that takes place between your

ears and nowhere else. Youread the words and see thecharacters, the scene and theaction. The story is merely inksymbols on paper or symbolson a computer screen, and theystimulate your brain. A writerwrites not for theater audiencesor to create something for a

museum, but just for you in a one-on-one relationship, trying to stim-ulate your imagination with thoselittle symbols. Kinda cool, isn’t it?

“Holding the first copy of Flightof the Intruder in my hands,

with my name on the dust jack-et, did it for me. I was hooked.”

Visit Stephen Coonts onlineat: www.coonts.com or on

Facebook.

www.coonts.com

REVIEW

THE CHINESE DRAGON isflexing its muscles in theSouth China Sea, alarming

American allies, while quietlylaunching a sinister operationagainst the United States. As usual, Stephen Coonts’ fictiondoes not stray far from reality. It’sno secret that China seeks to stiffenits territorial claims by constructingislands in waters far off its owncoast, including areas claimed byVietnam and the Philippines.

The Art of War is Coonts’ latestthriller featuring retired U.S. Navytwo-star Admiral Jake Grafton, andCIA operative Tommy Carmellini. When the director of the CIA isassassinated early on a Saturdaymorning at his cottage on the East-ern Shore of Maryland, the presi-dent appoints Grafton interimdirector. Two more high-level murdersand the crash of Air Force One haveofficial Washington spinning. Graf-ton is uncertain who to trust, otherthan Carmellini. Precautions toprotect the new interim directorand his wife, Callie, are taken, withthe motive behind the killings any-thing but clear. Meanwhile, Chinese agents im-bed a nuclear bomb near the U.S.Naval base at Norfolk, with theknowledge that five Atlantic Fleet

aircraft carriers are scheduled tomake a port call over the Christmasholiday. It’s an opportunity for an-other Pearl Harbor, crippling Amer-ica’s naval capabilities. If all goes well, China will be ableto deny involvement by creating theillusion that a tragic accident causedthe blast aboard a U.S. Ship, assur-ing that America will never be thesame again. Coonts is at his riveting best, in-volving the reader in an internation-

al race against a ticking clock, as aweapon of mass destruction layshidden. While Grafton and Car-mellini work feverishly to solve amurder mystery, they have no ideathat a catastrophic event of unbe-lievable magnitude is fast approach-ing. Whose fingerprints are on thekillings and the downing of thepresident’s plane? Russia? China? Itmakes little sense, but when Car-mellini connects with a Russiancontact in Zurich, Grafton sensesthe real possibility of a nuclearthreat. A cold-blooded killer is on theloose. Two seemingly innocentChinese men spend their days fish-ing from a small boat within sightof Naval Base Norfolk and the ship-yard at Newport News. High rank-ing Chinese officials in Beijingobserve everything from afar. In Washington, Jake and Tom-my connect the dots, while some-one within the government clearlywants the investigation to fail, sacri-ficing the lives of millions. Once again, Stephen Coonts as-serts his mastery of the thrillergenre, with lively page-turningprose, punctuated with shockingtwists and turns, that are certain tokeep reading lights burning late in-to the night.

THE CHINESE DRAGONby George Jepson


THE ART OF WARSt. Martin’s Press, $27.99,

U.S. Hardback /$14.99, Kindle and NOOK


ERIC JAY DOLINby George Jepson

I , E J D has written threesignificant works of American history – Leviathan: TheHistory of Whaling in America; Fur, Fortune, and Empire:

The Epic History of the Fur Trade in America; and WhenAmerica First met China: An Exotic History of Tea, Drugs, andMoney in the Age of Sail. In April, Dolin’s latest work, Brilliant Beacons: A History ofthe American Lighthouse (see review on page 11) will bepublished by Liveright Publishing (an imprint of W. W.Norton). The award-winning author, who lives in Marblehead,Massachusetts, with his wife and children, discusses thewinding road to his writing career, as well as the story behindBrilliant Beacons, in this interview with Quarterdeck:

You studied biology and marine ecology at Brown University.

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Massachusetts-based author Eric Jay Dolin

INTERVIEW


What sparked your interest inAmerican history?

I have always loved stories about thepast, especially early sea voyages andthe travels of explorers. However,my main interest throughoutschool, and for most of my career,was marine biology and theenvironment. Besides my sciencedegree from college, I have amaster’s degree in environmentalmanagement from the Yale Schoolof Forestry and EnvironmentalStudies, and a PhD in environ-mental policy from MIT. I havealso held a variety of environ-mentally-related jobs, includingstints as a fisheries policy analyst atthe National Marine FisheriesService, a program manager at theU.S. Environmental ProtectionAgency, an environmentalconsultant stateside and in London,an American Association for theAdvancement of Sciencewriting fellow at Business Week,a curatorial assistant in theMollusk Department atHarvard’s Museum ofComparative Zoology, and anintern at the National WildlifeFederation, the MassachusettsOffice of Coastal ZoneManagement, and in the U.S.Senate. Throughout my educational andprofessional career, one thingremained constant – I enjoyedwriting and telling stories. Whileworking on my dissertation (on therole of the judiciary in cleaning upBoston Harbor), I realized I had themost fun researching and writingabout the long history of thedegradation and cleanup of BostonHarbor. I was less interested in the

policy issues and thetesting of hypothesesrelated to how the courtsand the governmentworked or didn’t work.About that time, in themid-1990s, I startedwriting books thatfocused on history,while at the same timeworking full-time. In2007, I quit my dayjob and became a full-time writer of historybooks, which Icouldn’t have donewithout theunreserved supportof my wife andfamily. That’s a long wayof saying that thereis no one thing thatsparked my interest in history.Instead, slowly over time, I realized

that history, especially Americanhistory, is the topic that fascinatedme the most.

Was Leviathan: The History ofWhaling in America your first forayinto writing history?

Leviathan (2007) was my firsthistory book with a majorpublisher, but before it came out Ihad written eight books, all which

focused on history one way oranother. My earlier books ranged

from the Smithsonian Book ofNational Wildlife Refuges andThe Duck Stamp Story: Art-Conservation-History, to a bookthat has a ridiculously longsubtitle: Political Waters: TheLong, Dirty, Contentious,Incredibly Expensive butEventually Triumphant Historyof Boston Harbor – A Unique

Environmental Success Story. By theway, that subtitle was the editor’sidea.

What drew you to maritime-relatedhistorical topics in your recentbooks, from Leviathan to BrilliantBeacons: A History of the AmericanLighthouse?

My interest in maritime history is adirect outgrowth of my love for the

“Leviathan was my first historybook with a major publisher,but before it came out I had

written eight books . . .”


ocean. I grew up near the coasts ofNew York and Connecticut, andsince an early age, the natural worldfascinated me, especially the saltierrealms. I spent many dayswandering the beaches on the edgeof Long Island Sound and theAtlantic, collecting seashells andexploring tide pools. When I left forcollege I wanted to become amarine biologist or, morespecifically, a malacologist (seashellscientist). At college I quicklyrealized that although I lovedlearning about science, I wasn’t cutout for a career in science, mainlybecause I wasn’t very good in thelab, and I didn’t particularly enjoyreading or writing scientific researchpapers. So, I shifted course to studyenvironmental policy. However, mylove of the ocean remained, andthat, more than anything else, iswhat pointed me in the direction ofmaritime history. I came up with the idea forLeviathan just after my familymoved from a suburb ofWashington D.C. toMarblehead, Massachusetts. Ihad recently finished my bookon Boston Harbor, and Iwanted to write another bookthat had something to do withthe ocean, especially since I wasnow living in a coastal townwith a wonderful maritime history.I got the idea for Leviathan from alarge, oval box in my house, whichis painted with a primitive,powerful whaling scene. The imageshows a whaleship with its sailsunfurled, three whaleboats filledwith men, and two whales whoappear to be unnaturally buoyant,seemingly floating on top of thewaves. Many times, I gazed at that

painting and wondered what it waslike actually to go whaling. Ithought it would great fun to writea book on whaling, and it was. For the lighthouse book, theinspiration was different from thatfor my other books. It wasn’t myidea. I was casting around for a

book topic, and had submitted afew to my editor at Liveright (animprint of W. W. Norton), but hewasn’t particularly enamored withany of them. While I wasgenerating more ideas, my editorand the head of sales and marketingfor Norton asked me if I would beinterested in writing a book on thehistory of American lighthouses. Iwasn’t sure, since I knew almost

nothing about lighthouses. So, Iwent off for about a month, read abunch of books on lighthouses, andfell in love with the history; then, Isubmitted a brief proposal, and thebook was born. Although I prefercoming up with my own ideas, I amvery thankful that my editor and

the head of sales gave me thisgift.

Do you consider yourself ahistorian or writer first?

Even though many people referto me as a historian, and I havewon a few history book prizes,

I sometimes have a tough timecalling myself a historian, since Iusually associate that word withpeople who have a Ph.D. in history(and, of course, more than a fewPh.D. historians would no doubtalso find it difficult to call me ahistorian, as some of them have toldme over the years). However, in thebroader sense of someone whowrites about history, then, of

Boston Light engraving, circa 1729, from Brilliant Beacons

“I got the idea for Leviathanfrom a large, oval box in my

house, which is painted with a . . . powerful whaling scene.”


course, I am a historian. Still, Ithink of myself more as a storytellerand a writer who happens to lovetelling stories about history.

How did you research BrilliantBeacons? How much time elapsedfrom the project’s onset and writingthe first words?

I work on books iteratively,researching then writing, thenresearching again and writing, untilI finish the book. I begin withchapter one (the intro always comeslast), and then keep on going untilthe last chapter, doing each onesequentially. It is not completelylinear, however, and I often go backand forth, adding to or cuttingfrom chapters for which Ialready have a rough draft. ForBrilliant Beacons, I beganwriting the first chapter aboutsix months after I signed thebook contract. A little less thana year later, I finished themanuscript to the point that itwas ready to be sent to reviewers. Inother words, it took me abouteighteen months to research andwrite the book.

Has your approach to researchchanged since you began writing?

I have tried to become moreselective. With all my books, sincethey cover so many years and somuch history, the biggest potentialproblem is being overwhelmed withsources. The greatest difficulty,therefore, is figuring out what Ineed to read to tell the story I wantto tell. With practice, I have gottenbetter at deciding what to read, andwhat to ignore. However, I still end

up reading a lot that is notparticularly useful in the end. Otherthan that, my approach to researchhas stayed pretty much the same. Istill try to read the classics orseminal works in an area first, thenbranch off from there, always onthe lookout for interesting andunusual stories.

Do you have a regular writingroutine? Are you a rapid writer?

I don’t think I am a fast writer, butI am not a slow writer, either. Iguess that I am average, although Idon’t say that with muchconviction since I know very littleabout how fast or slow other people

write. As for a writing routine, theonly constants are that I listen toclassical music and do almost all mywriting in my home office – I neverhave been able to write at a libraryor a coffee shop. I try to write everyday during the week, and usuallypart of the weekend. Some days, Iwork for long stretches, and otherdays, I work in shorter bursts. Everyweekday during the school year, Iam on kid duty, picking them up atschool or shuttling them toactivities, although this will soonend, with my daughter havingbegun college this year, and my sonhaving only a bit more than twoyears until he too leaves home. So,in the near future, I will have more

time to devote to writing. Sometimes, my writing reallyflows, and I can pump out a lot ofpages, but other times I struggleover a few sentences or paragraphs.I do, however, try to end each dayof writing with a good idea of whereI am heading, and I even like tohave some rough notes or guidesthat make the first few sentence ofthe following day not that difficultto envision. That way, I can startwork the next day with somemomentum, feeling good. All I said above applies to mywriting life since 2007, when Ibecame a full-time writer. Beforethat, I always had a full-time job,and had to fit in writing when I

could. Most often this meantwaking up at three or four inthe morning, and writingbefore going to work, and thenwriting again at night, andduring the one day of theweekend my wife gave me todo nothing but write. When Iwas with the government, I

used flex-time, working longer daysso that I could take off one dayevery two weeks to write, and notlose pay. And for a short stretch, Ihad a very supportive boss who letme take one day a week off withoutpay to write, but that ended whenthe head of the agency found outabout it.

Was it difficult finding your writingvoice? Has it evolved from book tobook?

I know this is not a particularlygood answer, but I have no ideawhere my writing voice came from,or exactly what it is. I write the wayI speak, and many people have said

“I work on books iteratively, re-searching then writing, re-

searching again and writing,until I finish the book.”


my writing has a conversationaltone. Perhaps I shouldn’t admitthis, but the last English class Itook was in high school, and Ihave never taken a writingclass. My writing skills, such asthey are, were built up overyears of doing research papers,and writing a lot of articles fornewspapers and magazines,both at the schools I attended,and for outside publications. IfI had to do it all over again, I wouldhave taken more English classes,and a few on writing. In the end,however, forging ahead and writingarticles and books, getting feedbackfrom reviewers and good editors,and critically looking at my ownwork are the elements that havehelped me develop as a writer. I’mnot sure my fundamental voice haschanged that much from book to

book, but I know that thefluidity and quality of myprose has improved overtime. However, I still havea long way to go.

Do you have others readyour manuscript draft asyour work progresses?

My wife, Jennifer, is myfirst reader, and shereads each chapter whenI have a complete roughdraft. For some of myearlier books, I sentchapters to my dad,but he is no longercapable of being areviewer. Once I finishthe entire manuscript,I send it out to a small

group of people (usually threeto five) who are knowledgeableabout the topic. I also typically askmy mother-in-law, and sometimes a

friend or two, to take a look. OnceI incorporate comments from thesereviewers, I submit the manuscriptto my publisher.

Which do you enjoy more, researchor writing?

Usually research, because I enjoytracking down sources, learningabout the topic, and just takingnotes without the pressure of

crafting sentences, or organizing mythoughts. And I also like thesurprises along the way, whether itis an exciting quote, or aparticularly good story. I findwriting more difficult, although Ienjoy it too, especially when I get tothe point that I really like what Ihave written, and it reads smoothly.That’s a great feeling.

Do you have a personal researchlibrary? Does it grow with eachsucceeding project?

Since I almost always pick booktopics about which I know verylittle, I have to do a lot of researchjust to get the point that I amcomfortable telling the story. Tohelp me get to that point, I typicallycreate my own personal researchlibrary, which usually is betweenforty and eighty books, which areall related to the book’s topic. Manyof the books are out-of-print, and I

order them on-line or buythem at used bookstores; othersI buy new. I keep these booksin my office, and refer to themoften. Of course, I also takemany books out of arealibraries, and I make great useof Google books and theHathiTrust to read digitized

versions of old books. There are a lot of books in myhouse and not a lot of space. So,when I am done with a book, Idonate most of my research libraryif I can, only holding onto thebooks that are classics or the ones Ienjoyed the most and might wantto refer to again one day. ForLeviathan, and Fur, Fortune, andEmpire, for example, I was able todonate most of my whaling and fur

“Since I almost always pickbook topics about which I know

very little, I have to doa lot of research . . .”

trade books to the MassachusettsHistorical Society, where manypeople can benefit from them.

Are you able to set a manuscriptaside while you’re working on it oris it always in your subconscious?

I can set it aside, for example, if I goon vacation or have to do another,shorter project, but even while I amnot physically working on the book– researching or writing – I willoften think about it. Sometimes,while musing, I will come up with agood idea or sentence that willcause me to rush to get a pen andpaper to write it down.

Why did you settle your familyin Marblehead?

Jenn grew up here, her parentsare still in the area, and we loveit here. Even when we movedto D.C., then Maryland, after Igot my doctorate, we alwaysknew we would end up inMarblehead. And this is where wewill stay. My two kids love it aswell.

What sort of reader were you as aboy? Are there childhood books andauthors that have remained withyou over the years?

I wasn’t much of a reader, andwhen I did read for fun I readcomics and books and articles aboutmarine biology, shells, sharks andother ocean creatures. One of myfavorite books was The Kingdom ofthe Seashell by R. Tucker Abbott. Ialso remember greatly enjoyingmany of Jacques Cousteau’s books,including The Silent World. In fact,

if you had asked me when I was tenyears old what I wanted to be whenI grew up I would have said anocean explorer like Cousteau.

Do you read only books or articlesthat are relevant to your research?Do you read fiction?

Since I pick topics I am unfamiliarwith, out of necessity, most of myreading is related to what I amworking on at the moment, so thatI can learn what I need to know.One pleasant exception is whenpeople send me books to blurb;almost all these are histories. I alsoread books for pleasure, mainlynonfiction, but not nearly as often

as I would like. Although I enjoyfiction, I rarely get a chance to readit. I realize that is probably not agreat thing to admit when beingprofiled in a publication devoted tohistorical fiction, but it’s true. Whoknows, maybe someday, I will startreading more fiction, and maybeeven write a book of historicalfiction myself.

What is the last book that you readfor enjoyment?

The last two were Far From theTree: Parents, Children and theSearch for Identity by AndrewSolomon and, in a lighter vein,

Smoke Gets In Your Eyes: And OtherLessons from the Crematory byCaitlin Doughty.

Who are writers you most admire?

I admire virtually all writers,because I think it takes a fair bit ofcourage and determination to writeand put your work out there foranyone to read, but some of thewriters I particularly admire areSamuel Eliot Morison, Erik Larson,Robert Carse and DavidMcCullough.

What do you plan to read next?

Captain Kidd and the War Againstthe Pirates, by Robert Ritchie.

Are there books in your librarythat you find yourself returningto again and again?

Morison’s The MaritimeHistory of Massachusetts;America and The Sea: A

Maritime History by Benjamin W.Labaree et al; and Oxford’s Atlas ofthe World and Atlas of WorldHistory.

Name three historic figures, livingor dead, whom you would enjoychatting with over dinner.

Samuel Eliot Morison (I would askhim how he knew so much, andcould write so fast, so well);Theodore Roosevelt; and Rachel


“I admire virtually all writers . . . it takes a fair bit of courage

and determination to . . . putyour work out there . . . ”

Visit Eric Jay Dolin online at:ericjaydolin.com

L IGHTHOUSES ALONG America’ssaltwater and Great Lakes coastshave warned mariners about

hidden dangers close to shore since thefirst Boston Light was raised on LittleBrewster Island at the entrance to Bos-ton Harbor in 1716. Early seafarers learned that the closerto shore, the greater that the dangerwas, as they sailed the seven seas andAmerica’s Sweetwater Seas. Rockyshoals, sandbars, shallows and ship-wrecks lurked beneath the water’s sur-face, while fog, smoke from forest firesand stormy weather reduced visibility. Until Boston Light was erected,there were no formal navigation aids inthe British colonies that would becomethe United States. Ship masters hadonly their experience, untrustworthycharts and intuition on which to rely astheir vessels approached land. In Brilliant Beacons: A History ofAmerican Lighthouses, author Eric JayDolin chronicles the evolution of themaritime icons. These unique struc-tures served sailors well into the twenti-eth century. Although lighthouses have largelybeen replaced by the Global Position-ing System (GPS), they remain“among the most beloved and romanti-cized structures in the American land-scape,” says Dolin. “It is not difficultto find evidence of their hold on thepublic’s imagination.” Even as they have become obsoletein the face of new technology, millionsvisit lighthouses every year. Civic

minded groups raise funds to save, andrehabilitate, the lights which are on theverge of succumbing to the harsh ele-ments to which they have been exposedover decades. Dolin’s narrative relates the develop-ment of America’s picturesque coastalbeacons to young America’s evolutionfrom colonial times to independenceand beyond, providing a pleasurableand captivating history lesson. Through extensive and detailed re-search, Dolin dug up nuggets of histor-ical detail behind the very humanstories created by the men, women and

events that surrounded each light. During the American Revolution,War of 1812 and Civil War, lights be-came the targets of belligerents on bothsides as a means of affecting navigation.Destruction of lights was done withoutregard for the toll that might be takenon the lives of mariners. Lighthouse keepers – both men andwomen – were primarily charged withmaintaining the beacons and assuringthat they were in working order and lit.This was an arduous and often riskyventure, especially during inclementweather. Lighthouse keepers often becameheroes. In September 1858, for in-stance, 15-year-old Ida Lewis was per-forming the keeper’s duties at LimeRock Lighthouse off Newport, RhodeIsland, for her father, who was crippledfrom a stroke. Spying four boys on theverge of drowning when their sailboatoverturned in rough seas, she rowed totheir rescue in her small skiff.

Brilliant Beacons is chock full ofcompelling stories, chronicling earlyefforts to fund and construct lighthous-es across America, wartime raids, andthe eventual organization of the UnitedStates Lighthouse Service. Sifting through old newspapers,lighthouse logs, journals and other ar-chival material, Eric Dolin has com-piled a shining account of America’slife-saving beacons. Whether you are alighthouse buff or a student of Ameri-can history, this remarkable volume isto be savored again and again.

BRILLIANT BEACONSLiveright Publishing, $29.95,

U.S. Hardback /$14.16, Kindle / $14.99, NOOK

AMERICA’S MARITIME ICONSby George Jepson


REVIEW

DAVID DYERby George Jepson

A USTRALIAN NOVELIST DAVID DYER’S passionfor the star-crossed liner RMS Titanic datesback to his boyhood in Shellharbour, a small

coastal town New South Wales. The saga of the majestic ship and her tragic demise inthe North Atlantic on April 14, 1912, has pulled Dyerto various Titanic-related locations around the world insearch of the facts and documentation encompassingthe great drama performed at sea. Dyer’s professional career – as an officer – in the Aus-tralian merchant navy and as a litigation lawyer in thefirm that represented the Titanic’s owners after the di-saster has given him a rare insight into the ship’s briefhistory, which still resonates a century later. On April 5, St. Martin’s Press will launch Dyer’s de-but novel, The Midnight Watch (see review on page 19).The plot approaches the Titanic disaster from the per-spective of officers aboard the SS Californian, who ob-

Australian novelist David Dyer

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RMS Titanic departing South Hampton on April 10, 1912

served Titanic’s distress rockets, butdid not respond. Dyer shares the story behind TheMidnight Watch and his life-longfascination with the ship in this in-terview:

What originally sparked your inter-est in the events surroundingthe Titanic tragedy?

When I was a young child, per-haps four or five years old, Iwatched the classic Titanic filmA Night to Remember on televi-sion at my grandmother’shouse. I was hooked. Thatship! Its four tall funnels, slenderhull and luxurious interiors fascinat-ed me. I was enthralled too by theway the ship sank – the water inex-orably filling one watertight com-partment and then the next, thebow settling inch by inch into ablack and calm sea. I still think thescene where the Titanic’s three mas-

sive propellers rear slowly out of thewater is one of the most dramatic inall of cinema. That image says tome: the people on this ship are indeep trouble! Throughout my childhood Idrew pictures of the ship, wrote sto-ries about it and made models of it.

I would sink toy ships in bathtubsand swimming pools, with my petmice acting as passengers. (Theywere always safely rescued in theend.) I tilted my bed by placingbooks under one side so that Icould fall asleep imagining I was onthe sinking liner. As I grew older, I became in-

trigued by the human aspects of theTitanic’s story. It seemed to me thathistory and fate had conspired toput together all the elements of agreat drama: the largest ship in theworld on her maiden voyage, a pas-senger list of the rich and famous, asilent iceberg ready and waiting to

punish hubris. The sea was aflat calm, like a giant stage, andthe brilliantly-lit Titanic sankslowly, allowing time for tests,dramas and moral dilemmas tobe played out on her decks.These are the features of thestory that everyone knows: theship’s musicians showing their

courage by playing until the veryend, the cowardly chairman of theline sneaking into a lifeboat, JohnJacob Astor bidding farewell to hispregnant wife, the elderly MrsStraus standing back with her hus-band rather than saving herself. But what is less well known isthat this piece of mid-Atlantic high

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“In London I visited the samedocks in Woolwich from which

the Californian departed onGood Friday, 1912 . . .”

theatre did in fact have an audience.The Titanic was being watched,very carefully and thoughtfully, bythe officers of a nearby ship. Theycould not hear the Titanic’s desper-ate radio messages – their own wire-less operator was asleep – but theycould see her distress rockets clearlyenough. Eight rockets werefired and seen, but nothing wasdone. Why? What happenedon that ship that night? It was this puzzle that, inrecent years, I set out to solve.

What had you written prior toThe Midnight Watch?

Over the course of my life I havewritten many academic articles andessays – and hundreds of legal ad-vices – but The Midnight Watch ismy first novel. Or, to put it moreaccurately, my first published novel,because while in grade four I didwrite a six-page “novel” entitled,

unsurprisingly, Titanic’s Disaster. Insubsequent years at school I wroteother pieces about the Titanic – infact, that’s all I wrote about. In onenotable case, I submitted a Geogra-phy assignment on ‘The Tundra,’which gave one page of superficialinformation about tundra land-

scapes in arctic regions, and thenpointed out that arctic regions alsoproduced icebergs! There then fol-lowed a twenty page appendix de-scribing in dramatic detail what aniceberg did to the Titanic. Eventually, I was banned alto-gether from writing about the Ti-tanic. So, of course, I turned to the

Lusitania. Then the Empress of Ire-land disaster. And then plane crash-es.

Was The Midnight Watch your firstattempt at writing fiction?

The Midnight Watch was my firstserious attempt at writing fic-tion for publication. I had writ-ten some pieces during myEnglish studies at university inSydney, and had attendedsome creative writing work-shops during my years in Lon-don, but nothing much cameof it. The workshops were not

always useful. I found they oftendrifted on aimlessly while peoplerecited poems about sitting in darkrooms with upturned bottles ofvodka, or read stories about seedyencounters in supermarket carparks. I began several pieces, butnever finished them. Demands ofwork and everyday living took up


The SS Californian was within site of RMS Titanic, as the liner slowly sank on April 14, 1912.

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“Eventually, I was banned alto-gether from writing about theTitanic. So, of course, I turned

to the Lusitania . . .”

too much energy. I later realizedthat to write – to really write – Iwould need very deliberately tocarve out the time and space to doit.

Your interest in the Titanic tragedycovered many years. At what pointdid you decide to write your novel?

In the late 1990s, while working atthe London legal practice Hill Tay-lor Dickinson (whose parent firm,coincidentally, represented the Ti-tanic’s owners back in 1912), I be-gan to develop an interest in “theCalifornian incident,” the story ofthe ship that saw the Titanic’s dis-tress rockets, but did not go to therescue. This interest quicklybecame an obsession, and themore I researched, the morepuzzled I became. HerbertStone, the officer on the Cali-fornian’s bridge who saw therockets, was reliable, diligentand sober. Captain Lord, whowas woken by Stone and toldabout the rockets, was a young andcapable commander, one of hiscompany’s very best. So why didthey do nothing? Eventually I dis-covered that the story of the Cali-fornian was one of complexpsychologies, tragic errors and terri-ble guilt.

Once you decided to write TheMidnight Watch, how did you pro-ceed to develop your storyline? Wasadditional research required beyondwhat you already knew?

My decision to write a book aboutthe Californian affair was the begin-ning, not the end, of a very longresearch journey. I had already read

many books and much of the tran-script of the American and Britishinquiries, but I knew I needed to domore. To achieve what Australianauthor Kristel Thornell calls “narra-tive telepathy” with Captain Lord,Herbert Stone and the other histori-cal figures of the story, I had to gowhere they had gone, and see whatthey had seen. In London I visitedthe same docks in Woolwich fromwhich the Californian departed onGood Friday, 1912; in Liverpool, Iwalked the streets that CaptainLord and Herbert Stone had walkedand visited the addresses where theyhad lived. Some buildings from1912 still remained, including thepretty clubhouse of the Wallasey

Golf Club, of which Lord was amember (but “only for the game,”he once said, “not its social side”). Iwondered what it had been like forLord to play golf with men whoknew what the American and Brit-ish inquiries had said about him:that he could have saved everyonewho died on the Titanic. Howcould he have lived with the shameand guilt of it all? In Boston I took a tour of theharbor and saw the wharves whereCaptain Lord’s ship arrived onlydays after the Titanic had sunk, andwhere he and his men faced the in-quisitive Boston press. In NewYork, I visited the building at No. 9Broadway, which once housed the

White Star offices, and I imaginedPhilip Franklin, vice president ofthe line, standing on its steps to an-nounce to the world that themighty Titanic had sunk. In all of these places I visited li-braries and searched newspaper ar-chives, and slowly, surely I began toarrive at the truth. Finally, and perhaps most impor-tantly of all, I traveled to the Titan-ic wreck site itself on the FredOlsen liner Balmoral. At 2:20 AM

on 15 April 2012, one hundredyears to the minute after the Titanicsank, I stared over the side of ourship into the water. The wreck wasdirectly beneath me, and the seawas as calm as it had been on the

night of the disaster. The waterwas black and cold, it was atthat moment that I truly un-derstood what was at stake inthe Californian’s story. Fifteenhundred people froze to deathin this water, including morethan fifty children. It musthave been terrifying. And they

all died within sight of the lights ofthe Californian, tantalizingly close.

At the end of all this research Ihad a mountain of material. Howto arrange it all? How to thread itthrough with a coherent and com-pelling narrative? In the end mysolution was to invent a narrator toact as my proxy in the novel: anewspaper man who encounters theCalifornian’s men in Boston andknows that something strange lurksbehind their blank faces. This al-lowed me to structure my materialas a detective story in which, as IanMcEwan puts it in one of my favor-ite novels (Atonement), “like police-men in a search team, we go onhands and knees and crawl toward


“My decision to write a bookabout the Californian affair wasthe beginning, not the end, of a

very long research journey.”

in detail. It was only when I learnedthe difficult art of leaving things out– and freeing myself from the facts– that I found an effective writingvoice. I also learned another importantlesson: have faith in your reader.You don’t have to spell everythingout. Readers are clever: they candeduce things for themselves andreach their own conclusions. Theysoon tire of an author who is forev-er interpreting things for them andbossing them about.

Did you bounce your manuscriptdraft off anyone as you wrote?

As I was writing The Midnight

Watch I was lucky enough to haveinput from two wonderful Austra-lian writers, Delia Falconer andDebra Adelaide. I bounced mymanuscript off them often, and itwould sometimes come back in avery different shape indeed. I also showed early drafts tofriends, and discovered that oftenFriend A disliked the very thingthat Friend B loved the most. Therewas much disagreement, for exam-ple, about the novel’s controversialpenultimate chapter. All I could dowas listen carefully to all advice giv-en, and then make a decision basedon my own artistic vision and judg-ment.

the truth.”

Do you consider yourself a historianor writer first?

I consider myself a writer first, Iguess. I have a doctorate in the cre-ative arts, but no formal academictraining in history. It would bewrong to call myself a historian,although I do know quite a bitabout the Titanic.

Do you have a regular writing rou-tine? Are you a rapid writer?

A regular writing routine? If only! Iam a very undisciplined writer.When I was working on The Mid-night Watch I would sometimeswrite two thousand words aday or more; but at other timesI would write nothing forweeks. YouTube is my greatenemy: it’s very difficult to dothe hard work of writing whenfunny cats, crashing cars, newsbloopers and 747 takeoffs areonly a click away. My consolation is that I am a fasttypist. During long sea voyages Itaught myself to touch type, and Iam very glad I did. When ideascome, my fingers fly!

Your prose is extremely distinctive,with a lyrical quality. Was it diffi-cult finding your writing voice?

Finding the right narrative voicewas one of the key challenges of thiswhole project. Because I knew somany facts about the Californianincident, I found it difficult to resistthe temptation to show off thatknowledge in my novel. The resultwas not pretty. The story drowned

Did you rewrite sections of yourmanuscript as your work proceed-ed?

Yes. Absolutely. Almost every sen-tence of The Midnight Watch hasbeen revised and rewritten. Andsome large parts of early drafts havebeen thrown out altogether. Sir Ar-thur Quiller-Couch famously ad-vised authors to “murder theirdarlings,” Well, I have murderedentire chapters. For example, Iwrote some early chapters aboutPhilip Franklin, vice-president ofthe International Mercantile Ma-rine, owners of the Titanic. Theywere based on meticulous researchand were, no doubt, fascinating.

But they didn’t fit the overallnarrative arc so they had to go.Goodbye darlings!

Which do you enjoy more, re-search or writing?

I found the research easier thanthe writing, but I enjoyed the

writing more. I have lots of experi-ence in gathering information andfacts, but yoking that data into aninteresting narrative was a new anddifficult challenge. It was in the ac-tual writing of the story that I tookmaterial that in a sense belonged toeveryone and transformed it intosomething uniquely my own.

Do you have a personal researchlibrary?

I do. Even though we live in a digi-tal age I love my paper books! Ihave seven or eight bookshelvescontaining a wide range of fictionand non-fiction titles. And, ofcourse, I have an extensive library of

“Even though we live in a digi-tal age I love paper books . . . I

have an extensive library ofTitanic-related books . . .”


Titanic-related books and materialswhich I have accumulated over alifetime. Two highlights of this col-lection are a first edition of Mar-shall Everett’s Story of the Wreck ofthe Titanic, published withinmonths of the disaster, and a firstedition of Titanic and Other Shipsby Charles Lightoller, second officerof the Titanic.

Were you able to set your manu-script aside while you were workingon it or was it always in your sub-conscious?

During the years I was researchingand writing The Midnight Watch, Iwas never able to put the projectwholly to one side. It alwaysticked away softly in the deeppart of my brain, and ideaswould sometimes pop to thesurface when I least expected it.These ideas could vanish asquickly as they appeared, so Ioften found myself quickly tap-ping thoughts into my mobilephone.

How much did your experience as aship’s officer and maritime lawyercontribute to the development ofThe Midnight Watch?

My four years of training at theAustralian Maritime College andmy experience as a cadet and ship’sofficer in the Australian merchantnavy were invaluable in the writingof The Midnight Watch. I was luckyenough to be one of the last yeargroups to be taught the art of mid-ocean navigation with sextant, com-pass and trigonometric tables. NoGPS! This arcane knowledge wasessential in understanding the navi-

gational elements of the Californianstory, and one of my great frustra-tions is reading work by authorswho clearly don’t understand thetechnical aspects of ship operationsand navigation. In my experience,those who argue that the Califor-nian did not see the Titanic (the“Lordites”) tend to misunderstandthe nature of mid-ocean positionfixing. My work as a litigation lawyerwas useful too: it helped me to in-terpret and be properly skepticalabout the evidence given by keywitnesses at the British and Ameri-can inquiries. I have much experi-ence listening to the testimony ofpeople who have a very clear motive

to lie, and sometimes their evasive,desperate tactics can be a sad specta-cle. Did Captain Lord think therocket-firing ship seen by his secondofficer was the Titanic? Absolutelynot, he says on oath. With fifteenhundred ghosts looking for some-one to blame, how could he sayotherwise?

Is there a second novel in your im-mediate future?

Hmmm. Interesting question! I dohave some thoughts for a secondnovel, but they are very undevel-oped at this stage. I am being pulledin two very different directions – anon-fiction account of a recent

high-profile maritime accident, or afictional, non-historical novel. Afterthe detailed research of The Mid-night Watch, I would love to nothave to worry about facts!

What other topics interest you froman author's standpoint?

I hate to admit it, but I am also fas-cinated by aviation disasters. One inparticular: the Air New ZealandDC-10 crash into Mount Erebus of1979. It is, in my opinion, the mostfascinating air accident of all time. Iwould love to write a book about it.

What sort of reader were you as aboy? Are there childhood books and

authors that have remainedwith you over the years?

I was an avid reader as a boy. Iloved adventure novels (EnidBlyton), detective novels (Aga-ton Sax, Alfred Hitchcock andthe Three Investigators, AgathaChristie) and books about

ships, planes and space travel. Onebook in particular which has stayedwith me from my very earliest yearsis Mae and Ira Freeman’s You WillGo to the Moon, written ten yearsbefore Apollo 11. (I, of course, readit many years after it was pub-lished!) Unusually, it is written insecond person future tense (“Youwill go . . .”) which creates a senseof certainty in a human future inspace. The book told me I wouldtake off in a rocket, visit a spacestation, and live in a house on themoon. At the time, I believed it.But none of these things have cometo pass, of course, which I think isjust a little bit sad.

“. . . my experience as a cadetand ship’s officer in the Austra-

lian merchant navy were in-valuable in the writing . . .”


Do you read only books or articlesthat are relevant to your work? Doyou read fiction?

I love fiction! I have read it all mylife. In recent years, reading fictionhas also been my work, because Ihave been teaching English at ahigh school in Sydney.

What is the last book you read forenjoyment?

Strangely, a book entitled Kill YourFriends by John Niven. It is one ofthe most violent, politically incor-rect, profanity-strewn books I haveever read. I loved it! Ironically, itwas loaned to me by a good friend.Perhaps he was trying to tellme something. Either way, Ifound it to be an effective anti-dote to the sugary good willand festive spirit of the Christ-mas holiday season.

Who are writers you most ad-mire?

I love the novels of Henry James. Ithink The Golden Bowl is an ex-traordinary work. It requires com-mitment early on, but then thesuspense slowly grows and beforeyou know it you’re hooked. It islike a game of chess with only fourpieces, and the final checkmate isbreathtaking. My other favorite authors in-clude George Eliot, William Somer-set Maugham and Ian McEwan. Ialso enjoy reading marine fiction:Herman Melville, Nicholas Mon-sarrat, C. S. Forester and Brian Cal-lison.

What do you plan to read next?

I have just taken from my shelf An-thony Doerr’s All the Light We Can-not See. The Times says it’s“sublime.” The Guardian says it’s“magnificent.” I think I’m going toenjoy it.

Are there books in your library thatyou find yourself returning to againand again?

Yes: the novels of P. G. Wodehouse(which cheer me when I’m down),Agatha Christie (which are likemathematical puzzles, which I love)and Henry James (which, I think,are the best novels in the Englishlanguage). And, strangely, EmilyPost’s Etiquette 1959 edition, which

has useful advice even in these daysof Facebook and Twitter. For in-stance, one should not go windowshopping from one’s car by drivingit slowly along a crowded street.) Oh, and Elmore Leonard’s 10Rules of Writing, which, in myhumble opinion, is probably theonly guidebook a writer needs.

Name three historical figures, livingor dead, whom you would enjoychatting with over dinner.

I am tempted to say Herbert Stone,Captain Lord, and Captain Smithof the Titanic. (“Captain Smith,how did you feel when you saw aship on the horizon, fired distress

rockets, but it didn’t come?”) But to move away from the Ti-tanic, I would love to have dinnerwith Christopher Hitchens, becauseat dinners he was known for alwayssuggesting a second bottle of wine,and then a third, in order to inducea “Feast of Reason and Flow ofSoul” (to quote Hitchens quotingWodehouse quoting Pope); Char-lotte Bronte, because she was a realfirecracker, and I’d love to hear herspeak to Hitchens in the samemode that Jane Eyre spoke toRochester; and Eugene Cernan, thelast man on the moon, because hespent a whole three days on themoon (as opposed to Neil Arm-strong’s three hours), and that expe-

rience surely would be worthyof an anecdote or two. Whatan interesting gathering thatwould be.

Is there anything else youwould like to say to our read-ers?

Only that I am grateful to Quarter-deck for this opportunity to rambleon about topics that fascinate me;and that that I hope Quarterdeck’sreaders, if they choose to embark onThe Midnight Watch, enjoy readingit as much as I enjoyed writing it. Itis a sad story, but I hope within itspages can be found positive ideasabout the power of forgiveness andthe strength of the human spirit.

“I love the novels of HenryJames . . . I also enjoy readingmarine fiction: Herman Mel-ville, Nicholas Monsarrat . . .”

Visit David Dyer onFacebook.


REVIEW

A s midnight approached onApril 14, 1912, the magnifi-cent liner RMS Titanic rushed

through the icy North Atlantic dark-ness at 22½ knots. Within minutes, the great shipstruck an iceberg. The collision set inmotion an epic and tragic dramaplayed out by 2,224 souls aboard thevessel, 1,500 of whom would perish inthe freezing sea. Ten miles away, another ship, the SSCalifornian, bound from London toBoston, sat idly in the same ice field asTitanic, waiting for daylight beforeproceeding through the treacherouswaters. Aboard the Californian about 11:10p.m., Third Officer Charles Grovesobserved a ship’s lights moving on thehorizon. Thirty minutes later helooked on as the nameless vesselstopped abruptly and seemed to extin-guish her lights. Groves immediatelynotified Californian’s master, CaptainStanley Lord, and was told to contactthe ship by Morse lamp. The anonymous ship was the Titan-ic, which over the next two hourslaunched eight distress rockets thatwere seen aboard the Californian. Whythen did she not steam to the rescue,preventing the horrific loss of life? In The Midnight Watch, Australianauthor David Dyer, drawing on yearsof detailed research, presents a power-ful fictional account of Californian’sfailure to respond to Titanic’s distresssignals.

The story is told through the eyes ofcrewmen aboard the Californian, thefamily of third-class passengers lost inthe disaster, as well as an intrepid Bos-ton journalist, John Steadman, whorefuses to end his investigation into thetragedy until the unvarnished truth isknown. As early news reaches America thatTitanic has struck ice and is seriouslydamaged, Steadman travels from Bos-ton to New York by rail to learn thelatest straight from the horse’s mouth –Philip Franklin, then in charge of theWhite Star Line office.

Learning that Titanic has indeedsunk, with great loss of life, and that amystery ship may have stood by andignored the white distress rockets,Steadman is determined to find outwhy, launching a quest that ends nearlya half century later in the living roomof Captain Stanley Lord in Wallaby,England. David’s Dyer’s passion for the truestory behind the Titanic and Califor-nian affair underlies a triumphant de-but novel, tying historical fact andcharacters together with a plausible fic-tional premise. That Californian lay idle but a fewmiles away is a fact. That Third OfficerGroves alerted Captain Lord to thenameless ship’s presence is fact. Andthat Second Officer Herbert Stone in-formed Lord of the distress rockets isfact. What is not known is why Lord didnot order Californian to Titanic’s res-cue, which could have saved hundredof lives. The answer, largely unre-solved, is left to history, but Dyer of-fers a believable scenario as to how thiscould have happened. The characters – real and imagined –speak in language that reflects the earlytwentieth century. Crisp, spare prose,often with a lyrical quality, creates apace that left us begging for more in-formation with each succeeding chap-ter.

The Midnight Watch is simply one ofthe most engaging historical novels tocome along in many years.

THE MIDNIGHT WATCHSt. Martin’s Press, $26.99,

U.S. Hardback /$12.99, Kindle and NOOK


A NIGHT REMEMBEREDby George Jepson


SEA FICTION

April

The Winds of Follyby Seth Hunter

(McBooks Press, $18.95, U.S. Trade Paperback / $9.99,Kindle and NOOK ) This is a compelling new historicalnaval adventure from a master of maritime storytelling.1796: Nathan Peake, captain of the frigate Unicorn issent with a small squadron into the Adriatic to helpbring Venice into an Italian alliance with Britain againstthe French. He establishes a British naval presence, har-rying the French corsairs that swarm out of Ancona inItaly and confronts the politics of “intrigue, poison andthe stiletto” in Venice, but learns that Bonaparte is ne-gotiating a peace deal with the Austrians – Britain’s onlyremaining ally. Worse, the Spanish are about to allywith the French. Nathan returns to the Unicorn andrejoins Nelson for the decisive Battle of St. Vincentagainst the entire Spanish fleet.

Empire Risingby Rick Campbell

(St. Martin’s Press, $25.99, U.S. Hardback / $12.99,Kindle and NOOK) China launches a swift and deadlyattack on Taiwan. But it’s only the first move in a muchdeadlier game. The problem is that China’s limited sup-ply of oil is threatening to derail its economic growthand prosperity. Having failed to win access to a greatersupply diplomatically, Chinese party secretary, XiangChenglei sets his backup plan in motion. And what iswar, but diplomacy by other means? When Taiwan isinvaded, the U.S. Pacific Fleet fails to repel the invadingChinese forces. It falls to an unlikely alliance of threepeople to stop this incursion and prevent an all-but-in-evitable global war. National Security Advisor ChristineO’Connor has critical information, but she’s trapped inBeijing; Captain Murray Wilson, commanding officerof the submarine USS Michigan must somehow infil-trate the Chinese submarine blockade; and Navy SEALJake Harrison must lead a strike team into the mosthostile of territories with only hours to implement the

Available Now


The Pride and the Anguishby Douglas Reeman

(McBooks Press, $18.95, U.S. Trade Paperback) Singa-pore, November, 1941 . . . They called it the “Gibraltarof the Far East” – a British rock that could not be taken.But suddenly, in a lightning blow, Singapore may bedefeated. Call it incompetence or call it false pride. Itdoesn’t really matter. Just as the warplanes of the RisingSun take command of the skies. Lieutenant RalphTrewin, who was a proud recipient of the DistinguishedService Cross, arrives at Singapore as second-in-com-mand of the gun boat HMS Porcupine. Is it too late toovercome the ignorance and blind optimism he finds inSingapore?

SEA FICTION

April

Britannia’s Spartanby Antoine Vanner

(Old Salt Press, $13.50, U.S. Trade Paperback / $3.49,Kindle) This is the fourth volume of the DawlishChronicles. It is 1882 and Captain Nicholas Dawlishhas just taken command of the Royal Navy’s newestcruiser, HMS Leonidas. Her voyage to the Far East is tobe a peaceful venture, a test of this innovative vessel’sengines and boilers. As Leonidas arrives in Hong Kong,Dawlish has no forewarning of the nightmare of riot,treachery, massacre, and battle that he and his crew willencounter. A new balance of power is emerging in theFar East. Imperial China, weak and corrupt, is chal-lenged by a rapidly modernizing Japan, while Russiathreatens both from the north. They all need to controlKorea, a kingdom frozen in time and reluctant toemerge from centuries of isolation. British interests, too,are at stake, and treading a safe path between the rivalpowers is vital, but perhaps impossible. Dawlish findshimself a critical player in a complex political powderkeg against the background of real historical events.

Available Now

SEA FICTION

Kings and Emperorsby Dewey Lambdin

(Thomas Dunne Books, $17.99, U.S. Trade Paperback /$9.99, Kindle and NOOK) Captain Alan Lewrie, RoyalNavy, is still in Gibraltar, his raids along the coast ofsouthern Spain shot to a halt. He is reduced to com-manding a clutch of harbor defense gunboats in the baywhile his ship, HMS Sapphire, slowly grounds herselfon a reef of beef bones! Until Napoleon Bonaparte’sinvasion of Portugal and his march into Spain changeeverything, freeing Sapphire to roam against the king’senemies once more! As kings are overthrown and popu-lar uprisings break out across Spain, Lewrie’s right backin the action, ferrying weapons to arm Spanish patriots,scouting the impregnable fort of Ceuta, escorting theadvance units of British expeditionary armies to aid theSpanish, and even going ashore to witness the first bat-tles between Sir Arthur Wellesley, later the Duke ofWellington, and Napoleon’s best marshals, as the longPeninsular War that broke Imperial France begins tounfold.

The Assassin’s Honorby Robert N. Macomber

(Pineapple Press, $26.95, U.S. Hardback / $9.99, Kindle/ $9.49, NOOK) Commander Peter Wake, USN, is fi-nally happy. In command of a newly commissionedlight cruiser in the Caribbean, he is back at sea where allreal sailors belong. All his years of espionage in the moresordid corners of the world are over. Ashore, he has thesincere love of a beautiful, fascinating, exotic woman.After years as a lonely widower, he is considering mar-riage. Everything changes when a man is found mur-dered aboard a steamer at Key West. Summoned toinvestigate, Wake uses his naval intelligence skills todecipher the strange clues left behind and discovers thatan important man will be assassinated by a foreign teamof killers in eight days. But who, where, and why? Theclues lead him on a desperate voyage to save the manand stop a war. Germans in Mexico, Cuban rebels inKey West, and Spanish counter-intelligence agents inTampa, are all part of the equation he must solve. Butnothing is as it seems.

Available Now Available Now



SEA FICTION

THE MATTY GRAVES NOVELSby Broos Campbell

1 - NO QUARTER(McBooks Press, $23.95, U.S. Hardback/ $16.95, U.S. trade paperback / $9.99,Kindle / $9.49, NOOK) This first bookin the series introduces Matty Graves,midshipman in the early years of theUnited States Navy. In 1799, theyoung U.S. Navy faces France in anundeclared Quasi-War for the Caribbe-an. Matty Graves is caught up in esca-lating violence as he serves aboard theRattle-Snake under his drunken cousin,Billy. Matty already knows how tohandle the sails and fight a ship. Now,with the sarcastic Lieutenant PeterWicked as his mentor and nemesis, hefaces the ironies of a war where tellingfriend from foe is no mean trick.

2 - THE WAR OF KNIVES(McBooks Press, $23.95, US Hardback)

McBooks Press offers all titles on its website at 30% off list prices:www.mcbooks.com.

he seems, and Matty must sort out thetwisted lies from the cold, hard truth –and keep himself alive long enough tolearn from his mistakes.

3 - PETER WICKED(McBooks Press, $23.95, U.S. Hardback/ $7.99, Kindle / $9.49, NOOK) Lieu-tenant Matty Graves is still recoveringfrom his ordeal during the slave rebel-lion in the French colony of SaintDómingue when he is ordered toWashington to answer questions aboutthe death of his former captain. Onhome soil he must deal with the mys-tery surrounding his birth, as well asthe attractions of his best friend’s sister.Offered a command of his own, heseizes the opportunity to make a nameand fortune for himself – even if itmeans destroying those closest to him.

/ $7.99, Kindle / $9.49, NOOK). WhenMatty Graves, acting lieutenant in thenewly formed U.S. Navy, agrees to be-come a spy in the French colony ofSaint-Dómingue, he plunges headlonginto a brutal world of betrayal anddouble-cross beyond anything he’s everknown. At first the bloody civil warbetween former slaves and their mixed-race overseers simply offers a way totest himself and a means to purge hisguilt over the death of his former cap-tain. But soon Matty is drawn into theheart of the conflict when he meets theflamboyant Juge and the mysteriousGrandfather Chatterbox – and faces aninterrogation by the brutal colonelknown as “The Whip.” White suprem-acists, cutthroat patriots and desperaterebels vie for control in the colonialworld’s richest island. No one is what


HISTORICAL FICTION


Fields of Bloodby Ben Kane

(St. Martin’s Griffin, $17.99, U.S. Trade Paperback /$9.99, Kindle and NOOK) Hannibal’s campaign to de-feat Rome continues. Having brought his army safelyover the Alps in winter, he now marches south to con-front the enemy. With him is a young soldier, Hanno.Like his general, Hanno burns to vanquish Rome. Fac-ing Hanno is his former friend, Quintus, whom Hannomet while in Roman captivity. A bitter quarrel with hisfather led Quintus to join the Roman infantry under anassumed name. Among his legionaries, he finds that hisenemies are not just the Carthaginians, but men of hisown side. A stealthy game of cat and mouse is beingplayed, with Hannibal seeking to fight, and Rome’sgenerals avoiding battle. But battle cannot be delayedfor much longer. Eventually, the two armies meet undera fierce summer sun in August in the south of Italy. Theplace is Cannae – the fields of blood. The encounterwill go down in history as one of the bloodiest battlesever fought.

Warriors of the Stormby Bernard Cornwell

(Harper, $27.99, U.S. Hardback / $14.99, Kindle) Afragile peace reigns in Wessex, Mercia and East Anglia.King Alfred’s son,, Edward, and formidable daughter,Aethelflaed, rule the kingdoms. But all around the rest-less Northmen, eyeing the rich lands and wealthychurches, are mounting raids. Uhtred of Bebbanburg,the kingdoms’ greatest warrior, controls northern Mer-cia from the strongly fortified city of Chester. But forcesare gathering against him. Northmen allied to the Irish,led by the fierce warrior, Ragnall Ivarson, are soonjoined by the Northumbrians, and their strength couldprove overwhelming. Despite the gathering threat, bothEdward and Aethelflaed are reluctant to move out of thesafety of their fortifications. But who can be trusted? Inthe struggle between family and loyalty, between per-sonal ambition and political commitment, there will beno easy path. But a man with a warrior’s courage maybe able to find it.


HISTORICAL FICTION

The White Ghostby James R. Benn

(SOHO Crime, $26.95, U.S. Hardback / $15.95, U.S.Trade Paperback / $12.99, Kindle / $15.49, Nook) 1943. . . In the midst of the Solomon Islands campaign,Lieutenant Billy Boyle is sent by the powerful Kennedyfamily to investigate a murder in which Jack Kennedyhas been implicated. The victim is a native coastwatch-er, an allied intelligence operative, whom Kennedy dis-covered on the island of Tulagi with his head bashed in.Kennedy was recovering in the Navy hospital on theisland after the sinking of his motor torpedo boat. Themilitary hasn’t decided whether to court-martial him forlosing the boat. The last thing the Kennedys want is amurder charge hanging over his head. Billy knows first-hand that he shouldn’t trust Jack: the man is a charmer,a womanizer, and, when it suits his needs, a liar. Butwould he kill someone in cold blood? And if so, why?The first murder is followed by two more. To find thekiller, Billy must sort through a tangled, shifting web ofmotives and identities.

The Crescent Spyby Michael Wallace

(Lake Union Publishing, $24.95, U.S. Hardback /$14.95, U.S. Trade Paperback / $4.99, Kindle / $9.99,NOOK) Writing under a man’s name, Josephine Breauxis the finest reporter at Washington’s Morning Clarion.Using her wit and charm, she never fails to get thescoop on the latest Union and Confederate activities.But when a rival paper reveals her true identity, accusa-tions of treason fly. Despite her claims of loyalty to theUnion, she is arrested as a spy and traitor. To Jose-phine’s surprise, she’s whisked away to the WhiteHouse, where she learns that President Lincoln himselfwishes to use her cunning and skill for a secret missionin New Orleans that could hasten the end of the war.For Josephine, though, this mission threatens to openold wounds and expose dangerous secrets. In the middleof the most violent conflict the country has ever seen,can one woman overcome the treacherous secrets of herpast in order to secure her nation’s future?


SEA HISTORY

In Full Glory Reflectedby Ralph E. Eshelman and Burton K. Kummerow

(Maryland Historical Society, $17.99, U.S. Paperback)All but forgotten by Americans, the War of 1812(1812–1815) was a dramatic watershed for the youngRepublic of the United States. Ill-prepared to fight thepowerful English nation, the U.S. struggled throughthree years of conflict, but emerged more unified withnew patriotic symbols like the “Star-Spangled Banner.”Much of the fighting occurred in the Chesapeake re-gion. In Full Glory Reflected uncovers gripping stories ofdevastating raids, heroic defense, gallant privateers, fugi-tive slaves, and threatened lands. The historic tales un-fold with a lively narrative, well over a hundred vividillustrations, and clear maps to follow the action. In ad-dition, a travel section provides a rich guide for adven-turers who want to step back 200 years and explore thetidewater world where the war was fought. In Full GloryReflected is an enchanting invitation to travel the Star-Spangled Banner National Historic Trail and discoverthe amazing world of our ancestors.

War of 1812by Peter Rindlesbacher

(Quarry Press, $39.95, U.S. Hardback) Marine and mar-itime paintings portraying battles between the Britishand American navies on the Great Lakes during theWar of 1812-1814. This book marks the sesquicenten-nial of the War of 1812 by reproducing marine artistPeter Rindlisbacher’s celebrated paintings. Museumsand historic sites in the U.S. and Canada have pur-chased many of his paintings, while print editions of hiswork are sold as fund raisers for historic groups.




SEA HISTORY

Sailor in the White Houseby Robert F. Cross

(Naval Institute Press, $21.95, U.S. Trade Paperback /$11.99, Kindle / $16.99, NOOK) Now available in pa-perback, Robert F. Cross’s Sailor in the White Houseremains one of the most interesting and intimate booksabout Franklin D. Roosevelt. Secret Service agents, fam-ily, and old sailing pals share stories about their days onthe water with America’s greatest seafaring president.The author argues that the skills required to be a goodsailor are the same skills that made FDR a successfulpolitician: the ability to alter courses, make compromis-es, and shift positions as the situation warrants. Thisperspective on Roosevelt shows how his love of the seashaped his presidency, and its unique look remains re-freshing even today.

America Spreads Her Sailsby Clayton R. Barrow, Jr.

(Naval Institute Press, $29.95, U.S. Paperback) / $20.99,Kindle / $17.49, NOOK) In this new paperback editionof America Spreads Her Sails, fourteen writers and histo-rians demonstrate how American men and goods inAmerican-made ships moved out over Alfred ThayerMahan’s “broad common,” the sea, to extend the coun-try’s commerce, power, political influence, and culture.Captain Thomas Catesby Jones, Lieutenant John “MadJack” Percival, and Commodore Matthew CalbraithPerry are among some of the colorful names that manywill recognize. They are all gone now, these strong menand their stout ships, who carried their country’s colorsup to the Northern Lights, down to the Antarctic’s still-ness, over the cutting coral, across the Roaring Forties,and into the great ports and the backwaters of theworld. The results of their adventures, however, are notforgotten, but instead set the stage for America to indis-putably become the dominant world power of the pastcentury.

Available Now Now Available


BY GEORGE!

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 4

During the summer in my youth, the Kalamazoo PublicLibrary Bookmobile visited Milwood weekly, providing asource of books between school years.

In those days, World War IIwas still a fresh memory. Bythe middle of the 1950s, I wasreading World War II navalhistories, with an emphasis onthe South Pacific, where myfather served aboard a U.S.Army Air Force crash boat.Two favorite volumes wereSubmarine Operations inWorld War II by TheodoreRoscoe and Day of Infamy byWalter Lord. Six decades lat-er I still refer to these titles,which are part of my person-

al library, along with select Landmark editions. Reading became a habit and a pleasurable pastime in anera when technology was primitive by today’s standards.Television was still in its infancy. Our 12-inch black-and-white set was only switched on in the evening for a coupleof hours, with limited programming.

A big wooden radio on mybedside table, with a dial thatglowed amber, was my prima-ry entertainment, other thanbooks. I grew up listening toprograms like the Lone Rang-er, Gunsmoke, Boston Black-ie, and Challenge of theYukon with Sergeant Preston.I listened to the radio everynight after crawling into bed. Istill recall the chill that passedthrough me on March 5,1953, when a late eveningbroadcast was interrupted to

announce the death of Joseph Stalin. Walking, or riding my bike, three blocks twice daily tothe plain two-story brick school was a regular routine, butI spent much more time there after classes were dismissed,as well as in the evening and on weekends. The building was an anchor for numerous community

activities. Our Boy Scout Troop 39 met weekly in thegymnasium. A school carnival each spring brought outfamilies to wander the hallways, participating in games forprizes or trying to win the cakewalk. I attended my first dancethere when Elvis and doo-wop topped the music charts. In 1955, Milwood’s base-ball diamonds were the site ofthe first Little League in Kala-mazoo. Young players, in-cluding our grandsons Nickand Drew, still run the basepaths and chase fly balls onthese fields. A regulation-sizefootball field, where weplayed flag football, oncestood where new baseballdiamonds have been built. Late last summer, time caught up with the building,which had served students for almost a century. The deci-sion was made to raze the school to make way for a newstructure. However, before work began the communitywas invited to an open house. So we joined a few dozen former students, teachers andothers, strolling the halls, visiting classrooms and the gym.To my eye, very little had changed since the late 1950s.Memories flowed, while the faces of classmates, teachersand administrators were recalled. In the library, onlyshelves remained. The gym, with its aged hardwood floorwas exactly the same as when we shot baskets, climbed thehemp rope that once hung from the ceiling, or stood onthe sideline waiting for roll to be called. In late summer, construction crews started demolitionand by December the structure was a pile of rubble. Driv-ing by the site with his parents, young Sean Mason (also aformer student at the school) suggested they stop and ask aconstruction worker for a brick by which to remember theold structure. “And let’s get one for Mister Jepson,” hesaid. It was a gift that keeps on giving. One glance at thebrick and I recall again and again the immense role Mil-wood Elementary played in my life. Memories are forever treasures.

George Jepson

Documents

Quarterdeck€¦ · like an A-6 Intruder catapulting off the deck of an air-craft carrier. In eighteen novels to date, Coonts chroni-