How I researched 'Fifty Degrees South.'
Hello again!
After reading my novels, ‘Fifty Degrees South’ and ‘Protocol,’ some readers asked whether I’d ever served in the navy.
The answer is yes, but only in my imagination, and the navy was the Royal Navy in the early 1800s.
This is due to the brilliant 20-novel series about the Napoleonic war by Patrick O'Brian. Over the past fifteen years, I've read all of the books, some of them three times. One of the best of the series was made into the movie, 'Master and Commander: The far side of the world.' But in researching 'Fifty Degrees South,' I got far more hands on than just reading. I had the pleasure of sailing on a replica of HMS Lady Nelson, a two-masted brig built in 1799, and which is actually referred to in Patrick O’Brian’s fifth novel, ‘Desolation Island.’
On board the ship, I thought of the story in 'Fifty Degrees South,' and did my best to time-travel in my mind to the Atlantic Ocean in 1803. I imagined the ship in the throes of a sea battle.
I heard the shattering boom of each broadside. I saw the smoke drift through the sails. And I heard the gunner bawling at the gun crews to reload, damn your eyes.
And if I really tried, I could imagine the cannonballs curving away over the sea towards their target, which was not an enemy ship, but a dark and mysterious shape concealed by the low clouds, a cable length from the port bow.
Until next time,
M.M. Holt
Dear MM Holt,
I really enjoyed 50 degrees South, it also motivated me to read a book by David Grann the Wager. He nearly writes as well as you, his description of sailing around Cape Horn was terrifying, and helped me to better appreciate the challenges to Alex Burn's grandfather sailing in the dangerous Southern ocean. You have motivated me to also read some Patrick O'Brien novels. BTW congratulations on Octavia, i loved all four books of the Burns Series, but feel Octavia maybe the best. Nevertheless, i am dying to reconnect with Alex Burns, the Jack Reacher of Sci Fi. I guess you need a break from writing for a while, but when you have had a well ea…
Must be nice to have a ship you can base the story upon. I had to design the ship , engines, the physics they operate upon and then modify the gravity generator to allow for the compression of space time so the trip does not take forty years. Thanks for sharing your experience. It is helpful to other writers.