Participate in our "Buy A Boy A Book On Valentine’s Day!" campaign and spur their imagination. Create within them a desire to read and set sail for a life of adventure, wherever that journey may take them.
Eddie Jones
Eddie Jones is a full time freelance writer and author of five non-fiction books, one young adult novel, and an adult romantic comedy. He has written over one hundred articles that have appeared in 20 different publications. He serves as Acquisition Editor for Lighthouse Publishing of the Carolinas and is a contributing writer for CBN.com, Christian Devotions Ministries, Living Aboard Magazine, The Ocracoke Observer, and Carolina Currents.
He has taught writing classes from Pennsylvania and the Carolinas to Colorado. As a book consultant, he has helped clients place completed projects with literary agents, book publishers, and magazine editors. Eddie has a keen eye for evaluating manuscripts and can advise clients on the marketability of their work.
Telling Tidal Tales
I'm a boat swab at heart, and a thief and liar when honest work proves unprofitable. This is why when my boys were little (and by this I mean we could still feed them without maxing-out our credit cards at the grocery store or causing a world-wide food shortage) I’d tell them pirate stories on our sailboat. I no longer have a sailboat. What I have instead are two boys in college. This is way better than a boat because unlike owning a boat, college tuition payments end—if not upon graduation then when the free frat parties stop. Boat alimony, on the other hand, goes on forever. I’m sure in some way, Noah is still paying on the Ark. B.O.A.T., by the way, means: “Break Out Another Thousand.” But if you’ve ever owned a boat you know this.
Anyway, at night, before I’d tuck my small boys into their bunks (a storage locker where we kept the anchor), we’d sit on the bow of our sailboat and I’d make up stuff. Today I do this as a writer but editors have shorter attention spans than my tiny tots. At least that’s what my agent says. So I’d tell these tidal tales and the hero of the story was this guy named Captain Stinky Foot. Captain Stinky Foot was named after my youngest son. If you’ve ever spent any time on a boat in August with a crew of unwashed young males then this needs no further explanation.
Telling pirate stories came naturally to me. I've always been fascinated by the stories of boys snatched away from London and Bristol and forced to serve before the mast. Seems to me life at sea was more fun than peeling potatoes. And more dangerous.
I’d use whatever props I could spy from the bow—a channel marker, boat fender, or crab pot—and I’d work it into the story. A few times every year my boy’s school would invite me in to tell pirate stories. My talks followed a predictable pattern. The teacher would ask everyone to sit quietly and listen, but know how it is with kids. There’s always some smart aleck who insists on cutting up. The teacher would interrupt, scowl and eventually nod for me to continue. Almost immediately, she’d have to stop me again: this time raising her voice. By the third time I knew she meant business. I also knew I’d get sent to the principle's office if I didn’t straighten up.
Now, when I’m asked to describe The Curse of Captain LaFoote, I explain that it’s a pirate tale awash in buried treasure, romance and dead men's bones. The truth is, this book and the ones that follow in the Caribbean Chronicle series are love stories. Ricky Bradshaw, the hero of the book, the story is a quest to find his soul mate and manhood. There are a lot of other deep and important themes explored in the book too.
There are a lot of other deep and important themes explored in The Curse of Captain LaFoote. Things like what the poop deck is and why cruise ships no longer use them, the secrets inside Davy Jones' locker, and why you shouldn't walk downwind of a pirate who's just eaten turtle soup.
Seriously, my main goals in writing this book was to spur the imagination of young readers. Boys especially.
According to KidSay Market Researchers, teen and tween online video and virtual gaming increased from 65% in 2007 to 91% in 2010. I'm a writer, not a math whiz, so I have no idea what those numbers mean but they sound really scary. So part of my goal is to give boys a compelling story they can fall into. I want to create within them a desire to read and set sail for a life of adventure, wherever that journey may take them. Even now I can see Ricky standing on the sugar-white sands of that island just south of Hispaniola. I am that boy. And so are a lot of other boys.
As part of our Buy A Boy A Book! Campaign we are encouraging parents, grand parents, aunts, uncles, Oprah and the President of the United States to buy a book and give it to a boy. That's right. We want you to give a book as a gift.
We've test marketed this concept and our research shows most boys, given the choice between reading a book and visiting the dentist, will run away from home. But as a responsible adult you know dental hygiene is key to a happy mouth. Think of this book as dental floss for the mind.
Reading is key to learning. Learning increases a young boy’s chances of gaining admission to college, earning a degree, landing a job and pursuing the American Dream.
Please, won’t you give a boy a chance to dream? Boy A Boy A Book On Valentine’s Day!
