Laura Sook Duncombe is the author of the new young adult book A Pirate's Life for She: Swashbuckling Women Through the Ages. She also has written the book Pirate Women. She lives in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
Q: How did you choose the women you wrote about in A
Pirate's Life for She?
A: I love all female pirates, but for PLFS I selected the 16
who we know the most about and are most sure they existed.
I wanted to include a broad range of ages/geographical
areas/time period/ethnicities, and I wanted to make sure I chose the ones with
the most exciting stories as well. So I carefully evaluated the 35 pirates in
my first book and culled that list down to the 16 in PLFS.
It was tough! I was so sad to see some of them go...they've
become like my daughters. My very rebellious, very wild daughters!
Q: You write, "Readers should understand that it is
difficult to separate fact from legend in pirate history." How did you
research this book, and did you learn anything that especially surprised you?
A: I researched this book by reading a lot of newspaper
accounts and trial documents from these women's lives. I also relied heavily on
the amazing research of the pirate scholars who've come before me...Dian
Murray, Anne Chambers, Joan Druett, just to name a few. The female pirate
researcher field is small but very mighty!
What surprised me was how many female pirates are out there
but mislabeled. Some are just called "criminals," some are called
"wife of pirate XYZ," and various other names, but when you read the
stories it's clear that they are actually pirates! They have just been hidden
in the shadows for too long.
Q: Of all the pirates you've written about, are there one or
two that you find particularly fascinating?
A: I love them all SO MUCH!
But I do especially love Sayyida al-Hurra because she's a Muslim
refugee pirate queen. She doesn't look like how most female pirates are
portrayed, but she was such a powerful woman and she was amazing at being a
pirate.
I also love Grace O'Malley because she was a working mother
pirate--she had her sons on board with her sometime. As a working mom myself, I
am so stunned at all she accomplished.
Q: You write, "The pirates in this book have a lot to
teach women today about taking thing that other people say they cannot
have." What do you hope readers take away from the book?
A: I hope readers can be empowered by these women to seize
control of their own destinies. There's so much NO out there in the world, and
I hope that readers can take NO and turn it into YES for themselves. Everyone
deserves a chance to follow their own dreams, and I think pirates are a great
example of people following their own dreams, however unorthodox they might
be.
Q: What are you working on now?
A: Right now I am working on a YA historical romance about
two pirates, and a children's book about pirates. I just can't get enough!! Ypu
know the crazy cat lady? I'm the crazy pirate lady.
Q: Anything else we should know?
A: I think that there's something for everyone in a pirate
story. It's not all "yo ho ho" and peg legs...pirates represent freedom.
And who doesn't love that?
--Interview with Deborah Kalb
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