Lucky Guys! Or Not…

by Maureen O. Betita

I’ve always liked writing characters who are lucky. Though what’s really fun about writing these characters is when they react to the idea that they are lucky…especially the men.

(Okay, some of the guys consider luck their right, when it’s with the ladies…but most of mine resent the idea that any of their success is about luck. We all know what they want it to be about!)

These men want to be known for being clever, sneaky, intelligent. And occasionally treacherous. I mean, they are pirates!

Take Captain Alan Silvestri, the hero of The Kraken’s Mirror. If anyone should know luck, it’s Silvestri. He’s spent 50 years the victim of a good luck curse!

Being the eldest of the lot, he is more likely to accept the concept of luck once his curse has run its course. He’s been around a while and figures that reputation, in the long run, is worth just as much if he’s considered lucky than if he’s considered sneaky. Plus he’d rather not be known as sneaky. (That way it isn’t expected from him and he can get away with it now and then.)

I think this is the sort of viewpoint that comes with age and experience and I find myself supporting this perspective more and more. I mean, I know I’m lucky, but I don’t count on it. I do figure if I leave room for luck it is more likely to visit but if I fluff the pillows and dust the furniture, it might visit more often. (How do I know I’m lucky? Well, when my heart stopped in 2007, my husband was in bed with me instead of still in the shower…and I’d be dead. Luck? You bet!)

Now, Captain Michael March?He’s the swashbuckler from The Chameleon Goggles. Well, he’s younger and he’s cocky. And he’s a bit lazy for the most part. Luck is fine by him. It takes less work. Not that Mick can’t work or be clever, sneaky…etc. (Oddly enough, part of his reputation is for escaping a bad luck curse.) This is a man who uses what comes his way, luck, shipping routes…extra aces…loaded dice…

Hey, Mick is pretty typical of men. And probably the most realistic of every pirate I’ve created.

Wow, that sounded sexist…I’m sure there are women like this! From what I’ve read of Anne Bonny, she knew how to take advantage of what came her way!

Wink, wink! Nudge, nudge!

The last of my heroes from The Kraken’s Caribbean Series isn’t a pirate. In The Pirate Circus,Ben falls in love with a pirate. His difficulty is in believing success isever about luck for pirates. Benjamin Silvestri is a master brewer and he’s very pragmatic. And can be quite judgmental. He’s willing to accept help from his uncle, a pirate, but when it comes to how he views pirates…he’s not so accepting. If only he just believed that it was about luck! But he believes it’s about treachery and being sneaky.

The pirate he falls in love with knows it’s more than luck, but luck plays into it! Janey finally convinces Benjamin that it doesn’t matter what you call it. She is one of the good guys…er…gals.

I know today is considered an unlucky day, but I don’t believe in that sort of omen. Now…horoscopes? Whole different thing! ;-)

How about you? How do you view luck?

Sunday Profile

by Maureen O. Betita

Name? The Great Albino Kraken

Job? Protecting the world of the Kraken’s Caribbean

Sidejob? Cupid

Species? Cephalopod

Age? Not telling. I actually don’t remember. I’ve been here forever. I can barely recall swimming among those that eventually crawled upon the land… Times when the world was nothing but water, then it was ice… I grew and became aware. I’ve been injured, I’ve been female, I’ve been male…now, I am simply the Kraken.

My biographer, Maureen O. Betita, is honoring me this month with a contest. She has written books featuring my interactions with my humans of the Caribbean and now she is looking to hang me on a tree, which I understand is the custom for the month of December.

If you comment here you will be entered to win this ‘ornament’…you can also discover multiple ways to qualify on her blog, at http://maureenobetita.com/blogslinks including signing up for our joint newsletter, The Kraken Chronicles, following her on Twitter, and liking her on Facebook.

But the days are running out to win this ‘bit of sparkle’ as she calls it, she will pick a winner at midnight, December 21^st!

Good luck! And don’t forget something she called an e-mail address.

So many of these modern things are strange to me…

The Kraken Chronicles

with Maureen O. Betita and Penelope Leon

Hello! This is Penelope Leon, the editor of the Kraken’s Chronicles. The Chronicles is a newsletter I’m putting together full of the news and gossip from the Kraken’s Caribbean. I’ll be working hand-in-hand with the real world author, Maureen O. Betita.

Ms. Betita is the bard of Tortuga and writes up the wonderful life stories of many of the citizens of this topsy-turvy pirate world. Her book, The Kraken’s Mirror, told of the romance of our famed cursed pirate, Captain Alan Silvestri and his pursuit of the woman from the future, Emily Pawes. Our legendary cephalopod, the Great Albino Kraken, plays a large role in that tale.

Next month, the second novel will be released. The Chameleon Goggles relates a frightening part of our history, when we faced invasion from a capitalistic steampunk world, the former home of Captain Jezebel, who holds the wheel of the Cursed Quill. Will her beloved Michael March and the crew of the Quill keep us safe? Come October 20, you can find out!

Meanwhile, the Great Kraken has given his blessing to my journalistic ambitions and Tortuga is excited at the premier edition. For the first edition I’ve interviewed Emily regarding what she misses from her former life. And teased a few lines from Ms. Betita regarding what the term piratepunk means to her.

Interested in finding out what is happening ashore the wild island of Tortuga? Leave me an e-mail address and I’ll add you to the newsletter mailing list!