TabithaMrgn

Chapter 41 is up for Pirate’s Stowaway!

GarethN

There are also a number of anachronisms that I picked up (though I know more about the Royal Navy of that period, I find it hard to imagine pirate ship conditions were any better):
          
          The boardwalks in referred to earlier chapters - I think you mean the docks. The docks in 17th century England were extremely unsavoury places and no young woman would be safe there alone.
          
          Processing sea water to give drinking water - NO - you had to carry all the fresh water you would need with you (and hope for rain). Bathing was done in salt water - there’s special soap for this. I don’t think desalination was practical until the 20th century.
          
          Cooking - fire, on a vessel made of wood with about 15 kinds of flammable material being used to keep them waterproof, was highly dangerous. They might manage one small bowl of stew / gruel per day but the rest was salt pork, dry biscuits etc.
          
          Zipper - NO - early 20th century, I’d guess!
          
          Bras - don’t think so (but I’m a man so it’s not an area where I claim much expertise!). My understanding was there as some sort of arrangement with strips of cloth. 
          
          Hamocks were hung up everywhere - there was no separate sleeping accommodation except for senior officers.
          
          Age ranges - For 95% of the population, any schooling finished by 11. So cabin boy 12 - 14. By 16 you would be considered fully adult.
          
          Abandoning the ship because of a storm - NEVER - they would never abandon the ship unless it was sinking and could not possibly be saved. They might heave to in the lee of an island (protected from the big waves) until it had passed but they would never, ever, ever abandon their ship. It’s the most valuable thing they own!
          
          I don’t want to be discouraging but to write historical novels you need to do  some research. I suggest you read some Dickens to get a feel for what life was like 150 years ago - it’s not the right time period but its much closer.

GarethN

Hiya Tabatha,
          
          Thank you for posting your Pirate novel on Wattpad. I have some feedback.
          
          First, I like your writing style. It flows well and has a light touch. The story is easy to follow and it has been competently edited.
          
          I find Emma’s character credible - though her attitude is more that of the daughter of some minor noble; a crown princess would have been trained to hold the lower orders in much more contempt.
          
          My main problem is with the characters of the pirates. They are much too nice. The nearest parallel in contemporary USA to a pirate ship is a Hell’s Angels gang. The chance of Emma surviving Virgo intacta for two hours after discovery is negligible. More likely, by then, she would have been passed around through half a dozen of the senior gang and then quickly circulated amongst the rest of the crew before there was a mutiny. Maybe you could establish some sort of relationship between her and the captain before she gets aboard - she warns them of an impending raid on the ship, putting him in her debt.