The Lost Colony -- White Seed (What really happened?)

[Paul Clayton]

From Publishers Weekly.

This historical hews closely to the record of Sir Walter Raleigh's second doomed attempt to plant the British flag in Virginia, but embroiders the who, what, when with enough ... embellishment to create a riveting story. The focus is 17-year-old "wench" Maggie Hagger, whose passage on Raleigh's ship was paid by colony Governor Sir John White so she can serve his pregnant daughter. The ship's stormy passage to the New World -- during which widower White falls for Maggie, who is meanwhile evading unwanted advances from a scalawag -- establishes the many well-wrought characters, some noble (particularly real-life Native Manteo), others evil. The depiction of the colony's physical and moral disintegration between 1587 and 1590 -- evokes a harrowing sense of human fallibility. Readers with more than a nodding familiarity with American colonial history will experience déjà vu, but others less hip to what happened in late-16th century times will find this saga, which starts slowly but soon achieves reaches page-turner velocity, to be both a dandy diversion and an entertaining education.
 
Enjoy!

Paul Clayton

[Lynn ODell]

Are you going to put it on Amazon any time soon?

I really only buy from Amazon because that way I don't have to back up my library, they do it for me. LOL

[marianneg]

Readers with more than a nodding familiarity with American colonial history will experience a cloying déjà vu...

So....you're saying this book is not for those who like to read historical fiction?  Just trying to figure out why you would immediately turn off what would seem to be your target market.

[Lynn ODell]

So....you're saying this book is not for those who like to read historical fiction?  Just trying to figure out why you would immediately turn off what would seem to be your target market.

Well, he (the author) didn't actually say that. That was from a reviewer.  I think he was just trying to be honest by posting the entire review rather than just the 'good parts'.

[marianneg]

Well, he (the author) didn't actually say that. That was from a reviewer.  I think he was just trying to be honest by posting the entire review rather than just the 'good parts'.

Oops, missed that that was a quote from Publishers Weekly the first time!    I do appreciate the honesty, but if I was the author I still think I would want a second opinion.

[Paul Clayton]

Let me clarify.  I posted the review simply to tell people about a wonderful book, White Seed.  PW reviewers tend to be snooty if they're confronted with something not-literary, or a genre book not written by one of the billion dollar race horse writers (with staffs).  

I've published professionally, that is to say, commercially.  My last book was published by a major house, Thomas Dunne. So I believe that my work has been vetted to a certain extent.

I'm just hoping someone will take a look at my work.
  
Best!

[Paul Clayton]

I should have highlighted these tidbits...



This... historical hews closely to the record of Sir Walter Raleigh's second doomed attempt to plant the British flag in Virginia,... embroiders the who, what, when with enough... embellishment to create a riveting story. The focus is 17-year-old "wench" Maggie Hagger, whose passage on Raleigh's ship was paid by colony Governor Sir John White so she can serve his pregnant daughter. The ship's stormy passage to the New World -- during which widower White falls for Maggie, who is meanwhile evading unwanted advances from a scalawag -- establishes the many well-wrought characters, some noble (particularly real-life Native Manteo), others evil.

The depiction of the colony's physical and moral disintegration between 1587 and 1590 -- as drunken, cannibalistic soldiers mutiny and brutalize the settlers they were meant to protect, and as colonists confront disease, starvation and madness -- evokes a harrowing sense of human fallibility.

Readers with... a familiarity with American colonial history will ... find this saga, which starts slowly but soon achieves reaches page-turner velocity, to be both a dandy diversion and an entertaining education.

This is the way a commercial house would edit this review for the back cover of their  book. 

As I said above, the  PW reviewer was just establishing their fine literary credentials by signalling that they don't generally bother with genre fiction, but their boss threw this on the desk and told them they better review it.  However, I know this reviewer read the whole thing, something that doesn't always happen, given time constraints.

White Seed is a damned fine novel, a compelling page turner.

I hope somebody on there will take a chance, read it, and report back.

Best!

[marianneg]

Fair enough, callingcrow.  I actually was intrigued by the description, up until I got to the part where they called it "cloying."  I'll check out the sample.  I do echo Red, though, in requesting that you make it available directly on amazon.com for Kindle.  It can only expand your market.

[Lynn ODell]

Are you going to put it on Amazon any time soon?

I really only buy from Amazon because that way I don't have to back up my library, they do it for me. LOL

Still looking for an answer to my post as I am interested. :-)

[Paul Clayton]

Marianner,

Got that. 


"I do echo Red, though, in requesting that you make it available directly on amazon.com for Kindle.  It can only expand your market."

M, I most definitely would like to make it available to more folks.  But, please understand, I'm very new to all of this direct-selling-by-author-over the web business.

I assumed, that since a "Kindle" version was available on the smashwords page, they would 'export' it to the Amazon folks.  But that is evidently not the case.

So, now I have to find out if making it available to Amazon/Kindle myselfl, that is, uploading it to Amazon, violates any smashwords terms.

If anybody following this already knows the answer to this, please let me know.

Best!

[Paul Clayton]

Red,

see my above post.  And thanks for the education you and M are giving me.
Paul Clayton

[Paul Clayton]

Red, Marianner,

Found out I can upload to the Kindle, no problem, and will ASAP!

Best!

[Paul Clayton]

To all, 
I am in the process of having White Seed; The Untold Story of the Lost Colony of Roanoke  POD published by Booklocker.  They and I have designed a wonderful cover.  As soon as I have a thumbnail of that, I will upload the book here on Kindle.  It is already available over at Smashwords.  I hope someone will give it a try.  Should be up before the end of the weekend.

And thanks to all who have purchased Carl Melcher Goes to Vietnam.  It is selling well.   

Best!

[Paul Clayton]

… on the pages of White Seed...

From Publishers Weekly: White Seed…hews closely to the record of Sir Walter Raleigh's second doomed attempt to plant the British flag in Virginia… The depiction of the colony's physical and moral disintegration between 1587 and 1590 -- as drunken, cannibalistic soldiers mutiny and brutalize the settlers they were meant to protect, and as colonists confront disease, starvation and madness -- evokes a harrowing sense of human fallibility. Readers…will find this saga, which…soon achieves page-turner velocity, to be both a dandy diversion and an entertaining education.

WHITE SEED: The Untold Story of the Lost Colony of Roanoke

[ladyvolz]

Thanks for the information, at $3.99 and because I am interested I am going to try it.

http://www.amazon.com/White-Seed-Untold-Colony-Roanoke/dp/B002SN9GF2/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=digital-text&qid=1255746854&sr=1-1

[Paul Clayton]

Lady, thank you very, very much!  I hope you enjoy it. 
Paul Clayton

[crosj]

I also bought it.  Looks very interesting and a great price.  thank you!!

[Paul Clayton]

Crosj,  a hearty thanks from this author.  I hope you enjoy it (and if so, tell the world).  It's a big book, the kind you enjoy (I hope) coming back to night after night.  I'm so glad folks are beginning to take a look.

[Keith Melton]

One of the most haunting mysteries in American history -- The Lost Colony of Roanoke -- comes roaring back to life in White Seed, with a compelling cast of characters, among them --

Maggie Hagger, indentured Irish serving girl, a victim of rape and intimidation, driven to desperate action against a tyrant when all around her have lost hope,

Manteo, the Croatoan interpreter for the English, an inhabitant of two worlds, belonging to neither, who longs for love and acceptance and finally finds it in Maggie's arms,

John White, ineffective Governor, painter and dreamer, drawn to the brink of insanity and back in his efforts to rescue his people,

Captain Stafford, a brave, disciplined, but cruel soldier, with the seeds of class hatred imbedded in his soul years earlier, and

Powhatan, the shrewd Tidewater warlord who wages a stealthy jihad against the colonists, waiting to ensure they have truly been abandoned before launching his final assault.

I always found the Roanoke story and other tales of mysterious disappearances very fascinating. This looks intriguing.

[Betsy the Quilter]

Cool!  Heading off to get a sample....

Betsy

[Paul Clayton]

Thanks to all for your comments and nudges!   

[Paul Clayton]

Here’s a little taste from White Seed...

A little scene setting first...

The colonists have not yet reached Roanoke and have stopped at one of the Caribbean islands to replenish their water and perhaps catch some fresh meat.  While the bulk of the people are aboard ship or on the beaches, White and his Lieutenants, and Fernandes the Navigator are in the heights, looking around.  Earlier they had come upon a small band of the local Indians…


After sketching for the better part of two hours, John White wiped his charcoal-blackened fingers on the grass and reached for his pipe. Sir George Howe sat beside him and Sir Robert Harvey slept on the grass in a nearby patch of shade.  White heard coarse laughter.  Fernandes was pulling a savage girl, one of the bunch they'd come across earlier, toward the bushes.  The girl's breasts were small and bud-like.  White thought she could not have been more than twelve years of age.  Captain Stafford and two of his soldiers looked on, smiling.  Stafford held Fernandes' leather bota of wine in his hand and he and his soldiers were red-faced from drinking.

The girl jerked her hand away and turned, walking back the way they had come.  “Ho ho!” called Stafford jovially, “she'll have none of ye, Senor.  It's that enormous codpiece that has frightened her off.”

Fernandes ran round and blocked the girl's path.  He grabbed her hand again.  “Come, little one,” he said.

Realizing the man would not release her, the girl cursed him a torrent in her language.  Stafford and the soldiers laughed heartily.  The girl looked over plaintively at White and the others.

“Why do you not find one more willing,” said Sir George, “an older one.”

“Her reluctance is a spice which will make this a most memorable repast,” said the wiry Portuguese.  “Soon she will sing another tune.  You will be able to hear it all the way out here. I promise.”  Fernandes turned away and continued pulling the girl toward the bushes.  The girl dug in her heels to no avail.  She began crying.

“I think you should take Sir George's advice,” said White, “and find another.”

Fernandes continued to pull the girl, ignoring her cries.

White grew angry at the man's impertinence and got to his feet.  He grabbed Fernandes' shoulder.  “Release her!”

Fernandes released the girl and she fell onto her buttocks.  He turned to White, placing his hand on the hilt of his sword. “Senor?”

White's pulse quickened.  Grabbing the man had been a mistake, he realized.  Fernandes was small, but he was an expert with his blade and everyone knew it.  White, on the other hand, was a painter of birds, maps and miniatures, a member of the Painters’ and Stainers’ Guild of London, not a swordsman.  Although he wore a fancy Spanish sword given him by Raleigh, ‘twas merely an indicator of his new rank, like an item of clothing, and he had had no gentlemanly training in swordsmanship to go along with it. Fernandes' wolfish smile told White that he knew all of this and intended to take full advantage of it.

White realized sadly that if Fernandes ran him through he would forever after swagger about and pose the hero.  But he couldn't back down now from the strutting peacock.  He would have to play out his hand, come what may.

“I said get back to your work,” said White.

Fernandes' eyes bore into White's.  White noticed something moving behind him.  Sirs Robert Harvey and George Howe came into view.  Sir George had his hand on the hilt of his sword.  An ex-soldier, everyone knew his blade to be more than a fixture.  Fernandes said nothing as he continued to stare at White and ponder his next move.  Suddenly Captain Stafford interposed his muscled bulk between the two men.  He winked at White and extended the bota of wine to Fernandes.  “Senor Fernandes, methinks ye need more wine.”

Fernandes allowed himself a smile and took the leather bota from the Captain.  He took a long drink.  Stafford smiled drunkenly at White.  “He means ye no harm, Governor.  He just wants the company of a young wench after being cooped up on the ship for so long.  Ye know how that be, eh?”

Stafford winked lecherously and White's face reddened as he realized the Captain was hinting that there was some equivalency between Fernandes’ behavior with the girl and his dealings with the maid, Maggie.  “Nay,” said White, “I know not how that is.”

“As ye say, Governor.”  Captain Stafford continued to smile, but his eyes grew hard.  He turned to Fernandes.  “Senor, the Governor says that that little fish be too young.  Ye'll have to throw her back.”

Fernandes bowed theatrically.  “Of course.  Whatever the Governor says.”

The girl ran back with the other Indians and White walked back to his things with Sir Robert and Sir George.

[Paul Clayton]

Just after the sun came up Sir James Duncan waved to the soldiers on the ramparts above as he went through the gate and headed for the woods.  The soldiers had recently stopped cleaning out the cottage that was used as a necessary house and consequently, the air there made his sickness worse.  And now he no longer had the wench, Elizabeth, to empty his close stool.  So today he would empty his bowels behind the two trees just in front of the fort as he had for the past three days. The bushes scattered here and there between the fort and the woods had grown back but none were large enough to conceal a man.  And he could see the soldiers, and they him, until he ducked down to do his business, and so it was safe.

James walked quickly, feeling a greater urgency than usual, perhaps because of the miserable meal of cold roots and corn pone he'd had the night before.  Before the wench had gone mad she would often vex him but at least she could cook, making even the most miserable meal palatable. James glanced toward the sound, hoping to see a sail towering above the trees.  He scowled, knowing it was a foolish gesture.  Of course there was nothing.  There never was.  The woods were a tangle of gray with the green of the occasional great pine sticking up.  He was ready to go back to England.  When a ship finally called, and everyone thought one would in summer, he would get himself aboard it, gold or no gold.  He had had his fill of Raleigh's New World Garden Paradise.

James dropped his breeches and squatted down.  He thought he saw something move in the bushes off to the left but decided it was a bird alighting.  Finishing, he stood.  As he tied his breeches, something hard slammed into his arm, like a swift punch.  With horror, he saw the wooden shaft of an arrow imbedded there.  His arm now hung uselessly and he could feel the additional weight of the arrow.  He ran toward the fort, his arm swinging wildly and uselessly about. Glancing over his shoulder, he saw a savage aiming his bow at him.

“To arms! Arm!” he shouted at the fort, “the savages are attacking!”

Another arrow slammed painfully into his buttocks.  He stumbled, but kept his feet and ran on.  Looking behind, he saw three savages following him at an unhurried trot.  “Dear God,” he cried as he looked at the distant fort.  A handful of soldiers were watching him.  A puff of smoke issued impotently from one of their muskets, followed by a thunderous boom. An arrow landed in the ground at his feet, digging itself into the dirt.  He was halfway to the fort when another arrow struck him in the back.  He staggered, feeling his strength quickly running out of him.  He collapsed, his face pounding into the earth.  He heard something behind and managed to turn his head weakly.  The savages seemed to have disappeared.

“Arm yourselves,” he said into the dirt as waves of pain rolled through him.


Two soldiers ran out of the fort.  One pointed his musket at the now-deserted approaches to the fort.  “See to him,” he said to the other.

The other soldier knelt down to the gentleman.  “He is dead.”

The soldiers grabbed the gentleman’s arms and dragged him through the gate.

From: White Seed: The Untold Story of the Lost Colony of Roanoke

http://www.amazon.com/White-Seed-Untold-Colony-Roanoke/dp/B002SN9GF2/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=digital-text&qid=1256012829&sr=1-2

[Paul Clayton]

Well, if you read the original post, I wanted to report that I've sold one more copy over on Smashwords.  Soon I'll have enough to get a sixpack of the good beer.  Later!

[B-Kay 1325]

I just downloaded the book.  Sounds very interesting and I have never heard of the Lost Colony of Roanoke.  Looking forward to reading it.  Thank you for the heads up.