I was reading over the posts from the last few days, all the great discussion on Jane Eyre, historic castles, and The Green Fairy Book, and I couldn’t decide what today’s post should be about. Something erudite and cultured? Literary, historical? Nah–it’s officially Talk Like a Pirate Day! Arggh, maties!

OK, so I’m getting silly, I know. Maybe my brain is baked from trying to finish my WIP on time and thus have my editor still like me. But the first “real historical romance” I ever read (and by that I mean not a Cartland, a Heyer, or a trad Regency) was Virginia Henley’s The Hawk and the Dove. This was more years ago than I care to remember, I was in the eighth or ninth grade at the time, but I still remember how great I thought this book was. The heroine (the fabulously-named Sabre Wilde) has come to the court of Elizabeth I to get revenge on her long-lost husband, the also wonderfully-named Captain Shane Hawkhurst, also known as The Sea God. He is (you guessed it!) a pirate (or maybe a privateer–whatever, it’s all good), and she has long, red hair and is very “feisty,” which means she pitches fits all over the place and causes big scenes. She also wears terrific clothes. It was an immensely fun book, and it set me on a pirate-story jag that lasted for many months. I still enjoy the occasional high-seas adventure (especially when it gives me the chance to indulge my Orlando Bloom obsession a bit!), even though good pirate books are a little harder to find these days. Here’s a list of titles I liked, and I’d love to hear suggestions from everyone else. 🙂

Marsha Canham’s The Iron Rose (an absolutely splendid book, where the heroine is the pirate–I loved this one. The prequel, about the heroine’s parents, was also great–Across a Moonlit Sea)
Jennifer Ashley’s The Pirate Next Door (a great, humorous look at Regency-era piracy)
Meagan McKinney’s Til Dawn Tames the Night (another early historical read of mine–pretty steamy! The hero also has a fab tattoo)
Sabrina Jeffries’ The Pirate Lord
Amanda Quick’s Deception
Lisa Cach’s The Wildest Shore
Gaelen Foley’s The Pirate Prince
Heyer’s Beauvallet (maybe stretching it a bit? But I had to include it!)

For more info on this great holiday, check out http://www.talklikeapirate.com/buzz.html. Check it out, or walk the plank!