Eventually, I decided to just write the scene without worrying about it or thinking of anyone else, just letting the characters lead the way (And Knigh certainly took things in a direction I (and Vice) wasn’t expecting! Naughty boy!). I figured that afterwards I could read and decide whether to tone it down, cut parts, etc.

In the end, I barely changed the scene and I actually think it’s one of the best things I’ve ever written. I’m really proud of it. So much is shown between them and it is a fitting culmination of all that sexual tension in what I hope is a great pay-off, while still showing how far they have left to go. Plus, you know, I happen to think it’s hot as hells. Phew!

Moving on to another issue where I had to make a call about what to show and what not to … I think it’s fair to say that my pirates are a fantasy version of pirates—the reality was a lot dirtier, deadlier, and frequently a lot less noble. Their reigns on the high seas tended to be much shorter thanks to unglamorous ends caused by stray gunshots and nasty diseases. Many of them also engaged in slavery, though there were others who stood against it and freed the enslaved people they encountered. Many pirate crews included former enslaved people in their number. Sad to say it, but even Sir Francis Drake engaged in the slave trade in his early career.

Some of the pirates referenced in BBS are real figures, like Ned Low and François l’Olonnais. Those two committed terrible acts of torture and were pretty horrifying people, even by the standards of the day.

History is full of beauty and horror, just like the modern world. In writing this series, I made a call about how far I wanted to stray into the horror and where on the spectrum of cruelty and nobility I wanted my pirates to sit. Again, I was guided by the initial idea of keeping this series fun and more light-hearted.

If you want to learn more about real pirates, I highly recommend the Pirate History Podcast, which is as entertaining as it is educational.

Just as my pirates are like real pirates and not, the world I write in is like the real world circa the 17th/18th century but not. Both the Beneath Black Sails series and Counterfeit Contessa series take place in the Sabreverse. Yes, I named it after the real stars of the show—the sabrecats that most cultures ride (rather than horses).

The CC books play out in not-Constantinople (Arianople in the Sabreverse), inspired by my dual British and Turkish Cypriot heritage, while, as you’ve seen, the BBS books take place between not-Britain (Albion) and the not-Caribbean (Arawaké).