Let us Talk of Many Things; of Books and Queens and Pirates, of Mystery and Kings...: A Novel Conversation with John Danielski and Captain Tom Pennywhistle

Friday 20 March 2020

A Novel Conversation with John Danielski and Captain Tom Pennywhistle

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To be a little different from the usual
'meet the author'

let's meet a
character...

Captain Tom Pennywhistle

from

Q: Hello, I’m Helen, host of Novel Conversations, please do make yourself comfortable. Would you like a drink? Tea, coffee, wine – something stronger? You’ll find a box of chocolates and a bowl of fruit on the table next to you, please do help yourself. I believe you are a character in John Danielski’s novel Bellerophon’s Champion. Would you like to introduce yourself? Are you a lead character or a supporting role?

A: My name is Royal Marine Captain Thomas Pennywhistle: serving his Britannic Majesty in the wars against the Corsican ogre Napoleon Bonaparte. As a marine, I am equally skilled at fighting at sea and on land. I am the lead character in my author’s current work.

Q: What genre is the novel and what is it about?

A: My author’s work is considered Napoleonic nautical fiction but he prefers a term of his own devising: a Napoleonic techno-thriller. His current work recounts the role of HMS Bellerophon during the Battle of Trafalgar where I commanded the ship’s 72 marines. I was however, a lieutenant at the time.

HMS Bellerophon
or 'Billy Ruffian'
as she was affectionately known

Q: No spoilers, but are you a ‘goodie’ or a ‘baddie’? (Or maybe you are both?)

A: I would dispute being called a hero though many have accounted me such. It is a small minded leader who does not give most of the credit for his success to the efforts of the men he commands. Unlike some officers who inspire the men but leave the distasteful business of actual killing to the “other ranks,” I believe an officer must be the greatest warrior among his men and not be squeamish about shedding blood. I do not like killing but I have trained long and hard to be good at it. My author informs me that if I lived in your time I would probably be a member of The Special Air Service.

Q: Tell me about another character in the novel – maybe your best friend, lover or partner … or maybe your arch enemy!

A: I ended up being the de facto commander of the Marines on Bellerophon because my fellow officers consisted of a boy, a coward, and a dying consumptive. I owed my survival much more to my sergeant, Andrew Dale, than those fellows.

Q: Is this the only novel you have appeared in, or are there others in a series?

A: I have appeared in four other novels which constitute a series: “Active’s Measure,” “The King’s Scarlet,” “Blue Water Scarlet Tide,” and “Capital’s Punishment.”

Q: What is one of your least favourite scenes you appear in?

A: Trafalgar was my baptism of fire and I disliked the author sharing my innermost doubts in the hours before the battle; worries about whether I would be a conqueror or a cur.

Q: And your favourite scene?

A: Repelling the third and final boarding attempt of the French ship L’Aigle. My men were badly outnumbered but prevailed because I obsessed about something that the French did not: training.

Q: Tell me a little about your author. Has he written any other books?

A: He is as zealous about research as I am about training. In research as in battle, the devil is in the details and it is important to get them right. He also knows his weaponry well since he has fired all of the weapons talked about in his books. He worked for four summers as a living history interpreter; playing a United States soldier of 1827.

Q: Is your author working on anything else at the moment?

A: Yes it is a story of the Congress of Vienna that is so sweeping that it will take two books to tell it. The first book is titled “Bombproofed” and the second “Attaché Extraordaire. “ They are set in Washington, London, and Vienna.

Q: How do you think authors can be helped or supported by readers or groups? What does your author think is the most useful for him personally?

A: The best support is posting reviews both on Amazon and Goodreads. They are the life’s blood of authors. Many people fail to post a review because they think it must be both lengthy and a literary masterpiece. They fail to understand that the best reviews are short, pithy, and speak simple words from the heart.

Q: If your author was to host a dinner party what guests would he/she invite and why? Maximum nine guests – real, imaginary, alive or dead.

A : Grant because he was a complex man often misunderstood. Gertrude Stein read his memoirs as a girl and copied her literary style from it. My author would love to have Grant talking to Nelson and both to Napoleon. Locke could explain his principles of government while Newton could respond with principles of the universe. Mark Twain would supply the savage wit. Roosevelt and Franklin were both polymaths and would have a lot in common. The Byzantine Empress Theodora would be the woman of power and probably would enjoy a chat with Napoleon.

(images from Wikipedia)

Thank you Captain Pennywhistle it was a pleasure talking to you. Would your author like to add a short excerpt?

EXCERPT

Pennywhistle’s reward for instilling a measure of respect for the enemy in Higgins was an increase in his own anxiety. His deep-set, emerald eyes darkened, he scratched his nose to banish an itch that would not go away, and puckered then relaxed his lips every few seconds. Though the temperature was moderate, he felt as if he were standing on an ice flow rather than a deck of oak. His heavy scarlet coat was no protection against a chill that existed only in his mind. He removed his plumed coachman’s hat and let the slight breeze ruffle his sandy red hair. The sweat band was saturated.

“Finally going to meet the lion,” he whispered to himself. He recalled that the expression for a man undergoing his first battle had originated at the Tower of London. Its menagerie was the only place in England where the King of Beasts could be seen; those who did so felt they had accomplished something rare and remarkable.

His mouth felt as dry as his perspiring hands were wet. His stomach made ugly noises as lances of bile tried to skewer legions of butterflies.

He extended his left hand and then his right, relieved that both remained steady and unwavering.

He had chosen the white wool trousers with the loops that extended under his Hessian boots; the loops made his trousers fit more closely and encouraged the illusory belief that the tighter the protective carapace, the safer the occupant.

Pennywhistle meditated about his death from variety of cosmic perspectives, yet his thoughts did not spawn religious fervor or tearful contrition. While many on board were offering up silent prayers in hopes of cultivating the merciful attentions of the Deity, he did not do so. He conceived of God as a watchmaker who had set the Universe running, then stepped away to observe His handiwork.

His greatest allies today would not be God and the angels, but thorough training, good reflexes, and the staunchest friends of his intellect: reason, observation, and deduction. They had made possible the preparations which gave him a fighting chance of surviving the hours ahead. Those three warriors of wisdom would never desert him, no matter how seductively hot blood or cold fear beckoned them to do so. For Pennywhistle, clear thinking was a greater ally than the power of faith.