====================================== S T O P - P R E S S ARTEMIS is launched this month in the UK ====================================== "THE BOSUN'S CHRONICLE" --- emailed to Shipmates around the world in the first week of each month --- VOL.2, ISSUE 4, April 2002 Avast there - and welcome aboard from the Bosun of the Thomas Kydd Shipmates' Network! 1) DECKLOG 2) HANDS TO MUSTER 3) NAUTICAL WEBSITE OF THE MONTH 4) ANATOMY OF A MAN-O'-WAR 5) ON THE STOCKS 6) SIGNALS FROM FOREIGN PARTS 7) DAYS OUT 8) REPORTS ==================== 1) DECKLOG --- events and activities --- The big event this month is the official UK launch of ARTEMIS in the Royal Naval Museum, Portsmouth. HMS Victory is situated right alongside! The launch will be held on April 4 in the beautiful McCarthy Gallery, named after Mrs Lily McCarthy CBE, one of the museum's principal benefactors. The Gallery houses the Nelson Exhibition. A full report next month! Last month Julian spoke at a Literary Dinner in Stafford, the West Midlands, at a 15th century listed moated manor house. While the venue itself is around 100 miles from the sea, the area has strong maritime links in Admiral Anson’s estate, Shugborough Hall. Admiral Anson’s fabulous wealth came from his share of the prize money from the Spanish treasure ships he captured during his incredible three-years-and-nine months voyage around the world; in today’s equivalent he was a multi-millionaire many times over. Julian was also invited to give the closing talk at the Essex Book Festival, one of the UK’s major literary festivals, where he gave a reading from ARTEMIS and spoke about some of the eighteenth-century nautical artefacts from his collection. He’s promised to chat with the Bosun for a future issue of this newsletter about what these tangible links to the past mean to him. Details of forthcoming author events are updated regularly on the website. ===================== 2) HANDS TO MUSTER --- Behind KYDD is a great team; each month "The Bosun's Chronicle" goes behind the scenes to talk to some of the Shipmates who have been involved in an aspect of the book --- This month we feature Sue Murray, Sales and Marketing Director of Hodder Moa in New Zealand and Mary Drum, her counterpart in Hodder Headline Australia. Sue is a teacher by profession, with some 25 years' experience in book publishing. She joined Hodder Moa Beckett in February 1999. Mary, a keen flier in her spare time, has been in publishing for 23 years, 8 of those with Hodder. ARTEMIS is published in Australia and New Zealand in May and Sue and Mary have organised a number of special promotional activities. +Bosun. KYDD has proved very popular in Australia/New Zealand. In fact, Australia was the biggest overseas market for Hodder, I believe. Why do you think the book had such appeal Down Under? +Sue. We are a seafaring nation, it’s part of our heritage and sailing is also a major pastime in New Zealand - so it’s not really surprising that KYDD was so well received here. +Mary. We, too, love ships and the sea. Also, the TV series of Hornblower was running at the time the series was launched in Australia and this helped increase reader awareness. +Bosun. What feedback have you had about the Thomas Kydd series? +Sue. The one thing that is echoed time and time again is its very credible, informative, yet buzzy writing style. There have been some fabulous reviews! [see REPORTS] +Mary. I’d certainly agree with that. As well as critical acclaim, there’s been praise from a growing band of male fans and we’ve also got very good feedback from female readers about the books. They love Kydd and are wondering who will play him when the movie is made! +Bosun. Do you have a favourite character in the series so far? +Sue. Absolutely! Over and above Kydd himself, it has to be Renzi! He brings the added dimension of intellect and the role of mentor to young Kydd. +Mary. For me it is Kydd himself, but there is such a wonderful range of characters, people to both like - and dislike. +Bosun. ARTEMIS is being printed locally. Can you tell us a little bit about this? +Sue. Printing locally, rather than importing from the UK, is a fast growing trend and in 2002 we will produce more locally printed books than ever before. There is a huge time saving in doing this. +Mary. Local printing takes three weeks and it certainly is a growing trend in New Zealand, too. NEXT MONTH: The Bosun speaks with Susanne Kirk, Vice President and Senior Editor at Scribner, Julian’s American publishers. Susanne has just been appointed his new editor. ==================== 3) NAUTICAL WEBSITE OF THE MONTH --- Every month Julian talks about a website with sea links --- THE SOCIETY FOR NAUTICAL RESEARCH Founded in 1910, the Society for Nautical Research is the pre-eminent such body in the world today. The saving of HMS Victory and the founding of the National Maritime Museum are due to the collective endeavours of members of the society. The website details some of the current work of the SNR, including the restoration and preservation of historic small craft such as Victory's working cutter, and the various seminars and events organised by the SNR throughout the year. There is also information on the Institute of Seamanship, recently formed to foster interest in sea skills. Membership of the society is open to all with an interest in the sea. Subscriptions include copies of "The Mariner's Mirror" (a fascinating journal of naval and maritime history, nautical archaeology and all aspects of seafaring and the lore of the sea) and the newsletter.(Can$75, US$60, £32; half price for students.) ==================== 4) ANATOMY OF A MAN-O'-WAR --- The sailing ships of Kydd's day were the most complex machines on the planet at that time --- ANCHORS When man took to the sea, the first anchors were simply large stones attached by rope to the craft. Gradually they evolved with claws to grip the sea bed. Eighteenth century anchors were made from massive iron rods forged together into one bar to form the shank or arms. These component parts were then welded together in a hammer forge. With no means of checking welds during those times, however, hidden defects sometimes meant that anchor arms broke off under severe strain. It is a fallacy to think that it is just the anchor that holds ships in a fixed position against a current. The weight of the anchor cable, which acts like a spring, is also crucial (ideally its length is between three and a half and five times the depth of water). Weighing anchor in a ship-of-the-line like “Duke William” was an extraordinarily complex evolution involving 200-300 men. Each main anchor stood the height of two or three men and weighed about 4 tons and each anchor cable itself weighed about 4.5 tons, making a total lift of 8.5 tons. This load had to be lifted manually, there was no mechanised means of providing power. The anchor cable itself was about two feet in circumference; in order to heave on the cable and weigh anchor a smaller endless rope, “the messenger” was taken around the capstan. In the largest warships, in addition to the two main anchors (bower anchors) there were two sheet anchors (which served as spares for the two bower anchors); one stream anchor (a lightweight anchor for use in low tide); and two kedge anchors (lightweight anchors used, for example, to “warp” the ship, haul her to a fixed point). The nineteenth century brought significant changes in anchor technology; metal cables were introduced, along with the close stowing anchor – and relief from the sheer reliance on man-power that faced sailors in Kydd’s day. ==================== 5) ON THE STOCKS --- News of upcoming books, foreign translations, audio versions, other products --- ARTEMIS Launched this month in the UK by Hodder & Stoughton. ISBN 0340 794 755. £12.99. An abridged audiobook is released at the same time – ISBN 1840 324 163. Read by Jack Davenport, £8.99. LIMITED EDITION PRINTS The covers of KYDD and ARTEMIS, specially commissioned oil paintings by Geoff Hunt, are now available as limited edition prints. The prints normally retail at £85 each or £150 for two. A special discount is being offered to Shipmates who need only mention they are subscribers to "The Bosun's Chronicle" to be entitled to a discount of £10 for one print and £20 for two. tel: 020 7386 5215 Artist biography Geoff Hunt is one of the world’s finest painters of 18th and 19th century ships. Through his research for paintings he is a leading authority on naval history and ship architecture of the period and has a special interest in the ships and commands of Lord Nelson. Geoff is the Vice President of Britain’s prestigious Royal Society of Marine Artists; in 2003 he will become President and oversee the leadup to the commemoration of the bicentenary of Trafalgar in 2005. GERMAN EDITION OF ARTEMIS The German edition of ARTEMIS is scheduled for release this September. ISBN 3 548 25439 X. It has been translated by Matthias Jendis MA, who also translated KYDD. ==================== 6) SIGNALS FROM FOREIGN PARTS --- We welcome news and views from Shipmates around the world --- This month's Shipmates are Todd Brandon, Nick Green and John Weaver. Todd Brandon lives on a 50,000 acre lake in South Carolina, where he enjoys relaxing aboard his 24-ft pontoon boat. He writes that his only time in a sailboat was while he was living in Florida when he and his wife took a couple of sunset cruises. Todd's interest in nautical historical fiction was sparked by the Hornblower series on TV, and, following his eight years' service in the army, he has a particular interest in the gunnery of Kydd's day. Nick Green was mad about sailing as a young man and used to potter about the Irish Sea whenever possible. Now semi-retired, and living in London, he is a cybernetician and shares Julian's admiration for the complexity of the man-o'-war. Nick believes that square riggers may be the formally most complex control systems ever devised with 200 analogue parameters defined by the settings at two hundred odd belaying points in, say, a frigate, ignoring the standing rigging. John Weaver lives in a leafy suburb of Melbourne with his wife and is soon to be a father again. Like most Australians, John is an avid sports follower. He also particularly enjoys action novels - and says that with KYDD once he started reading the book he felt he was living the adventure. He is eagerly awaiting ARTEMIS to continue the story... Julian would love to hear from you. Contact ==================== 7) DAYS OUT --- Each month we visit somewhere around the world of special nautical interest --- MUSEO STORICO NAVALE, Venice Venice had a long and proud naval history. The Arsenale, its great shipbuilding centre, was the heart of the Venetian maritime power and at its peak was the largest shipyard in the world, employing 16,000 artisans. Today the area is a military zone, not accessible to the public. However Venice’s rich nautical heritage has been preserved in the Museo Storico Navale, administered by the Italian Navy. It is housed in a building dating back to the fifteenth century, which was formerly the Granary of the Most Serene Republic of Venice. There are exhibits (unusually for Venice, labelled in English and French) on five floors in 42 galleries. Among the most interesting exhibits are those found in Room 10, which is devoted to large models of the square-rigged ships which were built in the Arsenale from about 1660 when cannon broadsides and firing in line replaced the tactics of galleys in the strategy of Mediterranean naval warfare. In an adjacent room there is a splendid model of the Doge’s (the Venetian ruler) ceremonial barge, the Bucintoro, from which on Ascension Day the Doge would throw a ring into the lagoon, symbolising the marriage of Venice to the sea. Museo Storico Navale – Riva San Biagio, Castello, Venice. Open weekdays 8:45-1:30 pm =================== 8) REPORTS Since its launch in April KYDD has attracted a great deal of notice - and many column inches in publications all around the world. These published reviews are on the official Julian Stockwin website This issue we share some of the reviews of KYDD that have appeared recently in New Zealand's press. + Hawkes Bay Today "The author knows his history and his ships. Every action seems authentic. This is a page-turner; the nautical exploits of the time come alive, as do the harsh realities of the times...I really recommend it!" +Christchurch Press "From a landlubber's point of view, this is great reading..." + The Northern Advocate "The difference in Stockwin's novel to others I have read is that a lot of time is spent below deck...Stockwin writes knowledgeably [and] dramatically..." And from MyShelf.com, an internet site ”This is a most enjoyable book… by the end I felt that I had served my apprenticeship as landman just like Kydd!… A wonderfully evocative and excellent beginning to a new series.” To whet your appetite even more for ARTEMIS, here is what Amazon's respected Barry Forshaw had to say: "It's remarkable how quickly the interest in colourful naval adventure has grown in recent years. Foremost among able practitioners Julian Stockwin and his new book, ARTEMIS, builds on the solid achievements of the much-acclaimed KYDD: here again is the same flinty characterisation, stunning narrative skills and (most of all) considerable imaginative skill in evoking the wind-lashed atmosphere of the best nautical novels..." ================== ++FEATURE COMPETITION++ Question three: What was the name of Buddles' wife? (Questions one and two appeared in the last two issues and the last question will appear in the newsletter next month.) To enter the competition to win a complete set of signed editions of the English language editions of KYDD send the answers to all four questions to . Deadline: May 25. First correct entry drawn on May 30 wins! Yours aye, THE BOSUN ++ Back issues of the newsletter by request ++ (To unsubscribe this newsletter email ) ================== JULIAN HAS THE LAST WORD You will probably have seen the announcement in the press from Lloyd’s List that they intend to refer to ships from now on as “it” not “she”. Julian shares many Shipmates’ shock at this disregard for history and tradition - and would like to make it clear that there will be no such nonsense in the Thomas Kydd novels!