Author Archives: Felicity Banks Books

7:00am I saw girls playing on a beach as we drew close. ‘Let’s attack some other island,’ I said hastily. ‘People with kids never have much loot.’  8:00am Sol politely traded a silver necklace for anchorage. She ordered our remaining crew to be good – no stealing, no killing – not yet.  3:00pm I boughtContinue reading “Companion to Day Twenty-Nine: Landsickness”

I think weekly (ish) updates are in order, so here’s “Worse Things Happen at Sea” so far: 1 August. 8am Sun. Pain. I cracked open my eyes and saw land. ‘Sol!’ I said. ‘CAPTAIN Sol,’ she said – and crumpled.   ‘We’re saved,’ I said. ‘Right? SOL!’   9am Sol awoke. She sat up, unsticking herContinue reading “Companion to Day Twenty-Seven: Story so far”

5:30am ‘Do we fight now?’ I asked. Sol said, ‘Anyone got a sword? No? Never mind. Oldy – come.’ We waited in silence, and heard nothing at all.  9:00am Sol said, ‘They’re all asleep.’ ‘A healing sleep,’ Oldy said, ‘which I wish I had time to give you.’ We scoffed pie before we started work.Continue reading “Companion to Day Twenty-Six: The Trial”

 7:30pm I woke slumped against Oldy’s fuzzy beard. Sol was gone. Only our bodies held us up. Then Sol appeared with her arms full. ‘Anyone thirsty?’   9:50pm Sol brought us food and life all night. Our guard almost saw her, but she passed magically through the outer wall of the ship until he left.Continue reading “Companion to Day Twenty-Five: Writing Tips”

10:00am The sun glinted on something so we sailed for it: a pirate ship. “Huzzah,” said Sol, “they’ll have food AND treasure.” They chased us. [more to come today] ————————————————- Hello to Caleb, Brook, Simone and all the other weird and fascinating creatures I met today. If I can squeeze in a broadside, I’ll doContinue reading “Companion to Day Twenty-Four: SMS/Email”

1:00pm We reached land, searched empty houses, and found a child’s skeleton clutching at dirt. ‘Anyone want to leave?’ Sol said. No-one spoke. ___________________________________ It’s official: the next twittertale will be entitled “Daylight”, set in Canberra – a tale of a pandemic known as EMO, transmitted among young people. Symptoms include pale skin, dark clothes,Continue reading “Companion to Day Twenty-Three: Daylight”

8:00am I showed Sol our hold. She said, ‘We still have food for – what – two days?’ ‘About that,’ I said, ‘and we’re out of soap.’ ‘I’d noticed.’ ___________________ Pirates often stole soap. Turns out even the biggest ships lack a general store.

5:00am Oldy sauntered in and helped himself to salty breakfast stew. ‘Didn’t you go with Li?’ I asked. He shrugged, ‘I came back.’ 3:00pm ‘Who stole my boat?’ Sol screamed. Oldy raised his hand. ‘You’re a fine captain. We won’t need it.’ Sol said, ‘You’ll live – for now.’ —————————————————— I may have mentioned thatContinue reading “Companion to Day Twenty-One: Blackbeard’s Beard”

Here’s the whole story so far, in chronological order with times (set to Jakarta): 1 August. 8am Sun. Pain. I cracked open my eyes and saw land. ‘Sol!’ I said. ‘CAPTAIN Sol,’ she said – and crumpled.   ‘We’re saved,’ I said. ‘Right? SOL!’   9am Sol awoke. She sat up, unsticking her tarred hairContinue reading “Companion to Day Twenty: Story so far”

8:30am Sol cheated at lessons, using magic to bend the swords – then the teacher. Luckily Oldy was a healer. ‘Kindly stop breaking arms,’ he said.   6:30pm ‘Wanna be free?’ Li asked. I said, ‘Sol already freed me.’ She hauled on a sail. ‘Do you really think that?’ I tied a knot. ‘Don’t you?’Continue reading “Companion to Day Nineteen: Oldy interview”

8:30am ‘But you ARE a girl,’ I said. ‘No I ain’t.’ ‘Don’t the men know?’ ‘Coz it ain’t true,’ she said, and picked her nose at me. I gave up.   5:30pm ‘Li’s a girl,’ I told Oldy. ‘Don’t worry,’ he said, ‘she’ll be fine.’ ‘How could anyone know that?’ He smiled, ‘I’m much olderContinue reading “Companion to Day Eighteen: Girl Pirates Part Two”

8:30am A man muttered something to his crewmates while Sol was out of sight. I crept up and grabbed his arm. He shrieked – EXACTLY like a girl. ____________________________________________________ I know what you’re all thinking: “We SAW Keira Knightley in Pirates of the Carribean 3 – women don’t look like women just because they wearContinue reading “Companion to Day Seventeen: Girl Pirates Part 1”

3:00pm My back and wrists ached. The sword tutor asked, ‘Will this island have women then?’ ‘I suppose.’ He cheered and toasted Sol – with my rum. ——————————————————————- I’ve had precisely one swordfighting lesson, and I know enough to know it takes more than one lesson. And the wrist angles just feel wrong. Sorta likeContinue reading “Companion to Day Sixteen: Swordfighting”

I’ll be writing another twittertale after “Worse Things Happen at Sea”. Some possible features are below for you to say “Yes”, “Maybe” or “Please No!” to. (It should be noted that I may ignore all votes, depending on what ideas work at the time.) Further suggestions are VERY welcome. The length will be between 2Continue reading “Companion to Day Fifteen: Vote”

“Worse Things Happen at Sea” is displayed in a nicer format at textnovel.com (search by the story title and you’ll see it). Each “chapter” is one day, and you can actually read it from begining to end (rather than having to read from the bottom up). You do have to sign up to view it,Continue reading “Companion to Day Fourteen: Textnovel”

A man is dead. This is one of those rare moments when twitter actually helps the story – because nothing else happens until tomorrow. The story dictates a moment of silence.

I think a large number of historians would agree that among the historical pirates (murderers, thieves, cutthroats, and fiends), the worse is Captain Blackbeard. One evening during dinner, he took his pistol from its holster and shot a member of his own crew in the knee, permanently laming him. His explanation was that people wouldContinue reading “Companion to Day Twelve: Blackbeard”

Yep, it’s all on purpose: Oldy (is that even a name?*) is a beggar who gives away food. He’s also someone who knows sailing – but pretended not to know until now. Gee, I wonder what’ll happen next! *No. It’s an abbreviation of “Old Man”.

Captain Sol likes being outside. I really don’t. I may have mentioned that it’s WINDY on board ship. Plus lots of salt in the air. And sometimes rain. With very limited drinking/showering water. I’m not generally fussy about my hair, but filthy things happen at sea. Just imagine itching, stinking, permanently tangled hair filled withContinue reading “Companion to Day Ten: Hair”

YES it is possible to accidentally make a ship go backwards. I know, because I did it on the Young Endeavour. (Angles of wind and so forth – if you turn so the wind is coming toward you, those big white sail thingys do what they’re supposed to do: catch it, and make you goContinue reading “Companion to Day Nine: Book Reviews”