FROM STAR SHOWBOAT SINGER TO PIRATE PREY ON THE WICKED RIVER!
Showboat singer Stella Parrot’s star rises in the Antebellum South with every sold-out performance along the lower Mississippi River. When a river pirate viciously assaults her, new friends Toby Freeman and John Dee Franklin foil the attack. However, the pirate’s family is bent on revenge.
Stella, Toby, and John Dee escape their riverboat with able assistance from young cub pilot Sam Clemens, only to be pursued by the notorious Burton Gang. As the trio runs for their lives, mortal perils await at every turn: a fierce storm, high-stakes gambling confrontations, deadly combat, and a cotton boat up in flames. Stella, a Cherokee Indian, and Toby, a free Black man, and their friend White man John Dee endure relentless racial prejudices and injustices in the gritty underbelly of the Wicked River while fleeing to New Orleans—where the Burtons will be waiting!
SHOWBOAT SOUBRETTE’s fast-paced lower river adventure chase features romantic showboat scenes and is unsparing in its exploration of the bigoted and sometimes lawless riverboat era.
Writing Interview Questions.
Why did you choose to write your book in this era?
I grew up a short drive from where the borders of Illinois, Iowa and Missouri intersect on the Mississippi River. Down the river a ways is the setting of SHOWBOAT SOUBRETTE. Families of affluent friends had river camps and pontoon boats, making a boating or fishing outing a special treat for lads like me, so I’ve always been a bit infatuated with the Big River. I remember wistfully thinking that ‘really making it in life’ would be one of the stately houses high on the riverbank that loomed over river towns like Quincy, Illinois, Hannibal, Missouri, and Burlington, Iowa.
The seeds of SHOWBOAT SOUBRETTE were likely sown decades ago, when Dad packed us into the station wagon for a drive to Hannibal and the world of Mark Twain. I remember traipsing around the cave he made famous, marveling at a replica of his white-washed fence, but most of all begging to be able to take home his books from the gift shop. Tom Sawyer, Huckleberry Finn, A Connecticut Yankee, Pudd’nhead Wilson. I wanted all of them!
Ultimately, extended family lore led me to this story. We have a charcoal portrait of a beautiful young Cherokee woman. She was referenced in a family letter from long ago that indicates this woman walked the Trail of Tears in 1838. We also have an old letter that describes the family’s migration from North Carolina to Missouri in the Antebellum South. A little White boy traveled across country by wagon train accompanied by a young Black boy. I don’t have other details about the lives of these three. My book is a “whole cloth” imagining of how they might have interacted.
Did you find researching this era particularly difficult? What was the hardest thing to find out, and did you come across anything particularly surprising?
There are a couple of difficulties to researching the Antebellum South. Of course, mid-19th century historical resources tend to concentrate on the years after the period ended, in other words the American Civil War, or War Between the States. In addition, writings on the realities of the institution of slavery during the Antebellum South are not as plentiful as one might imagine; and examining them can of course be heart-wrenching.
To understand a historical period, I’ve found the best sources are often the words of those who bore witness. Frederick Law Olmsted was a renowned Northerner (he later was one of the developers of New York’s Central Park and served as a commissioner of that unique urban park) who left an invaluable account of his travels through slave states in the decade preceding the Civil War: The Cotton Kingdom: A Traveller’s Observations on Cotton and Slavery in the American Slave States, 1853-1861. Olmsted’s memoirs record societal racist attitudes and practices teeming with an abject cruelty that is almost beyond belief today. Solomon Northrup’s tragic story of being kidnapped and sold into bondage in the Deep South for twelve years is recounted in Twelve Years a Slave.
While I can’t say that research findings regarding Antebellum South racial hatred were surprising, I found that researching constraints to my characters’ mixed-race romantic desires raised my ire. A Black man’s observed affections towards a White woman could result in a whipping or even lynching. Societal racist attitudes were codified in laws against White and Black romantic partnering. Anti-miscegenation laws criminalized interracial marriages. Yet privileged slave-owning planters seemed to make their own rules regarding interracial relations. One of my characters is told by a wizened old doctor that “there weren’t a fine-featured Black woman on the lower river who hadn’t had to deal with a White man.”
Sources that illuminated riverboat life in Antebellum times were likewise less plentiful than I anticipated. With a nod to Sam Clemens as a supporting character in SHOWBOAT SOUBRETTE, my study of the period started with Twain’s Life on the Mississippi, which captures the majesty and navigational dangers of the mighty Mississippi during his cub pilot days. George Devol was a long-time riverboat gambler who recounted many violent, lawless, and sometimes humorous incidents in his autobiography: Forty Years a Gambler on the Mississippi.
In terms of a surprising find about river life, an incredible number of ships had sunk on the Mississippi and other American waterways by the mid-19th century. Perhaps 400 steamboats rested at the bottom of the Mississippi River by 1860 due to snags, fires, collisions and explosions causing loss of life in the hundreds or perhaps thousands.
Can you share something about the book that isn’t covered in the blurb?
SHOWBOAT SOUBRETTE contains a scene in which a kind Black family gives shelter to my three protagonists as they flee from river pirates. The family had once been slaves, freed by a plantation owner’s widow, and now live in a spartan existence along the river. The husband and wife are kind and generous with their few resources and maintain a loving, nurturing environment within their family unit. But they must rely on big plantations for riverboat-loading work and at all times keep a wary eye out for soul-stealing slave hunters who would capture and sell them for profit, notwithstanding their freedom. During the Antebellum South on the Lower River, a freed Black person wasn’t truly free.
If you had to describe your protagonist(s), in three words, what would those three words be and why?
Stella Parrot – Star. Resilient. Awakening. Stella is a rising star, the center of every audience’s attention and aspires to even greater heights, perhaps to match the Swedish Nightingale, the leading diva of the day. Stella is a survivor. As a young woman, she suffered sexual abuse before getting her chance to sing on stage. Even now as a star, she must overcome racial prejudice. If the show falls flat, “as a woman of color she’d take the blame.” Life in the spotlight is a knife’s edge for Stella, but her singing is top notch and her future is bright until a river pirate viciously assaults her. Two new friends, Toby Freeman and John Dee Franklin, come to her aid and she finds herself completely reliant on them for survival. Can she find her own inner strength to overcome mortal perils as the three flee from the river pirates? As her alliance with Toby and John Dee deepens, Stella begins to wonder if something, namely romance and passion, is missing in her life.
Toby Freeman – Wronged. Courageous. Loyal. Toby is a handsome and physically strong young Black man. Enslaved in his youth, he is free now, and his memories of the horrible realities of involuntary servitude often shape his reactions to situations. His emotional rudder is a strong sense of right and wrong. Toby’s essential conflict is to survive, and prosper to the extent he can, in a world of harsh social divisions. He conducts business successfully on the Lower River, arm in arm with his life-long White friend, John Dee Franklin. Yet, ever-lurking in Toby’s world are pervasive societal and institutional prejudices that can threaten his freedom or even his life at any time. Toby courageously intervenes when a pirate assaults Stella, then must run for his life and count on John Dee more than ever. Reflections in quiet moments during the chase cultivate Toby’s yearnings for a place where he can love whoever he wants, free of racism. Can he find a place where he can prosper as a Black businessman, and maybe raise a family, even if doing so jeopardizes his partnership with John Dee?
John Dee Franklin. Charismatic. Driven. Loyal. John Dee is an energetic White man with a passion for making money, whether by means of commerce or in the card room. He forges trading and gambling contacts up and down the Mississippi. He appreciates the company of beautiful women, turns a witty phrase and spins engaging yarns. Toby Freeman is always at John Dee’s side and has been since they were young boys. A faint resemblance between the two men causes Stella to question whether they are half-brothers. Brothers by blood or not, Toby is the most important thing in John Dee’s life and maintaining Toby’s freedom in a world of institutional slavery is paramount to John Dee. John Dee will do just that by any means necessary, whether ruse or violence. But reconciling his love of Riverboat adventures with Toby’s dream of a better life may be impossible.
What was the most challenging part about writing your book?
SHOWBOAT SOUBRETTE’s essential conflict deals with the stark social divisions during the Antebellum Period on the Lower Mississippi River. My characters must deal with and overcome inequities that are almost beyond belief today. Perhaps my most instructive research sources were eye witness accounts of events that took place during the institution of slavery. Reading passages from these sources gave me emotions ranging from profound sadness to fury.
Was there anything that you edited out of this book that would have drastically affected the story, should it be left in?
In the Antebellum South the Lower River could be lawless, unjust, and incredibly violent. My protagonists find themselves chased by river pirates in a harrowing adventure that draws on all these elements. I toned down a violent assault scene as I revised my manuscript. I think there is a fine line between violence that evokes revelatory character actions and moves the story forward, and violence that is distracting and off-putting. I tried to toe that line.
What are you currently working on?
I am hard at work on a sequel that takes my protagonists into the American Civil War. Questions that need to be answered are raised about the future of romantic relationships at the end of SHOWBOAT SOUBRETTE. We get into those, and characters must determine whose side they’re on. An outcome determinative Civil War campaign was Grant’s taking of the city of Vicksburg on the Mississippi River. I see my characters playing an espionage role involving some of the key military figures in the Vicksburg campaign that just might have a hand in turning the tide.
What would you tell an aspiring author who had some doubts about their writing abilities?
Invest some time learning the craft of writing. After you’ve done that, your confidence grows, and your output increases, as does the quality of words on the paper. In my case, I received some harsh criticism about my early efforts on my debut novel. You see, I had never been trained in creative writing or writing fiction but I’d written tens of thousands of pages of legal memorandums, business letters, and corporate reports. When inspiration for my story struck, I was certain I could write a novel. Actor, action, subject. No problem. But some very talented professionals disabused me of that notion with their comments to my first manuscript. I thought seriously about throwing my pen in the bin and heading to the driving range. But instead, I put the pen down, and set about educating myself on the craft of writing and building some skills. For probably half a year, I read writing instructional books and blogs, and did innumerable writing exercises. Viewpoint, voice, the narrative, sourcing, premise, themes, suspense, raising the stakes. Then I rewrote, with confidence in my new skills and a most certainly a higher level of competence.
Personal Interview Questions.
What do you like to do when you are not writing?
I’m at a flexible enough stage in life to pursue quite a few things. Together with wife Sue, we travel a fair bit. Most of it is centered around our boys, but their activities and lives have allowed us to see so many great places. The oldest is in Boston—is there a better city in the US? Our youngest is currently “studying” abroad in Sydney so we have a great excuse to go there! At home, we love to hit a good restaurant and I do lots of road biking to deal with the calories!
What did you want to be when you grew up?
Growing up, Dad was a college football coach. Sports were a centerpiece for us. So I always wanted to be a professional athlete. I tried lots of sports and made it to the college level when a lack of talent doomed that passion!
What’s for dinner tonight? What would you rather be eating?
Tonight, we have our son and niece for a terrific dinner at the Oyster Inn. If I had my preference, I’d be enjoying the delicious creation of one of my dear friends and master chefs Kenny, RJ or Dave on the deck during a pleasant evening overlooking the lake.
What would be a perfect day?
A lot of summer days at the lake are perfect. Have a morning cup of brew and catch up on world goings-on. Write or more likely revise for a good while. Prep the bikes and take off with Sue for a long ride on country roads, appreciating the growing crops, birds and serenity of Great Midwest farmlands. An afternoon of reading, maybe sprinkling in some frisbee time with our Border Collie Bandit and maybe watering the beautiful annuals on the deck and around the house. Dinner on the deck overlooking the serene lake with friends.
What is the best part of your day?
Late afternoon chats with Sue to catch up on our respective days, maybe with a glass of wine or a cup of tea.
Either or!
Tea or coffee: Coffee, but a cup of tea in the afternoon especially on chilly Colorado days.
Hot or cold: Hot!
Movie or book: Book.
Morning person or Night owl: Morning person.
City or country: I have it both ways: City house in Denver and lake house in the country in the Great Midwest.
Social Media or book: Book.
Paperback or ebook: Paperback.
Raised in the Midwest, Brodie Curtis was educated as a lawyer and left the corporate world to embrace life in Colorado with his wife and two sons.
Curtis is the author of THE FOUR BELLS, a novel of The Great War, which is the product of extensive historical research, including long walks through the fields of Flanders, where much of the book's action is set. His second novel, ANGELS AND BANDITS, takes his protagonists into The Battle of Britain. Curtis’ third novel is set on a Mississippi Riverboat prior to the Civil War.
A lover of history, particularly American history and the World Wars, Curtis reviews historical fiction for the Historical Novels Review and more than 100 of his published reviews and short takes on historical novels can be found on his website: brodiecurtis.com.
