Bonnie Pryor is the author of several of Enslow's historical fiction books, including the Hannah Pritchard trilogy. She took some time recently to talk to us about how she combines historical facts with her fictional characters.
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| Bonnie Pryor |
Enslow: What is your favorite childhood memory about books?
Enslow: How
has your upbringing influenced your writing?
Bonnie: I suppose I had a fairly sheltered childhood
with strict parents, so I have trouble imagining bad characters.
Enslow: When
did your interest in writing historical fiction start?
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| Hannah Pritchard: Pirate of the Revolution (Book 1) |
Bonnie: I’ve always enjoyed reading historical
fiction, but, for some reason or other, I didn’t think of it until about
fifteen years ago when an editor (knowing I liked historical fiction) suggested
I try writing some.
Enslow: What
was your biggest challenge when writing The Hannah Pritchard trilogy?
Bonnie: Fitting what was going on in the real world
at that time into my story – for instance, John Paul Jones being in Portsmouth,
NH, and Paul Revere in Boston.
Enslow: What
is your favorite trait of your female pirate character, Hannah Pritchard?
Bonnie: Hannah is strong and independent. She figures
things out and takes care of them on her own.
Enslow: Hannah
finds herself aboard an American privateer ship during the Revolutionary War
and has to hide her female identity to be able to work as a cabin boy. How do
you think this reflects the roles of women during this time period?
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| Pirate Hannah Pritchard: Captured (Book 2) |
Bonnie: Except for a few female pirates, who were not
very nice characters, women were considered bad luck on a ship. Although women
worked as hard and as well as men, they were restricted by the society of the
times as to what they could and couldn’t do.
Enslow: Hannah
and her friends must complete some important missions for the Continental navy
and outsmart an enemy pirate in a race to bring home the buried treasure.
What’s your secret to writing fabulous adventures while still referencing real
people and real historical events?
Bonnie: I did a lot of research to get the timelines
correct in my head. The events that were actually happening then were exciting,
so it wasn’t hard to fit them into the story.
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| Captain Hannah Pritchard: The Hunt for Pirate Gold (Book 3) |
Enslow: What
do you and Hannah have in common?
Bonnie: Like Hannah, I’m an independent person with a
mind of my own and I’ve always been fairly interested in having adventures.
Enslow: If
you could trade places for a day with one historical character, who would it be
and why?
Bonnie: It would be Margaret Mead. Growing up I
admired her and her amazing adventures as an anthropologist and actually
thought about going into that field.
About the Author:
Bonnie Pryor claims she was ‘born loving books’ and it
certainly seems as if books are the warp and weft upon which the threads of her
life are woven.
Thirty years after the publication of her first book, Grandpa
Bear, she has written and had published a total of
thirty-seven books for children and young adults. Though her first love is
picture books, she has written easy-to-read books, chapter books, mysteries, and
historical fiction. Many of her books have been translated into different
languages and are sold in countries around the world.
REVIEW
–Library Media Connection, March 2008
SPECIAL EBOOK OFFER FOR A LIMTED TIME ONLY!
Consumers can take advantage of a SPECIAL OFFER on the eBook versions of the Hannah Pritchard trilogy from their favorite eBook retailers including Amazon and Kobo. For a limited time, Hannah Pritchard: Pirate of the Revolution (Book 1) is only 99 cents and Pirate Hannah Pritchard: Captured (Book 2) is just $3.49. Captain Hannah Pritchard: The Hunt for Pirate Gold (Book 3) is also available for $7.69.
Consumers can take advantage of a SPECIAL OFFER on the eBook versions of the Hannah Pritchard trilogy from their favorite eBook retailers including Amazon and Kobo. For a limited time, Hannah Pritchard: Pirate of the Revolution (Book 1) is only 99 cents and Pirate Hannah Pritchard: Captured (Book 2) is just $3.49. Captain Hannah Pritchard: The Hunt for Pirate Gold (Book 3) is also available for $7.69.
