Yo Ho! Yo Ho! A pirate’s life for me… you might start singing Pirates of the Caribbean song after reading the title “A Pirate’s Life for Tea”. It’s a cosy fantasy novel by USA Today, Indie, and Sunday Times bestselling author Rebecca Thorne, out in October 2024 by Tor (the Pan Macmillan imprint that specializes in out-of-this-world speculative fiction). “A Pirate’s Life for Tea” has plenty of queer pirates, magicians and pet griffons, there’s a crocheted whale, lots of wine and – of course – steaming cups of tasty tea.
“A Pirate’s Life for Tea” is a sequel to “Can’t Spell Treason without Tea” in the “Tomes and Tea” series. (The title for the planned third novel will be “Tea You at the Altar”.) But each book can be read seperately, too. It’s a fun, adventurous and cosily magical novel with lots of sailing (and fighting) on old ships and featuring some supercool lesbians. It all happens in an imagined place with a powerful river flowing right through it.
“But rivers held an ancient power, stronger even than stone… and the Nacean was the largest river in the Realm. Controlling it for more than a few breaths would take immense preparation.”
The Sea Library is happy to have this book in its collection and share with the community of readers with a soft spot for pirate stories. While reading the novel and carrying it with me everywhere I went, its magic seemed to be leaking out of the pages: I found an emu feather on the ground that served as a bookmark, I had a chance to let a lemur with a striped tail crawl all over me as if I would be anchored on a far-away coast (and he managed to steel a floss pick from my back pocket!). Then one night a huge and unusual storm hit our city and the next morning we woke up in an apocalyptic scenery of teared down trees, ruined parks, flooded streets and gardens, while our house (and the Sea Library) and yard was standing safe and sound as if protected by some magic hand against torrental rain and winds. Kianthe, one of the main characters in the novel, is a master of elemental magic: reading the river with her fingers dipped in the water, playing with winds, igniting a fire and being able to stop all that…
The Sea Library Magazine had a chance to ask Rebecca Thorne more about pirates, queer stories, water, writing and dreams and, of course, magic.
Cosy Fantasy – how did you find yourself in this sub-genre and what do you love most about it?
I found my way to cozy fantasy after finding Travis Baldree’s Legends & Lattes in a local bookstore. I remember being so excited, because all I’d ever been told was to “up the stakes” in my own writing, so finding something so proudly “low stakes” was lovely. I think that’s still what I love most about the genre: the fact that I’m free to explore my characters without constantly shoving trauma their way. Finding the perfect flavor of tea is an acceptable subplot in cozy fantasy, which is wonderful!
“A Pirate’s Life for Tea” is a sequel to “Can’t Spell Treason without Tea” and both books are part of “Tomes and Tea” series. Can you tell more about this series: how did you develop the idea and what does it mean for a writer to write a series?
I wanted the Tomes and Tea series to really remind my readers of an old favorite of mine: Tamora Pierce’s Tortall quartets. I remember the comfort I felt revisiting that world over and over, learning more each time, watching my favorite characters grow and shift as they aged. It was an exciting attempt to do the same with my own writing—following my two MCs over several years as they learn how to live together, love each other, and grow their own business—amongst magic, dragons, and royal drama, of course! To me, that’s what a series accomplishes: a safe haven for readers, where the barrier to entry is removed because they already know and love your characters and world!
This book emerged on my horizon partly because it features pirates. What is your own relationship with pirates? Did you dream about them as a kid? Did you read pirate novels to get inspired for this book? They seem so cool – not like any other criminal. Besides, Serina in your book is more of a Robin Hood than a bad criminal.
Yes, I loved pirates as a kid! I went to see Pirates of the Caribbean in theaters, and was delighted at the witty dialogue and incredible action. I think Jack Sparrow is such a fun character—so incompetent, right until the moment he isn’t. I definitely channeled a bit of that into my character Dreggs, the dastardly pirate captain Serina meets along her journey. I had to think long and hard about how I wanted to frame the pirates in my book, because Kianthe wouldn’t abide by lawlessness… unless it was also romantic, and no one was getting hurt.
To let you in on a secret, though… A Pirate’s Life for Tea was directly inspired by the song The Last Saskatchewan Pirate. I especially love the version by the Derina Harvey Band, which is how I came up with the name Serina in the first place!
I truly loved the elemental magic in your book and how the river was alive. What does river, sea and water mean to you personally?
As a desert dweller, water is life—which is why the Nacean River in this book is the most powerful ley line in the Realm. Like, it made such sense to me: of course the greatest river would have a great personality to match. And even better that Kianthe, an elemental mage, could play with it, to a point. But despite Kianthe’s magical ability, I don’t think any one person can control the forces of nature… hence why Kianthe’s power with the Nacean is more persuasion and scolding than actually controlling the river’s whim. But I’m definitely the person who gets giddy when it rains (rare, in my part of the world), and who will always choose to sit by a lake first and foremost.
The dedication page might become the most shared on social media, I believe, when the book will be out. “To the people who gave me one-star reviews because the first book “had lesbians”. I doubled the lesbians in this one. Just for you.” How huge is this problem in the book-world in your opinion – are there enough queer stories out there?
I mean, no, I don’t think we’ll ever see enough queer stories—but that’s probably a selfish mentality on my part. I just want more and more and more of them, LOL. That dedication came about simply because of three homophobic reviews I received with Treason, back when it was self-published. The first one, I shrugged off, but finally I got annoyed enough to take it to the internet—and was shocked to see that people delighted in spiteful responses to it. I think that speaks to the world at large; especially in the USA, the trans community is actively being attacked, which means we need more trans stories, more queer stories, more normalized lifestyles outside the traditional cookie cutter ‘50s family. I will say, this doesn’t seem like a huge problem in the side of publishing I’m in, though—Tor has historically been very supportive of queer voices, and indie spaces in particular are welcoming of diverse novels. But there’s always more to do!
In your novel Kianthe is starting to write her own book. Apart from being a writer (who tries to write three books a year!) You also help others by sharing advice on publishing. What advice do you wish someone would have told you when you started?
I… actually think I got most of the advice that I give today, and I don’t really regret my publishing path or wish I’d received better advice years ago. I always knew it would take ages to get published, and that it’d happen eventually. So all the advice I received—or didn’t—led me down the path I walk today, which is everything I dreamed and more. I give a lot of advice to writers to try and cut down that wait time for them, since my breakout novel took me 10 years and 15 books… but a decade of writing is why my books are decent now. I’m not sure I’d change anything, so I don’t really have advice on that side!
Do you have a favorite writer or book that you keep returning to?
Tamora Pierce. I will reread her books over and over until the end of time. I also find myself often re-reading This is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone, because I think it’s beautifully written and a gorgeous love story.
What’s true magic in your life?
My friends, my relationships. I’m blessed with an incredibly wonderful, supportive group of friends who have watched me struggle for years trying to be published—and who cheered so loudly and proudly when I finally made it. I’m grateful for them every single day!
Do you still cherish the dream of opening a bookshop that serves tea?
Yes. One day I will do it. I’m scheming to find a small mountain town, buy an old barn, and repurpose it into a ridiculously quaint bookshop and tea house where I can spend my days writing in a corner table and watching people fawn over my plants. Some day!
Thank you!
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