Exploring Pirate Shenanigans in Ella Shine’s Latest Story

HOME AGAIN

Hello friends and faithful blog followers,

I arrived back home from a two week trip to Europe over a week ago, but my head is still filled with the people I was with and the places I visited. I hope to share some of my experiences and how they impact my two WIPs; Out of the Flame and Nightmare in Nuremberg. Wherever a writer goes, she sees stories all around her.

Thankfully, while I was gone, Kate Lundeen was busy reading and reviewing books. Here is the seventh book in the Pet Sitters series and a note on the collaboration behind these chapter books for readers age 5-9.

REVIEW

Ella Shine’s tale, Pirate Problems, is the perfect book for swashbuckling 7-9-year-old animal-loving readers. This humorous tale is part of the 7-book Pet Sitters Series. The series features two pet sitters who must watch pets with unusual talents. Lina and Cassie’s pet charges have included, “The guinea pig…[that] became invisible. The miniature pony [that] flew away. And the bearded dragon [that] had allergies and spread glitter all through the house (p. 19). 

While the girls wonder what the next pet fiasco is, they are asked to look after a parrot named Trixie. The parrot’s favorite pastime is mimicking pirate speech. The girls also find out that as soon as Trixie nibbles someone’s ear that person talks like a pirate… as well as decide to do other pirate things like clamber up tall trees like they are the mast of a ship! 

The pirate lingo would be humorous except that the girls have an important radio interview coming up soon. When Trixie nibbles Cassie’s ear and Cassie adopts pirate language, the girls must figure out how to return Cassie to normal before they become the laughingstock of the airwaves! Will the radio interview go off without a hitch?

It is quite funny how the pirate problems mentioned in the story’s title come not from an invading band of miscreants but from the cheeky affectionate nibbles of a local parrot. Trixie’s owner, Connie, has decked her house out like a pirate paradise. When they enter Connie’s house the girls find, “Everything inside looked exactly like a pirate ship. There was a ship’s wheel in one corner, treasure maps on the walls, and pirate flags hanging everywhere.” This pirate craziness is not surprising since Trixi nibble Connie’s ear anytime she wants!   

The mischievous parrot soon nibbles the girls’ ears as well as their family members’ ears and pirate lingo becomes the talk of the day! Cue phrases like: “Arrr, ye rascally seadog!’ (Cassie’s dad). When he hands Trixie back to Cassie he says, ‘Yo-ho-ho, methinks your pirate garb be having a funny effect on me, Lassies. Better make sail!’ (p. 81).

When Cassie’s brother Hugo gets his ear nibbled on, he says, “Shiver me timbers…Come down, you flighty first mate…Blimey! This shipmate thinks me ear is its grub!” (p. 25). This is just a small sampling of the humorous pirate lines that color the novel’s dialogue. Can the pirate parrot shenanigans cease before things get out of hand? 

We all know that humorous scenarios like these in Pirate Problems are not realistic, but this short story offers barrels full of hearty laughter for the young and young at heart! 

BACKSTORY

Ella Shine is the pen name for two Australian authors, Penny Reeve and Cecily Patterson. Together they enjoy dreaming up, writing, and publishing the Pet Sitters series. 

Here is some background information they sent out when the book launched last month.

“Normally, our writing process looks a bit like this: we book an in-person meeting and begin tossing around ideas for a story. This is often a rather hilarious time as we try figure out what animal will be featured, what their ‘special ability’ will be, and how Gus reacts (he’s always a lot of fun to imagine and probably allows us to channel our inner grump!).

Next, we do our best to write up a draft chapter outline and decide who will write the first chapter. We then take turns to write chapters, revising as we go.

Sometimes, however, as it did with Pirate Problems, we get stuck. The story, for one reason or another, just doesn’t work as well as we’d originally imagined.

In the initial plan for this story, Trixie the parrot pooped chocolate chips! But the narrative just wasn’t working, so we went back to the drawing board.

With a revised chapter outline we started writing again, and this time the idea of nibbling on ears and preparing for a radio interview worked brilliantly!

Once the first draft was complete, we let it rest and then began edits. We always do a read-aloud and a careful vocab check when we are finished, keeping our young readers in mind. By the time we have finished, the manuscript no longer sounds like Penny and Cecily are taking turns to write, but like Ella Shine! Sometimes we can’t even remember who wrote the initial chapter to begin with.”

And that, my friends, is the mark of a great collaborative writing relationship.

Penny and Cecily are writing the eighth book now and I hope to feature the book when it releases.

GIVEAWAY

Leave a comment by May 22 at 9 AM to enter the giveaway for an ebook copy of Pirate Problems.

GUEST BLOGGER

Kate Lundeen writes, “The Lord’s hand of watchful care and protection blessed my life from my start as a tiny premature infant. Doctors diagnosed me with cerebral palsy from birth complications which mainly affected my legs and motor skills. I also have a learning disability that does not allow me to write down or process thoughts as fast as other people. I am a former homeschooler and obtained an Associate in Arts degree from a North Carolina community college after five years of hard work! I discovered and developed a love for writing in college. Now I pen articles for my local church newsletter and write book reviews. I enjoy my current job as a part-time library assistant in a Christian library in Matthews, NC. I have a servant’s heart and a willing attitude to grow in old skills and develop new ones along whatever path the Lord chooses to take me.”