BTAP #80: The Mercy of Jean Lafitte by Evan Lewis

Image from Wikipedia.

Another spurt of flame, and the caravel’s mainmast toppled, dragging with it great sheets of sail. The battle, such as it was, was effectively over, and the hated Spanish were now in possession of Lafitte’s island home.

The captain settled himself on the spar, accepted the telescope and put it to his eye. Andre saw him grip the spyglass all the harder in his impotence to affect the outcome.

"Castrillón." Lafitte spat the name like a curse.

When I sent out a call for pirates a few months back, Evan Lewis sent two terrific stories of equal worth. What to do? Luckily, he allowed me to be greedy and use both. “The Ghost Ship” will be in ROUND ONE but first here’s “The Mercy of Jean Lafitte.”

Next: David Pilling’s WWI yarn, “The Path to Brighton”

Then: “King” by Dave Zeltserman

BTAP #64: The Redemption of Tom Chatham by Garnett Elliott

Finally, we have pirates at BEAT to a PULP! I put out the call for crews with cutlasses a few months ago and many of you delivered.

Once a staple of pulps, pirates seem to have fallen out of print. Well, the reboot of seafaring plunderers begins now. In our upcoming print anthology, Ian Parnham digs up some treasure with "Spot Marks The X" and here today the talented Garnett Elliott holds us captive with "The Redemption of Tom Chatham."

Next: Joshua Andra's "My Best Pal"

Soon: "Dog Day Care" by Richard Prosch

Note: BTAP submissions are closed until April 10th.