Friday, July 10, 2009

The Real Jack Rackham

Lots of writers crank out deep thoughts about inspiration on their blogs. I'll jump in with my two cents .... sort of, in a pictorial rather than highfallutin' literary kind of way. I live in a haunted seaside town in Florida. My grandson Jack has cornered the market on cool for a kid his age. His Pop (me) has a pretty wild imagination & likes storytellin'. Mix those things together & you get Jack Rackham & a bunch of crazy adventures that turn into books. Simple enough for ya?

The first thing the kid's got goin' for him is he's not afraid of the surf, or much of anything actually. He's like his Dad & Uncle Chris.



The 2nd thing - he's just freakin' cool....



The Jack in Bad Latitude is 15 years old (16 in Reckless) but in real life just turned 6 on Wednesday. We got to celebrate.



The birthday cake is decorated to look like the deck of a pirate ship. Hmmmm...



I just put these 2 pics in cuz he liked the "little lobsters" at the seafood store. He chomped them down like a real Looweezianna Rajun' Cajun.





Now I like my share of creepy stuff. I'm tryin' to train the kids early, so, naturally, we have rather odd toys around the house. That's Isabel. She's a cutie.



Reckless has a coupla chapters in the haunted Old Jail so I took Jack on a bit of a scouting mission (so he knows how to escape in Chapter 6). The best part was the thunder & lightning. All of the other "guests" hightailed it. Chickens. We were diggin' it. Created a nice atmosphere.







This is my favorite picture. (Deb's idea)


14 comments:

Anonymous said...

If a picture is worth a thousand words then you've given us a very eloquent essay on where some of your inspiration comes from. Great pics!

The young lad has good taste in books. And his choice of granddaddy isn't so bad either. I'm betting he loves the idea of being a part of your storytelling process. There's not much that can beat the admiration of a child. :)

David Ebright said...

Careann - The time went by too fast. The visit was over in a blink. Your comments are way too nice for this old dog, but thanks. Made me smile.

Keith Pyeatt, author of paranormal thrillers said...

Great photos of your cool inspiration, Dave.

Anonymous said...

That picture of the kids with the skeleton is priceless.

Anonymous said...

Mike E

That our Jack man! I wish I was still down there.

Joylene Nowell Butler said...

Oh, I really like the skeleton. That's kewl. I'm sorta doing the same thing with reference to my stories. I pick subjects from my day-to-day life. Except, my stories start off as "What if..."

David Ebright said...

Jenn / Joylene - The skeleton accompanies me (along with a treasure chest filled with 'gold coins') on book signings. I flip the kids for the coins (I'll never get rich - also have a 'backup skeleton)) - Joylene - everyday life mixed with the 'what if' plays heavily - I was hit between the eyes with an idea & had to jump ahead to a 3rd 'story' which has now become an official WIP & delaying RECKLESS. Jenn - The kids think I'm wacky. Hmmm.... maybe so, but they giggle n' laugh when I'm around - so that's cool.

Keith - Hope book sales are jumpin' I'll keep an eye on the NYT

Yeah Mike - Wish you guys were still here Sorry my back was actin' up - Pop was a wimp this time around. Y'all made the trip in the nick of time - I gotta go to Atlanta.

Anonymous said...

You have a "backup skeleton?" That is too funny!

David Ebright said...

Jenn - Guess that is kinda funny. Never gave it much thought - but it's totally true!!! Need to come up with some cool names for 'the twins'.

Ronnie said...

What a great post. Enjoyed seeing your love for your grandkids shine through. No bones about it.
Glad your BACK is BACK!!
Jumping to the third book sounds perfectly logical to me!

Rebecca Ramsey said...

It's great to meet Jack's inspiration! He's quite a handsome young man!
I still think about your book--I really enjoyed it!

David Ebright said...

Ronnie - The visit was too short. There should be a Harry Potter kind of spell that makes grandparents younger as grandkids get older. I actually went bike riding with Jack (after walking with a cane the day before). Boy did that hurt. The 3rd book had to start - Too many things from Restless created new adventures for book 3. I didn't want to lose the ideas & don't want Restless to expand to 5 or 600 pages.

Becky - Jack gets his good looks from Deb. WOW - You still think about the book? AND you really enjoyed it? That makes me feel great. I really appreciate it. Hope Ben gets to read it. Love to hear his opinion. Can't wait for your follow up to French by Heart.

Susan Sandmore said...

What a cute kid! Out in the waves like that, it looks like he'd get along with mine just fine! :)

David Ebright said...

Susan - He is a cute kid & he's also a really nice kid. I kinda like 'im. Wish I could see my grandkids (Jack & Isabel - I call her Belly) more often. They live 1000 miles north.