Pirates attacked a cruise ship off the coast of Somalia this morning. The small pirate boats shot at the cruise ship and fired rockets at it. The captain tried unsuccessfully to run them over. Ultimately, he outran them. Word: if you’re going to be a pirate, you might need to get a faster boat.
There’s a sadder note to this tale:
On Thursday, the United Nations’ World Food Programme warned that hijackings off the coast of Somalia were restricting the delivery of needed food assistance to the country.
The exercise:
Go to 826 Valencia. Buy pirate stuff to support 826’s fabulous writing programs for kids! I recently did an adult seminar there with Bharati Mukerjee, Steve Elliott, Andrew Sean Greer, and Rabih Almeddine. It’s a good space and excellent fun. Proceeds from adult seminars also go to the 826 programs. The next adult seminar, Writing & Publishing Nonfiction Books, featuring Joyce Maynard, Mary Roach, and others, will be held on November 20.
It occurs to me that, outside of cyberpunk’s frequent pirates of another stripe, the world needs a good modern pirate novel.
arrrrgh, tis time