Author Talk with Vanessa Riley

Join award-winning author Vanessa Riley as she discusses her newest saga based on the life of the legendary seventeenth-century pirate Jacquotte Delehaye. Fire Sword and Sea is a bold tale of rebellion, love, and high-seas adventure.

The Caribbean Sea, 1675. Jacquotte Delahaye is the mixed-race daughter of a wealthy tavern owner on the island of Tortuga. Instead of marriage, Jacquotte dreams of joining the seafarers and smugglers whose tall-masted ships cluster in the turquoise waters around Tortuga. She falls in love with a pirate, but when he returns to the sea, Jacquotte decides to make her own way. In Haiti she becomes Jacques, a dockworker, earning the respect of those around her while hiding her gender.

Jacquotte discovers that secret identities are fairly common in the chaotic world of seafaring, which is full of outsiders and misfits. She forms a deep bond with Bahati, an African-born woman who has escaped slavery and also disguises herself as a man to navigate the world.

For the next twenty years, Jacquotte raids the Caribbean, making enemies and amassing a fortune in stolen gold until she decides to turn away from piracy, risking her life in one deadly skirmish after another, and begins to plot a war of liberation instead.

Books will be available for sale and signing.

Vanessa Riley is an award-winning author of such books as Island Queen, and Queen of Exiles. Riley's historical novels showcase the hidden histories of Black women and women of color, emphasizing strong sisterhoods and dazzling multicultural communities. Her works encompass historical fiction, historical romance, and historical mystery and have been reviewed by the Washington Post, Entertainment Weekly, NPR, Publisher Weekly, and the New York Times. Riley was named the 2023 Georgia Author of the Year Awards Literary Fiction Winner for Sister Mother Warrior.

Moderator Jasmine Sinkfield is a book influencer who has spent the past four years building community across Bookstagram and BookTok as @bookedandfrizzy. Known for championing authors and supporting local bookstores and literary events, she’s dedicated to fostering welcoming spaces where readers feel supported, seen, and excited about the joy of reading.