guest author – G.S. Wright

Today’s guest post comes from Virginia Williams. Over the last few year, Virginia has been publishing her grandfather’s manuscripts that he wrote in the early 1900’s. You can check out her blog at http://rosepointpublishing.com/ and Stanley McShane’s published works on Amazon.

It is said that Jacque Cousteau called Cocos Island the most beautiful island in the world, and the island is also on the short list to become one of the “New Seven Wonders of the World”. The island has long been declared to be hiding more than just natural beauty within its rugged landscape:

William Thompson loaded jewels, gold, silver, heavily adorned candlesticks, and two life sized gold statues of the Virgin Mary holding baby Jesus aboard the Mary Dear and left the harbor as expected. Thompson was overcome with temptation, however, and he and his crew killed the Spanish guards and changed their original course from Spain to Cocos Island[2], (Isla del Coco) located 340 miles off the pacific coast of Costa Rica where they buried the treasure said to be worth well over $160,000,000 (now known as “The Loot of Lima”. Whether buried above ground in the sand of one of two bays (Chatham Bay or Wafer Bay) or below the water, no one has yet recovered any riches.

But Thompson wasn’t alone in thinking Cocos Island represented a quick and safe haven for secreting away pirated treasures from the hapless ships sailing on the main shipping channels toward destinations many never completed successfully!

My grandfather, Patrick John Rose (pen name Stanley McShane who wrote “Cocos Island Treasure“), separately ventured to the island in the early 1900′s about the same time as John Keating spent nearly 12 years (from 1897 to 1908) searching for the treasures that so many pirates reportedly buried on Isla del Coco (Cocos Island). In total, it was reported that Keating eventually found 6 gold coins. (No information documented on the location of the find.)

But it was the buccaneer Edward Davis that was the subject of my grandfather’s book and goal of his trip to Cocos Island. Edward Davis was one of the earliest (1680) recorded (by writer William Dampier) buccaneers to have buried treasure on Cocos Island. According to Wikipedia[3], Davis with his flagship, the Bachelor’s Delight anchored in “Chatham Bay and supposedly left behind several chests containing ingots, pieces-of-eight and £300,000 in silver bar and plate taken from settlements in Peru and Chile.” They also go on to say that he may have been the same privateer to accompany Captain William Kidd to America after a meeting at St. Mary’s Island in 1697.

The jungle infested island described in the book by my grandfather also alludes to the waterfalls from almost perpendicular rocks and feral pigs deposited on the island by the many treasure laden visitors over the years. The shear cliffs testify to the uninhabilitability of the island though the island purportedly boasts fresh water, as well as the namesake, coconuts, lending a siren call to either bay whether for depositing ill-gotten gains or to find a safe haven from the frequent tropical storms that assail the area. The tropical trees and plants, choking vines and creepers apparently hide quagmires or deep crevices, which, following a misstep, can swallow a human whole. Millions of insects inhabit vapor laden air while the raucous cries of birds careen overhead. Patrick describes a stream west of the bay shore of Chatham Bay that they followed by laboriously hacking bushes and vines as they went. The party ascended up and over immense boulders where they eventually discovered a pool created from waters from above. It was within the pool that water also disappears into a hidden, underwater cave.

It is definitely the stories handed down from generation to generation and writers such as Dampier and my grandfather that lend themselves to the folklore of the romanticized pirate legends. That and the occasional find of a golden doubloon!

[1] http://www.new7wonders.com/ You can view the “new” 7 wonders as listed. There are continuous feeds on Twitter, Google, and Youtube.

[2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cocos_Island

[3] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Davis_(bucccaneer)

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http://rosepointpublishing.com/

Read Cocos Island Treasure

July 30, 2014 by garthswright Categories: Author Promotion, Guest AuthorTags: cocos island, Edward Davis, guest author, guest post, historical, historical fiction, Isla del Coco, Patrick John Rose, pirates, RosePointPublishing, Stanley McShane, Virginia Williams, William thompson 1 Comment

Hello and thank you to everyone for reading my Guest Blog today. I’d like to extend a special thank you to G.S. for allowing me to post on his blog. My name is Mindy Killgrove and I’m a contemporary fiction, romance, and humor novelist. I have a great time popping from one genre to the next, but most of the time, I focus on creating fiction that my readers find realistic. On my own blog, I enjoy writing top eight lists. (Eight is my lucky number.) For today, I’d like to share with you:

The Top Eight Things You Might Like to Know About Me:

8. I just moved to Perrysburg, OH with my family. I’ve lived in Ohio for the majority of my life, but I spent two years living near Charlotte, NC.

7. I love media! In my own blogspace, I devote my blogs to writing about media-related items that move me. Movies, Books, Television, Music, Video Games: You name it and I cover it.

6. I have two little boys at home. My obsession for media spread to them, as both were named after famous people.

5. In my books, I aim to write storylines that feel relatable to the readers. I use my own experiences as a jumping off point for my tales. When you read my stories they may feel real, because they are (in some cases).

4. The first book in the Missy Lawrence Series, Meet Me at the Pond, was dedicated to my sorority: The Philalethean Society of Heidelberg University. They are a local group, and I’m proud to call myself a member of this fine organization.

3. Meet Me at Fountain Park, the second book in the Missy Lawrence series, is dedicated to the Fit Chicks of Ravenna, OH. I was a member of this group for a number of years and I was supremely moved by their caring and encouraging ways. The Fit Chicks promote healthy living that will not only benefit your body, but your mind and your soul as well.

2. Every chapter in the Missy Lawrence series is based around answering a question. In that way, you can read a chapter, just like you would watch an episode of a TV show, and then come back to the book later—if necessary. (Or, you could read through the whole book in one afternoon, if that suits.)

1. I love reading–I love sitting on my back porch and reading a book. This can be done in the sunshine or the shade, but either way, I enjoy kicking back and devouring a new novel. My own novels are what I would describe as the perfect books to throw in your beach bag and take down by the water. Whether you’re downloading the ebook or taking the paperback along with you, Meet Me at the Pond and Meet Me at Fountain Park are pure fun. They’ll help you relax and enjoy your vacation.

I created the Missy Lawrence Trilogy a few years ago. Currently, Meet Me at the Pond and Meet Me at Fountain Park are available in paperback and ebook editions. The third and final book in the series Meet Me at Rock Creek will be published before the end of the year. If you’ve ever been in love, or if you’re still searching for the right one, let Missy Lawrence and her gang of girlfriends entertain you (and commiserate, perhaps).