The Deception of the Black Rose-KG Ryder
1. For readers who haven’t picked up The Deception of the Black Rose yet, can you give a quick, spoiler-free overview?
The Deception of the Black Rose is a pirate story about how sometimes you need to take big chances to live the life that you want. It’s VERY spicy, but it’s more than just the naughty adult fun time: it’s about finding your people, working together toward something greater…and still having a ton of naughty adult fun time in the process!
2. Benjamin Harrington is a bisexual, autistic lieutenant navigating dangerous waters and passionate encounters. How did your own experiences influence writing him?
The language of the time (the 1700s) prevents me from outright saying Ben is bisexual and autistic, but I definitely wrote him that way. Ben’s anxieties and thought processes when he spirals are based very heavily on my own thought patterns. I put myself in Ben’s place, and wrote his mental train of thought as I thought it myself. He has a special interest in maps and astronomy, and he becomes very interested in the people he’s with: he begins an almost scientific exploration of the Black Rose, to find what brings her pleasure and how to keep her happy. He also becomes interested in the stories of his crewmates: where they came from, why they turned to piracy, anything he can learn from them. Ben also has a form of synesthesia that allows him to see things like calculations, maps, and lists like they are written in the air in front of him. Synesthesia is a sort of crossing of sensory wires, so like people who can see music. I have two types of synesthesia, but they are not nearly that cool: I can taste colors (black tastes like bananas), and all numbers have a color and a personality. (3 is blue and shy. 4 is green and protective of 3 from 5, who is loud, mean, and red.)
As for writing Ben as bisexual, that kind of came about by accident. I am also bisexual, even though I am married to a cis man. I have grappled with my identity a lot, especially after being married and being discounted because I’m in a het-passing relationship (joke’s on them, my husband is also part of the alphabet mafia, and I have a couple characters that let me explore his identity). Being married to a man doesn’t make my attraction to other genders go away, it just means I chose this person in particular. Ben may or may not ever get to explore his attraction to men, but he is making an active choice to pursue the Black Rose. He isn’t greedy. He isn’t demanding. He is a sweet, nerdy guy who also thinks men are attractive. And we need more positive bisexual male representation, so I wanted to contribute in my small way.
3. The book blends pirates, adventure, and… plenty of spicy romance! You’ve said you don’t actually read romance or erotica — how did you approach writing such a “horny” pirate book?
TW for abuse, self-harm
So this started as fanfic about 14 years ago, when I was trapped in an endless engagement to my college ‘sweetheart’. He never raised a hand to me, but he financially, verbally, and emotionally abused me, as well as weaponized sex to keep me in line. He would also cut himself to make me do what I wanted. At that time, there was a TV show that I became obsessed with, and one of the side couples especially, because they were so sweet and normal. (I don’t want to say what show because if I ever get the opportunity to make my series into a TV show, I want the actors to play Felipe and Doctora.) So I wrote a lot of fanfic of them being sweet, having great sex they both enjoyed, and then I started this “destined soulmates” thread of past lives for them. The Pirate!AU lifetime became one that stuck with me and stayed in my head. So this started as “what if the person I was with romantically actually liked me as a person?” What if he cared about how I felt during sex? What if he cared SO MUCH that he actually studied my pleasure with an almost scientific eye? And that’s how I arrived at Ben’s approach to sex. This woman has shown him kindness and pleasure and gave him the opportunity to be more than he was; he wants to thank her by making sure he earns his place in her bed, by learning what she likes, and making sure she always, always finds her bliss. And after that, it became making sure she doesn’t get bored with the same thing all the time, so it’s really fun to come up with different things for them to do.
4. Your research is incredibly detailed, especially all the math, Spanish, and French you included. Can you tell us a bit about the research process and how it shaped the story?
Pirates are one of my special interests, and another is languages, so I sort of took this opportunity to sort of infodump on these things I love and try to get others to love it as well! In later books, Ben is going to try to learn Spanish to better facilitate communication with the Black Rose and others aboard the ship. Being able to insert some of the tips I used to teach my students feels like another way to continue to share my love for the language!
As for the math, I wanted to create a realistic timeline for how long it takes to get from point A to point B on a tall ship. Considering most of them only went between 3 and 5 knots, and one knot is a nautical mile, and nautical miles are different from imperial miles…it really helped me get a sense of how much really could happen in such short spans. I have a document with all of my equations and then I also have CalcMaps saved where I can access it; it’s a website where I can input a course and it tells me how many nautical miles it is, and I can then do the math for how long it would take to sail it.
The math also helps determine how quickly a ship could catch up to another. I had to figure out the height of the crow’s nest of the Deception to then determine how far the horizon would be on a clear day, and how long they would have to prepare since their raid strategy is playing possum (that is, pretending to be a disabled ship and then ambushing another ship that tries to help them).
And the last thing is, looking up at lot of medical stuff. When things were first described, what terms were used for certain things. Like Ben has anxiety and panic attacks, but I can’t say he has anxiety and panic attacks. Instead, he has attacks of nerves. I had an inkling to make a character diabetic, like myself, but diabetes was basically a death sentance until the 1920s. I ended up making the character anemic instead, as that would be more manageable, especially if the ship’s doctor is a former midwife. I have a parallel modern timeline, and one of those characters is diabetic. They are small details that the average reader wouldn’t notice, but for the .0001% of readers who WOULD notice, I got your back because I also get incredibly pedantic about stuff I know a lot about!
5. You were a Spanish teacher and even handled the Spanish translations yourself. Did your language background change how you wrote or approached dialogue and culture in the book?
One of the most important lessons I had to get my students to understand was that Hispanic culture was not a monolith. To that end, I wanted a very diverse crew, people who would have been picked up all over the Caribbean, including liberated slaves, indentured servants from Europe, some Asian characters, and a small Middle-Eastern contingent. Even if they share a language, their actual culture and lived experiences are very different. Ben’s experience as a British Jamaican Royal Navy sailor is vastly different from Talia, the boatswain’s, as a Scottish roaming performer who was liberated from the prison ship taking her to indenture in the New World. The Captain’s experience in Colombia is vastly different from Doctora’s background in Puerto Rico. They are a united front, a found family working toward a common goal, but they are not all identical.
I also wanted to show what it’s like to actually have too many languages in your head sometimes. Our gunner, Felipe, is a grizzled old badass who is very cultured and very good with language: he speaks seven fluently and is conversational in two more. He has multiple occasions where he forgets words in the language he’s speaking and he has to sort of recalibrate to find the right one. That is based on personal experience. I was fortunate to have one of my former coworkers who teaches French check that for me, and she assured me that it was incredibly French and devastatingly romantic!
Ultimately, I wanted to show Ben as curious about these other cultures instead of afraid of them. These people are wonderful and accept him as he is, so he wants to extend them the same courtesy. His curiosity outweighs his fear, and I think more people need that mindset about the unknown.
6. Benjamin starts off mocked and trapped in his life but grows throughout the story. Without spoiling anything, what was most fun about writing his transformation?
It was wish fulfillment for me. I was in a job where I felt stifled and silenced, so writing a person allowed to be who he wanted to be was really powerful for me. Ben is a square peg who has been forced into round holes his entire life, and the people he is sanding his edges down for don’t appreciate the effort and work he puts into it. So, suddenly being on a ship where all these different, diverse people are able to live freely as themselves is really liberating for him, as he gets to cast off the expectations of his former life and just be. He can be a square peg, and there is a square hole just for him on this ship. And by extension, it let me be the person I wanted to be, as the person entrusted by the universe as the teller of this tale.
7. The Black Rose is a formidable Pirate Queen. What inspired her character, and what do you enjoy most about writing a strong, adventurous heroine?
The Black Rose was inspired by a tv show character, but I turned her badassery up to a 9; she’s also greatly inspired by Luffy from One Piece. I wanted to write her as capable and strong, but someone who still knows when to ask for help. She can kick ass, but she’s kind, charismatic, and even though she is comparatively young (24 at the start of the series), she has a vision for a better world and knows she can’t do it alone. I really enjoy writing the Robin Hood aspect; here is a young lady who gave up wealth and a comfortable life, and she wants to use her freedom, power, and influence to make other people’s lives better. Add some gentle influence from Tobin (her quartermaster and a freed slave) and Felipe (the gunner and a staunch anti-establishment abolitionist), and you have the face of a revolution. And it’s going to be so fun writing her changing the world…just not quite in the way she would have predicted!
Fun Author Questions
8. When did you first realize you wanted to be a writer?
I think probably about fifth or sixth grade. I liked to tell stories, but I didn’t find many people who liked to listen to me. I thought if I could write them down, then the people who needed them would be able to find them. I’ve gone through a few bursts of wanting to write, but my ADHD sort of prevented me from being able to finish…until about two years ago, when I got it in my head that yeah, I’m going to do this. I was fortunate to find a coworker who is really good at giving feedback and asking questions, so I got her invested in the story and she became my accountability partner. Without her, I wouldn’t have finished, and I make sure to thank her and shout her out at every opportunity!
9. Do you have any quirky writing rituals, snacks, or music playlists that help you get in the zone?
Funnily enough, back when I had to teach virtually during the pandemic, I accidently Pavlovian conditioned myself into hyperfocus by playing “The Bride Wore Black” by Flogging Molly whenever I needed to hunker down and grade. I have a 900ish song playlist with everything from The Longest Johns and Juanes to Bishop Briggs and the Wu-Tang Clan that I play to write and brainstorm, but if I REALLY need to hunker down and get stuff done, I have to play “The Bride Wore Black” first!
10. If you could sail anywhere in the Golden Age of Sail — historical accuracy aside — where would you go and why?
This question is really hard for me, actually! I am torn between wanting to visit an uninhabited island like Isla Rosa, just to see the pristine beaches and forests, and observe the wildlife, and a bustling pirate-friendly port like Campeche, Mexico, or Barranquilla, Colombia. I think I would probably lean toward the uninhabited island for the thrill of the terra incognita, the undiscovered nature of it. I would love to go somewhere nobody else was going and see it in its lovely, undisturbed state! But I also love being on boats, so I think the salty breeze in my hair, the crashing of the waves, and just the movement, the anticipation, of going somewhere, anywhere, would set my soul on fire more that the actual arrival!
Rapid-Fire Round (One sentence or less!)
Coffee, tea, or rum? Iced coffee!
Favorite pirate book, movie, or TV show? Muppet Treasure Island - I can’t say no to Tim Curry!
Trope you’ll never get tired of writing? Found Family
One word to describe Benjamin? NERD!
One word to describe the Black Rose? Kind-hearted
Daytime or nighttime writing sessions? I am naturally a night-owl, but I write whenever I can!
Book you’ve reread the most? The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster - the book that made me a lifelong reader
One thing you wish more people knew about writing historical fiction/romance? We do a lot of research for details that may not even make it into the final draft, like learning how a bilge pump works on an 18th century ship!
11. Finally — can you give readers a tiny, spoiler-free tease about what’s next for you or Benjamin and the Black Rose’s adventures?
Book 2 picks up immediately at the end of Book 1, and Ben will have to deal with his first major threat to the relationship he wants with the Black Rose: a jealous rival who thinks he can take Ben’s place in the Black Rose’s bed! Ben’s going to have to grow a spine and fight for the life he wants!