PHOTO: Jim Nelson standing on the deck of a traditional sailing ship, gazing thoughtfully toward the horizon.
Master Of Maritime Storytelling And Historical Insight
Jim Nelson shares his lifelong passion for sailing, historical research, and character-driven storytelling, revealing how maritime life and naval history shape his acclaimed novels and ongoing series.
Jim Nelson’s life reads like the opening pages of one of his own maritime novels, full of wind, salt, and the promise of distant horizons. Born and raised in Maine, he carried an early fascination for the sea that seemed almost hereditary, even as his family charted a decidedly landlocked course. That devotion would lead him to six years aboard traditional sailing ships, from a replica of Sir Francis Drake’s Golden Hind to the Revolutionary War frigate HMS Rose, experiences that would infuse every line of his subsequent writing with authenticity and depth.
Nelson’s oeuvre spans more than twenty-five works of maritime fiction and history, each a careful navigation between rigorous research and compelling storytelling. In Glory in the Name and George Washington’s Secret Navy, he demonstrates an ability to weave historical precision with the human drama of life at sea. His narratives do not merely recount naval battles or voyages; they immerse the reader in the rhythms, dangers, and rituals of maritime life, making the past palpably immediate.
Yet beneath the technical mastery lies a profound understanding of character. Whether following the calculated ambition of a pirate in The Brethren of the Coast or the strategic cunning of naval officers during the Revolution, Nelson crafts figures who evolve with their circumstances, their growth inseparable from the turbulent waters they navigate. It is a testament to his skill that action and emotion, ship and human, are inseparably entwined.
For aspiring writers, Nelson’s advice is as candid as it is practical: immerse yourself, read widely, sail whenever possible, and above all, keep writing. It is a philosophy born not only from a life spent chasing the horizon but from the quiet conviction that stories, like the sea itself, are endlessly deep and inexhaustibly rich.
Your historical novels often feature rich naval settings. What draws you to this period?
I’ve always loved ships and the sea, ever since I was a boy, and I’m not sure why. No one in my family was a sailor. I always say it must be a genetic disorder, not learned behavior. But when I was little, and all the other boys were into dinosaurs and tanks, I was always drawn to sailing ships of all kinds. Also loved reading out them. Horn blower was a particular influence. Then, when I was old enough, I started sailing small boats then working professionally aboard sailing ships. So when it came time to write, there was no question as to the subject.
In your Revolution at Sea series, how do you balance historical events with fictional characters to create a compelling narrative?
In that particular series, just about every book is centered around a real historical event. I start out looking ata) where my character is most likely to be at that time and b) where it would be most exciting for my character to be. Once I decide on the event I want him (or her) to participate in, I’ll start researching the event. As I read more about it, it can start to see where it would best work for my character to be part of it.
The sea has a central role in many of your books. What research methods do you use to authentically portray naval life in the 18th and 19th centuries?
Researching naval life for the 18th and 19th centuries is not too difficult. There are a lot of journals that were published, including a lot of books written by common sailors, such as Jack Nasty face or The Nagel Journal. Lots of others, too. Also memoirs and official reports from naval officers. A real bounty of great stuff. When you start getting further back historically, like into the early 17th century, as I am with my new series about the buccaneers, or even worse, back into the Viking Age, another series I’m doing, then it gets much tougher.
Your writing often delves into the complexities of naval warfare. How do you approach writing action scenes while ensuring they remain engaging and realistic for readers?
That can be a real balancing act! There’s a lot of technical language when it comes to naval warfare, and you have to be careful to not make the descriptions indecipherable. When I first started writing, I was working on sailing ships professionally, and I was so used to that language I poured in on too thick. Now I try to use it more judiciously, and keep the descriptions relatively simple so it’s understandable. And try to keep in mind the important thing is what the characters are doing and feeling, more than what’s going on with the ships and hardware. And I make sure that even if the reader does not follow the action perfectly, it will not have an impact on the story.
What personal experiences or historical figures influenced your depiction of characters in the The Brethren of the Coast series?
The characters in Brethren of the Coast, Marlowe in particular, are an amalgam of a number of historical characters. It started with me wondering if any pirates were smart enough to come ashore and retire before they were killed or hanged. Turns out a number were, and a lot of old money in the U.S. originated with pirate booty. So that got me thinking. I also started reading about the history of the Virginia Tidewater area in the early 18th century, and that got more wheels turning. Next thing you know, I have a book!
How do you manage the challenge of writing series where characters evolve over time while maintaining fresh and exciting plots?
You know, I think that a lot of writing really happens on a gut level. Maybe other writers are more organized than I am, and more able to plan ahead (it would be hard to be less able) but as far as character development, I think the characters just sort of evolve and develop in my head as I think about them more and more over the years, and they become more fleshed out and complex. And of course the cumulative effect of each book in a series works on the characters and makes them more complex. Since I generally write series’, the plot of each book and the characters’ circumstances are very much effected by the book before.
Can you speak to the inspiration behind your Buccaneer series and how it distinguishes itself from other naval fiction?
The buccaneers were a fascinating group. They started off as semi-wild hunters, a minor irritant to the Spanish Empire, and became a genuine financial and military threat, an ad hoc mobile mercenary force able to inflict real damage. In the first in the series, The Buccaneer Coast, we start at the beginning of the era of the buccaneers, and the series will follow the rise of the buccaneers through the development of the main character, Jean-Baptiste LeBoeuf. The series is quite different from other naval fiction, insofar as it follows a band of outlaws who were actually as powerful a force as any established navy in the Caribbean at the time.
What advice would you give to aspiring authors who want to write historical fiction or novels set in the world of the sea?
I would advise any beginning writer to take a stiff drink, first off. Then, read as much as you can. Really good fiction, memoirs, maritime history of all sorts, focusing in particular on the time periods you’re most interested in. Have another drink. If you can get out on a boat, or better yet a sailing ship, do it. Try to understand how ships work, and the hierarchy of shipboard life. One needs to know some of the nomenclature, enough to give the writing some authenticity. But more than anything, you have to write. The more you write, the stronger you get. If it’s lousy, no one has to see it. But the most important thing for a writer to do is to write.
