{"id":6281,"date":"2026-01-13T14:10:00","date_gmt":"2026-01-13T14:10:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vanessariley.com\/blog\/2026\/01\/13\/write-of-passage-fire-sword-and-the-crime-of-womanhood\/"},"modified":"2026-01-13T14:10:00","modified_gmt":"2026-01-13T14:10:00","slug":"write-of-passage-fire-sword-and-the-crime-of-womanhood","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vanessariley.com\/blog\/2026\/01\/13\/write-of-passage-fire-sword-and-the-crime-of-womanhood\/","title":{"rendered":"Write of Passage: Fire Sword and the Crime of Womanhood"},"content":{"rendered":"<!--[if lt IE 9]><script>document.createElement('audio');<\/script><![endif]-->\n<audio class=\"wp-audio-shortcode\" id=\"audio-6281-1\" preload=\"none\" style=\"width: 100%;\" controls=\"controls\"><source type=\"audio\/mpeg\" src=\"https:\/\/api.substack.com\/feed\/podcast\/184288064\/421929b210842874a9fe1e9c2e96bc1e.mp3?_=1\" \/><a href=\"https:\/\/api.substack.com\/feed\/podcast\/184288064\/421929b210842874a9fe1e9c2e96bc1e.mp3\">https:\/\/api.substack.com\/feed\/podcast\/184288064\/421929b210842874a9fe1e9c2e96bc1e.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n<p><strong>By the time you hear this, my twenty-ninth book will no longer be hidden, filtered, or quietly passed around behind publishing gates.<\/strong><\/p><div id=\"vanes-1903999537\" class=\"vanes-content vanes-entity-placement\" style=\"margin-top: 2px;margin-right: 2px;margin-bottom: 2px;margin-left: 2px;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/vanessariley.com\/fireswordandsea.htm\" aria-label=\"Fire Sword &amp; Sea\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vanessariley.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/FireSwordSea_HC-scaled.jpg?fit=1706%2C2560&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"Fire Sword &amp; Sea\"  srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vanessariley.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/FireSwordSea_HC-scaled.jpg?w=1706&ssl=1 1706w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vanessariley.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/FireSwordSea_HC-scaled.jpg?resize=200%2C300&ssl=1 200w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vanessariley.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/FireSwordSea_HC-scaled.jpg?resize=683%2C1024&ssl=1 683w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vanessariley.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/FireSwordSea_HC-scaled.jpg?resize=768%2C1152&ssl=1 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vanessariley.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/FireSwordSea_HC-scaled.jpg?resize=1024%2C1536&ssl=1 1024w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vanessariley.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/FireSwordSea_HC-scaled.jpg?resize=1365%2C2048&ssl=1 1365w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vanessariley.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/FireSwordSea_HC-scaled.jpg?w=1280&ssl=1 1280w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" width=\"569\" height=\"853\"   \/><\/a><\/div>\n<p>It took two and a half years, a global history we were never taught, censorship, delays, stolen copies\u2014yes, pirates\u2014to bring this book into the world.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Fire Sword and Sea<\/strong> is about women who refused to disappear, in a time when choosing your own life could get you exiled\u2014or killed.<\/p>\n<p>And now, their story is yours.<\/p>\n<p>By the time you hear this, my twenty-ninth book will be live\u2014released into the world, no longer hidden behind NetGalley or Edelweis or advanced reader copy structures.<\/p>\n<p>It took two and a half years of research, writing, revising, questioning myself, starting over, and fine-tuning every voice until each character could stand on their own feet and speak without apology. <strong>Fire Sword and Sea<\/strong> is now available everywhere books are sold\u2014and, I hope, in your libraries. And if it\u2019s not there yet, ask for it. Librarians listen.<\/p>\n<p>This book represents not just years of labor, but the <em>weight<\/em> of them\u2014the questions I\u2019ve been circling, the history I\u2019ve been chasing, the fire I\u2019ve been quietly tending while drumming up attention and conversations, wondering how the world would react when they finally got to see the finished product.<\/p>\n<p>And now, you can too.<\/p>\n<p>In Fire Sword and Sea, you\u2019ll meet <strong>Jacquotte Delahaye<\/strong>\u2014a Black woman of mixed heritage, French and African, who refuses to bend to authority that demands obedience. She wants freedom: the freedom to earn money and spend it as she chooses, the freedom to love whom she wants, not the man her father selects, or the love society deems \u201cappropriate.\u201d Jacquotte resists not because she is reckless, but because she understands that such rigid constructs for women have always been a cage.<\/p>\n<p>You\u2019ll meet <strong>Bahati<\/strong>, a Black pirate of African descent, who resists every force that tries to dictate how she should labor, whom she should serve, and what she should endure. She chooses piracy not for glory, but for survival\u2014for legacy. She wants a world where her nieces will never know poverty, never know enslavement, never have their lives narrowed by someone else\u2019s greed.<\/p>\n<p>You\u2019ll come to know <strong>Lizz\u00f4a<\/strong>, a spy in Petit-Go\u00e2ve. If you have ever dreamed against the odds\u2014if you\u2019ve ever needed a guide who knows how to move quietly, how to gather information, how to turn whispers into strategy\u2014Lizz\u00f4a is the person who will help you build what you were thought was impossible, what you were even told could never happen. Lizz\u00f4a doesn\u2019t follow the orders of men or kings. No <strong>Lizz\u00f4a <\/strong>bends and reshapes everything with fire. Dreaming is living fire.<\/p>\n<p>And you\u2019ll meet <strong>Sarah Sayon<\/strong>, a woman willing to do anything to escape a brutal relationship. Her resistance is not gentle. She uses fire to destroy evil and to cleanse the world that tried to break her.<\/p>\n<p>There are so many more on the crew in Fire Sword and Sea. You will find yourself and your role.<\/p>\n<p><strong>This novel<\/strong> takes you back to a time to the 1600s, when women were given only two roles: wife or wench. Or as a friend said, a <em>heaux<\/em> or a <em>housewife<\/em>. This is the original respectability politics, where you fit in or were exiled or killed. Choice was a luxury that women were not meant to have.<\/p>\n<p>You may be thinking how can this be? My history books\u2026 Le Sigh. This was a time when the world had two true global powers\u2014and they are not who you\u2019ve been taught to expect. The gold belonged to Spain and to the Muslim Mughal Empire. That is why piracy was legal. Every European nation wanted what those empires possessed, and piracy became a sanctioned tool\u2014a way to steal wealth while keeping hands clean and the crimes off your shores.<\/p>\n<p>Fire Sword and Sea is a muscular read.It\u2019s a diverse read.It\u2019s a powerful read.<\/p>\n<p>These stories and histories have been buried for far too long. With all that\u2019s going one, reading about women who resisted, women who chose, women who refused to disappear quietly, is the book we need.<\/p>\n<p>And I\u2019m taking this book on the road.<\/p>\n<p>I\u2019ll be heading to Washington, D.C., Petersburg, Virginia, Severna Park, Maryland, St. Louis, Missouri, Austin, Texas, and several stops in Georgia, at Woodstock and Perimeter.<\/p>\n<p>Come out and join the tour. I would love to see you. I would love to talk with you about this book.<\/p>\n<p>We just kicked things off at the Gwinnett Library\u2014and you readers and podcast listeners, you showed up. Registration sold out. The energy in that room was electric. My moderator, Jasmine Sinkfield, was amazing.<\/p>\n<p>And when you work this hard on a book\u2014when you\u2019ve shared many of the battles publicly, as I have\u2014these moments matter.<\/p>\n<p>Fire Sword and Sea\u2019s journey hasn\u2019t been easy.<\/p>\n<p>There was censorship.Delays in shipping.Publishing slowdowns.Pirates stealing ARCs\u2014yes, really. That happened.And a million other battles that drove me to my knees, again and again, in prayer.<\/p>\n<p>But we are here.<\/p>\n<p>I\u2019m so excited for you to meet these women. To sit with their choices. To imagine what it meant, centuries ago, for women to resist when survival demanded it\u2014when a better life required courage instead of permission.<\/p>\n<p>These women are phenomenal.And they chose their paths.<\/p>\n<p>Readers, podcast audience. The ability to choose shouldn\u2019t belong only to pirates.<\/p>\n<p>May Fire Sword and Sea lead the way.<\/p>\n<p><strong>This is release week for <\/strong><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/thenovelneighbor.com\/events\/4281820260116\"><strong>Fire Sword and Sea<\/strong><\/a><strong>. She\u2019s here, as of January 13<\/strong><strong>th<\/strong><strong>, 2026. Available where all books are sold. Get a copy and learn about Caribbean women pirates\u2014That\u2019s Black pirates, integrated crews, and tons of secrets. Read their truth. Get folks talking about this book.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Consider purchasing Fire Sword and Sea from one of my partners in the fight<\/strong><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/vanessariley.com\/fireswordandsea.htm\"><strong>, bookstores<\/strong><\/a><strong> large and small, who are in this with me.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Come on, my readers, my beautiful listeners. Let\u2019s get everyone excited to read Fire Sword and Sea. And I hope that you will join me on the tour. I\u2019d love to meet you.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>You can find my notes on Substack or on my website, <\/strong><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.vanessariley.com\/\"><strong>VanessaRiley.com<\/strong><\/a><strong>, under the podcast link in the About tab.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Enjoying the vibe? Go ahead and like this episode, share, and subscribe to <\/strong><strong><em>Write of Passage<\/em><\/strong><strong> so you never miss a moment.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Thank you for listening. I want you to come again. This is Vanessa Riley.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/p>\n<p>This is a public episode. If you&#8217;d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit <a href=\"https:\/\/vanessariley.substack.com\/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&amp;utm_campaign=CTA_2\">vanessariley.substack.com\/subscribe<\/a><\/p>\n<div id=\"vanes-1139670503\" class=\"vanes-after-content vanes-entity-placement\" style=\"margin-top: 3px;margin-right: 3px;margin-bottom: 3px;margin-left: 3px;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vanessariley.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/SubstackAd.png?fit=1080%2C1350&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"Listen to the Write of Passage Weekly Podcast\"  srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vanessariley.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/SubstackAd.png?w=1080&ssl=1 1080w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vanessariley.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/SubstackAd.png?resize=240%2C300&ssl=1 240w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vanessariley.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/SubstackAd.png?resize=819%2C1024&ssl=1 819w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vanessariley.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/SubstackAd.png?resize=768%2C960&ssl=1 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" width=\"540\" height=\"675\"   \/><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By the time you hear this, my twenty-ninth book will no longer be hidden, filtered, or quietly passed around behind publishing gates. It took two and a half years, a global history we were never taught, censorship, delays, stolen copies\u2014yes, pirates\u2014to bring this book into the world. Fire Sword and Sea is about women who [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6282,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[81,793,9,620,756,694],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6281","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-personal-stories","category-politics","category-recommended-reading","category-syndication","category-technology","category-tv-and-film"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vanessariley.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/33d313c04cc507384263aea1132f249b.jpg?fit=1280%2C720&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vanessariley.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6281","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vanessariley.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vanessariley.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vanessariley.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vanessariley.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6281"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/vanessariley.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6281\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vanessariley.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6282"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vanessariley.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6281"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vanessariley.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6281"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vanessariley.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6281"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}