Hey there, I’m John F. Corrigan, Author of The Witch’s Fleet.

I am thrilled to announce the latest addition to our Historic Mysteries – THE WITCH’S FLEET!

This new novel’s mission is to take you back in time and experience an actual dramatic adventure. In researching the historic occurrences that transpired along the shores of Lake Erie in 1812-13, I discovered a number of instances of bizarre coincidences. These include; the appearance of a mysterious plague and its sudden abatement at just the right moment, the curious appearance of two ships found stuck in the ice ten miles from shore that provided frantic ship builders with just enough materials to allow them to continue at their task, the onset of historic rainfalls without which the fleet could not have been launched in time …

The list goes on!

Was it the work of Providence? Or something else?

“In 1807, a young, Philadelphia woman of special gifts is accused by the religious authorities of practicing the black arts. Although the investigators can find no evidence that she has ever used her talents to harm anyone, they proceed to attempt to apprehend her to stand trial.

She anticipates them – which is her way – and flees to the frontier which, in 1807, is the sleepy fishing village of Erie, Pennsylvania.

It is now five years later. 1812. The sleepy fishing village of 400 souls finds itself on the front lines of a war against the British Empire. Among them walks a young woman of special gifts. The Brits have no idea what they are up against!”

THE WITCH’S FLEET – August 2022

IT IS UNAVOIDABLE that we look back at historical events from the platform of the present. Subsequently, we study some pivotal moment in the past with the luxury of knowing how it all worked out. 

That is why, for some, history is just a dry, passionless reciting of dates, places and names – a laborious litany of Kings, Chiefs, Generals and Presidents. There is no drama. No intrigue. Yet, to the people who lived those dramas and survived those intrigues -- there was plenty of both!

In writing THE WITCH’S FLEET as well as THE STORYTELLERS, I wanted to place my readers at the scene. I wanted to take them back in time to walk the dirt streets of 1812 Erie, Pennsylvania or taste the waters of the 1876 Little Bighorn River. 

I wanted to open the doors of Erie’s Duncan’s Tavern & Inn and have the reader sit before the stone fireplace enjoying the crackling warmth and a cool tankard of ale while they eavesdrop as the locals learn that their country has declared war on the British Empire, and they are now at war with the folks on the other side of Lake Erie!

I wanted the reader to witness the resulting drama and get caught up in the intrigues that swirled around them. I wanted to put them on the gundeck of an 19th Century man-of-war. I wanted them to struggle at loading the canons and then quake as those guns thunder in anger. I wanted to put the reader in “the tops” struggling to set the sails while hanging on for dear life! 

I think I’ve succeeded.