BEFORE GOLD
AND SILVER,
THERE WERE
PEARLS
Award-winning historical fiction inspired by real events, exploring the Caribbean pearl fisheries, Indigenous survival, African slavery, and the forgotten origins of the Atlantic world.WHERE IT ALL BEGAN
In 1498, Christopher Columbus sailed into a Caribbean bay and changed the course of human history—not with gold, not with silver, but with pearls.
What followed was far more than a voyage of discovery. It was the beginning of a transformation that would reshape the Atlantic world and forever alter the lives of millions. Along the shores of the Southern Caribbean, Indigenous communities encountered unfamiliar visitors. Across the ocean, African societies would soon find themselves drawn into a vast and brutal new system of commerce and exploitation. Empires rose, fortunes were made, and entire peoples were forced to navigate a world changing faster than anyone could comprehend.
Yet history is rarely experienced through the eyes of kings, admirals, or conquerors.
It is lived by ordinary people.
By the father trying to protect his family. By the young leader struggling to preserve his community. By the captive carried across an ocean against his will. By the witness forced to decide whether silence is easier than truth.
These are the people who inhabit my novels.
My work stands at the intersection of historical research and human storytelling, drawing inspiration from documented events, archaeological discoveries, and the remarkable individuals whose lives unfolded during one of the most consequential periods in history. Through the lens of the Caribbean pearl fisheries, the Indigenous peoples of the Pearl Coast, the early Atlantic slave trade, and the first decades of European colonization, I explore not only what happened, but what it felt like to live through it.
These are not stories about the powerful.
They are stories about the people who lived history.
Explore the books. Then, if you wish to go deeper, the historical record awaits.
Columbus believed he had discovered a source of unimaginable wealth.
In many ways, he was right.
The natural pearls of the Southern Caribbean would soon adorn queens, finance expeditions, enrich merchants, and help fuel the ambitions of a growing empire. For a brief moment in history, these waters produced one of the most coveted treasures on Earth.
Yet the true story of the pearls was never about luxury.
It was about people.
A young Guaiquerí heir watching strangers arrive on his shores with gifts, promises, and hidden intentions. An African chieftain whose life would be shattered by forces unfolding thousands of miles away. Families separated. Communities transformed. Friendships forged in the midst of unimaginable hardship. Men and women forced to choose between survival, resistance, loyalty, and revenge.
Behind every pearl lay a human story.
Some ended in triumph.
Many ended in tragedy.
Together, they became part of one of the most consequential and least understood chapters of American history.
These are the stories that inspired my novels.
The history is real.
The people who lived it deserve to be remembered.
AWARD-WINNING HISTORICAL FICTION
Historical fiction inspired by the forgotten origins of the Atlantic world, the Caribbean pearl fisheries, and the human cost of empire.
EPIC * UNFORGETTABLE * HISTORY
As Europe hungered for riches, a forgotten pearl fishery changed the course of history. Blood for Pearls is an award-winning historical epic inspired by the true origins of America's first extractive economy.
On the distant shores of West Africa, a young woman's life unfolds beneath an endless sky, unaware that history is about to arrive at her doorstep. Moussane is a lyrical and unforgettable short story of hope, belonging, and the fragility of freedom.
Beyond the horizon lay a world few had ever seen—and a journey from which many would never return. Beyond is a haunting historical novella of courage, loss, and hope at the dawn of the transatlantic slave trade.
Coming soon. As Spain's New World empire rises on the promise of immense wealth, a young Sevillian is torn between ambition and conscience. Inspired by the life of Bartolomé de Las Casas, this historical novel follows the making of one of the most influential voices of the Age of Exploration.
"Steeped in blood that flows through ancestral grief, resistance, and memory." — CBM
“The writing was beautiful and heartbreaking. Intriguing to delve into." — Booklove
"Grips you from the very first page. Every character feels alive." — Mahendra Vadnere
"A powerful story they should teach in school." — William Calvert
"Blood for Pearls hit me harder than I expected... both beauty and horror coexist." — BA