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Louis A. Meyer, better known as L. A. Meyer in the writing world, was an American author of young adult historical adventure, historical romance novels and children’s books.

A gifted painter and artist, Meyer is known for writing the Bloody Jack Adventures.

Born in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, he attended the University of Florida in Gainesville where he received his B.A. in English literature before enlisting in the U.S. Navy for four years.

Meyer later took graduate art courses at Columbia University and earned an M.F.A. in painting from Boston University.

Passionate about art, he taught art at high school level in Massachusetts, before opening art and design shops with his wife, Annetje, in Fort Myers Beach, Florida and Bar Harbor, Maine.

The couple ultimately settled in Maine where they managed the Clair de Loon Gallery in Bar Harbor and the Blue Loon Studio Gallery in Birch Harbor. There, they sold prints of Meyer’s paintings until severe illness came along.

Meyer died of Hodgkin's lymphoma on July 29, 2014, aged 72.

More about L.A. Meyer

Genres: Adventure, Children's Book, Fiction, Historical Fiction, Historical Romance, Young Adult

Born: 1942 / Died: 2014

United States

Bloody Jack Adventures

  1. Bloody Jack (2002)
  2. Curse of the Blue Tattoo (2004)
  3. Under the Jolly Roger (2005)
  4. In the Belly of the Bloodhound (2006)
  5. Mississippi Jack (2007)
  6. My Bonny Light Horseman (2008)
  7. Rapture of the Deep (2009)
  8. The Wake of the Lorelei Lee (2010)
  9. The Mark of the Golden Dragon (2011)
  10. Viva Jacquelina! (2012)
  11. Boston Jacky (2013)
  12. Wild Rover No More (2014)

Detailed book overview

Bloody Jack Adventures

Bloody Jack

Life as a ship's boy aboard HMS Dolphin is a dream come true for Jacky Faber. Gone are the days of scavenging for food and fighting for survival on the streets of eighteenth-century London. Instead, Jacky is becoming a skilled and respected sailor as the crew pursues pirates on the high seas.

There's only one problem: Jacky is a girl. And she will have to use every bit of her spirit, wit, and courage to keep the crew from discovering her secret. This could be the adventure of her life--if only she doesn't get caught. . . .

Author: L.A. Meyer
First Release: 2002
ISBN: 978-0152050856
Publisher: Clarion Books
Curse of the Blue Tattoo

After being forced to leave HMS Dolphin and Jaimy, her true love, Jacky Faber is making a new start at the elite Lawson Peabody School for Young Girls in Boston. But growing up on the streets of London and fighting pirates never prepared Jacky for her toughest battle yet: learning how to be a fine lady.

Everything she does is wrong. Her embroidery is deplorable, her French is atrocious, and her table manners--disgusting! Then there's the small matter of her blue anchor tattoo. . . .

Despite her best efforts, Jacky can't seem to stay out of trouble long enough to dedicate herself to being ladylike. But what fun would that be, anyway?

Author: L.A. Meyer
First Release: 2004
ISBN: 978-0152054595
Publisher: Harcourt Paperbacks
Under the Jolly Roger

After leaving the Lawson Peabody School for Young Girls in Boston--under dire circumstances, of course--Jacky Faber boards a whaling ship bound for London, where she hopes to find her beloved Jaimy. But things don't go as planned, and soon Jacky is off on a wild misadventure at sea. She thwarts the lecherous advances of a crazy captain, rallies sailors to her side, and ultimately gains command of a ship in His Majesty's Royal Navy. But Jacky's adventures don't end there....

Author: L.A. Meyer
First Release: 2005
Ebook: B003KGAUPQ
Publisher: Clarion Books
In the Belly of the Bloodhound

The British crown has placed a price on Jacky's head, so she returns to the Lawson Peabody School for Young Girls in Boston to lay low. But the safe haven doesn't last--a school outing goes awry as Jacky and her classmates are abducted and forced into the hold of the Bloodhound, a ship bound for the slave markets on the Barbary Coast. All of Jacky's ingenuity, determination, and plain old good luck will be put to the test as she rallies her delicate classmates to fight together and become their own rescuers.  

Author: L.A. Meyer
First Release: 2006
ISBN: 978-0152061661
Publisher: Harcourt Paperbacks
Mississippi Jack

The intrepid Jacky Faber, having once again eluded British authorities, heads west, hoping that no one will recognize her in the wilds of America. There she tricks the tall-tale hero Mike Fink out of his flatboat, equips it as a floating casino-showboat, and heads south to New Orleans, battling murderous bandits, British soldiers, and other scoundrels along the way. Will Jacky's carelessness and impulsive actions ultimately cause her beloved Jaimy to be left in her wake?

Author: L.A. Meyer
First Release: 2007
ISBN: 978-0152066321
Publisher: Clarion Books
My Bonny Light Horseman

The infamous pirate, riverboat seductress, master of disguise, and street-urchin-turned-sailor Jacky Faber has been captured by the French and beheaded in full view of her friends and crew.     Inconceivable? Yes! The truth is she’s secretly forced to pose as an American dancer behind enemy lines in Paris, where she entices a French general into revealing military secrets—all to save her dear friends. Then, in intrepid Jacky Faber style, she dons male clothing and worms her way into a post as galloper with the French army, ultimately leading a team of men to fight alongside the great Napoleon.

Author: L.A. Meyer
First Release: 2008
ISBN: 978-0547327945
Publisher: Clarion Books
Rapture of the Deep

On the very day that Jacky Faber is to wed her true love, she is kidnapped by British Naval Intelligence and forced to embark on yet another daring mission—this time to search for sunken Spanish gold. But when Jacky is involved, things don't always go as planned.

Jacky has survived battles on the high seas, the stifling propriety of a Boston finishing school, and even confinement in a dank French prison. But no adventure has quite matched her opportunistic street-urchin desires—until now.

Author: L.A. Meyer
First Release: 2009
ISBN: 978-0547551203
Publisher: Clarion Books
The Wake of the Lorelei Lee

Jacky Faber, rich from her exploits diving for Spanish gold, has purchased the Lorelei Lee to carry passengers across the Atlantic. Believing she has been absolved of past sins against the Crown, Jacky docks in London to take on her crew, but is instead arrested and sentenced to life in the newly formed penal colony in Australia. 

To add insult to injury, the Lorelei Lee is confiscated to carry female convicts to populate New South Wales. Not one to give in to self-pity, Jacky rallies her sisters to “better” their position—resulting in wild escapades, brushes with danger, and much hilarity.

Author: L.A. Meyer
First Release: 2010
ISBN: 978-0547721941
Publisher: Clarion Books
The Mark of the Golden Dragon

Jacky Faber embarks on another rousing adventure to delight her ever-growing legion of fans. The irrepressible Jacky Faber, condemned for life to the English penal colony in Australia for crimes against the Crown, has once again wriggled out of the grasp of British authorities. Back on her flagship, the Lorelei Lee, she eagerly heads back to England in the company of friends and her beloved Jaimy Fletcher. But when the voyage is waylaid by pirates, storms, and her own impetuous nature, Jacky is cast into a world of danger that extends from the South China Sea to the equally treacherous waters of London politics. With the help of her loyal friends, Jacky meets her enemies head-on in this tale of love, courage, and redemption.

Author: L.A. Meyer
First Release: 2011
ISBN: 978-0544003286
Publisher: Clarion Books
Viva Jacquelina!

The vivacious Jacky Faber returns in the tenth tale in L. A. Meyer's Bloody Jack Adventures, a rip-roaring young adult series applauded for its alluring combination of adventure, romance, history, and humor. Once again under the thumb of British Intelligence, Jacky is sent to Spain to spy for the Crown during the early days of the nineteenth-century Peninsular War. She finds herself in the company of guerrilla freedom fighters, poses for the famous artist Goya, runs with the bulls, is kidnapped by the Spanish Inquisition, and travels with a caravan of gypsies...all while hoping to one day reunite with her beloved Jaimy Fletcher.

Author: L.A. Meyer
First Release: 2012
ISBN: 978-0544234390
Publisher: Clarion Books
Boston Jacky

Jacky Faber makes waves, even when docked in her adopted city of Boston to attend to the business of Faber Shipping Worldwide. With big dreams and perhaps too much exuberance for the Puritan populace, she quickly finds herself at odds with the Women’s Temperance Union and a town roiling over the arrival of hundreds of Irish laborers, brought in on Jacky’s Lorelei Lee. Thwarted at every turn by her enemies, Jacky is forced to acknowledge her shortcomings—and possibly lose her beloved Jaimy Fletcher. Will the impulsive Jacky Faber finally get her comeuppance?

Author: L.A. Meyer
First Release: 2013
ISBN: 978-0544439146
Publisher: Clarion Books
Wild Rover No More

Jacky Faber is framed as passing confidential U.S. information to the British. Forced to flee Boston, she goes undercover as a governess for a prominent Puritan family. When outed by a nosy postmaster, she deserts the respectability of her position, dons a leotard and slippers, and poses as a Russian tightrope walker in a traveling circus.

But the law soon catches up with her, and prospects do not look good. Through her many adventures, Jacky has always found the ingenuity to escape dire situations, but this time it looks like Puss in Boots has run out of lives . . . and her happily-ever-after will be cut short at the foot of the gallows.

Author: L.A. Meyer
First Release: 2014
ISBN: 978-0544668423
Publisher: Clarion Books