The wonderful Eve Castellan tagged me to participate in the Meet My Character blog hop! Basically, I'll be answering 7 questions about my main character, then tagging another writer or two. And now, I'm excited to take this opportunity to introduce the main character from one of my novels, FEAR THE DROWNING DEEP.
1) What is the name of your character? Is she a fictional person or a historic person?
Bridey Reynylt Corkill is a fictional person starring in my YA Historical Fantasy novel, though the magical island on which her story takes place is quite real.
2) When and where is the story set?
FEAR THE DROWNING DEEP takes place in 1913, so just before The Great War (WWI). It's set on the Isle of Man, in the completely made-up town of Port Coire (a word meaning 'heart'). I've always pictured Port Coire as being smack dab in the middle of the real towns of Peel and Kirk Michael on the island's western shore.
The Isle of Man is an incredibly beautiful place that seems to have a magic of its own (though not quite like the magic in my story!). If you aren't familiar with the Isle, it's worth looking up!
Town of Niarbyl, Isle of Man
3) What should we know about your character?
Bridey's been terrified of the ocean ever since she watched her grandad leap to his death and drown with a smile on his face. So naturally, at sixteen years old, it's her mission to get off the Isle and find somewhere higher and drier to spend her life. Of course, that's only until she rescues a handsome boy she calls Fynn, and realizes that something sinister in the water is threatening her town. Headstrong Bridey would never let anything happen to her family and her many sisters, even if it means facing down a creature from her nightmares. It probably goes without saying, but--she hates seafood! She also loves to read.
How I picture Bridey!
4) What is the main conflict? What messes up her life?
One summer evening, a girl's body washes ashore. She appears to have drowned, but Bridey, remembering her grandad's death, suspects something more sinister. No one's ever believed her about the strange thing she thought she glimpsed in the water the day he died, but the drowned girl is stirring up painful memories for everyone.
Soon after, people from Bridey's town start going missing. She could be next, or one of her sisters, if she can't prove to everyone that there's something lurking in the sea, an ancient evil that must be stopped. But it's going to be quite the battle for a girl who doesn't even know how to swim to stop a monster, or convince a town full of narrow-minded people that the killer among them isn't human.
5) What is the personal goal of the character?
I touched on this above, but basically: Bridey wants to stop the danger before anyone else from her town disappears, like her friends or her sisters--or her!
She also wants to travel the world, live someplace without a sea view, and settle down somewhere that has a massive library.
6) Is there a working title for this novel, and can we read more about it?
FEAR THE DROWNING DEEP has always been this book's title! I posted a brief excerpt or two during WriteOnCon 2013, but for those who are curious...I'll just leave the first 500 or so words RIGHT HERE:
Chapter
One
May 15th,
1913
Isle of Man, Near
Peel
They
found her body at dusk, washed up in a tide pool with a handful of sea urchins
and a slender green starfish. As they lifted the girl, her dark hair wrapped
around her neck like seaweed. Fat drops of salt water rolled off her body and
kissed the cold sand. I shivered in sympathy, though of course she didn’t feel
the bitter wind tugging at her gown. Her waxy skin appeared paler than the full
moon that had risen earlier.
Old Mister Gill pushed the girl’s
hair back, revealing milky, grayish eyes. I couldn’t begin to guess their true
color. Cradled in his arms, the girl looked like a nymph, or one of the
mermaids my mam loved to paint. Not like a murder victim, or even someone
desperate enough to have taken her own life.
A
neighbor beside me released a shriek, sending a chill rippling down my back.
Several other women sniffed. They reminded me of a flock of guillemots, the way
they’d perched themselves on the lowest cliff overlooking the rocky shore. They
shared handkerchiefs and made little hiccupping sounds. Spectators. Like me, I
suppose.
Not
one of them noticed me lingering where a girl of sixteen shouldn’t be.
Heads
bowed in respect, Mister Gill and several fishermen carried the girl up the
steep incline leading to town. Had she come from the other side of the island,
or one of the smaller islands around us? I’d never seen her before, and in our
close community, that was rare.
One
of the women turned to follow the procession back to town, dabbing at her eyes
with a scrap of linen. Her graying hair was pinned at the top of her head, and even
in the pervasive air of sadness, she stood tall and proud.
Before
I could consider hiding—a near impossible task on the barren cliffs—the woman’s
shrewd brown eyes spotted me. Despite her age, my neighbor Missus Gill rarely
missed a thing. Folk said she was as clever as Morag, the ancient sea-hag who
lived on the swell of land above town. I thought she was just nosy, though I
didn’t dare say it. Her husband had been the self-appointed leader of Port
Coire for as long as I could remember.
Missus
Gill broke from the procession and strode in my direction, frowning. “Bridey
Corkill, this is hardly a sight for young eyes! Aren’t you supposed to be
helping your mam put supper on, child?”
“I’m
not a child,” I protested, though without any force behind the words. No one
argued with Missus Gill unless they wanted everyone else to hear about it. “And
she sent me to buy bacon from Mister Vondy.”
“Yet
I see you’re sadly empty-handed.” Missus Gill eyed my windswept hair, and I
resisted the urge to pat it down. “How’d you end up here, when the market is on
the other side of town?”
“I
followed the screams.” I glanced around. The crowd had almost dispersed, but a
few curious souls—all young, fit men—scuttled down the cliffs by way of a narrow, winding path to
the strand of beach flecked with tide pools.
The
Gills’ nephew reached the bottom first. He stared into the pocket of salt water
that had moments ago held the girl’s body, as though he might find answers bubbling
to the surface simply because he willed them to appear. With the light fading,
he wouldn’t be able to see anything in there for much longer.
And, lastly:
7) When can we expect the book to be published?
Someday soon is always the hope!
And now, I'm tagging my lovely agency sister Rachel Pudelek to join in the fun; she writes some fierce YA horror and fantasy, but lately she's been hard at work on a middle grade novel!
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