Making a splash within the world of A Sea Of Ships And Souls
It was snowing when I started writing my fantastical adventure novel. Since I couldn’t trade the slushy streets and cold wind for sunshine and warm water, I decided to give it to my characters.
Creating the world of A Sea Of Ships And Souls was difficult at first. I watched numerous documentaries on the tropics, I flipped through my parents wedding album when they went to The Dominican Republic, I studied one of my favorite movies (A Pirates Of The Caribbean) and tried to remember how the summer sun felt on my skin. I was caught up in average ocean temperatures, island population densities, boat mechanics and then I remembered I was writing a fantasy novel with magical ocean spirits and evil dread pirates.
Easy to say the world building got a little easier after that.
I changed my focus away from the science of the world to the vibes and started dreaming of a world that fit my vision. Within the novel, the legends say the Ocean Queen filled the world with water so she could float closer to her lover, the moon. It’s a romantic story so the world needed that same romance and whimsy.
The first island I made for the archipelago was Crescent Isle, named for its crescent shape. The people there hold tight to the legends and always fill the Sea Sprite’s offering bowls to win their favor while on the waters. That was the romance. The second island was created for the whimsy. Whale Hat looks like a whale wearing a top hat and is home to taverns, magic tricks, and stories of sailors and sea monsters. The final island, Ula Zale, isn’t visited by Jace and his crew but remains a source of mystery for the young sailor.
While writing A Sea Of Ships and Souls I wanted to share my own love for the water and sunsets. Blame it on my horoscope or growing up on a lake, but I’ve always found bodies of water beautiful and full of their own kind of magic. I wanted some of the spotlight of the novel to be on the setting: between the dazzling reflection of light atop the ocean waves to the vicious-looking swirling clouds of a coming storm.
With the setting done, I could focus on what really makes a background for a novel: the other characters. Jace’s world isn’t just beaches and handmade boats after all. For me, the best way to develop side characters is by plucking them from your life. The shopkeeper in Chapter One was inspired by an old man who used to run the 7/11 by my house growing up. He had a toy robot bird behind the counter, and, when I was six, I swore it was alive.
Lastly on my to-do list was to establish the community. For me, this includes the culture and history of the world. I worked on finalizing the legends around the Ocean Queen and her evil counterpart, the Sea Witch. I needed to know how much power a Sea Sprite had and if they could truly influence the tides. I created a basic law system that all the islands in the archipelago had to follow. I made a list of holidays and celebrations and discovered the 100-year anniversary of Whale Hat that played a major role in the story.
Building the world and lore of A Sea Of Ships And Souls was as much fun as writing the story. I hope readers can feel the sun on their face and smell the salt spray off the ocean alongside Jace as he tries to save the Ocean Queen.
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