Deep Water
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I based the appearance of the weather charm in Deep Water on other research into spells involving knotted string or fabric, which were common throughout northern Europe.
Further research
Deep Water was inspired in part by an amazing travel book called The People of the Sea, by David Thomson. Thomson regularly travelled the remote islands of the British Isles nearly a century ago, recording stories of the seal people, told by possibly the last generation who still believed them to be true.
This novel is my contemporary take on the ancient Celtic selkie myth, set in Cornwall. Selkies, and similar mythical beings such as mermaids, occur throughout the Celtic world and beyond.
The idea of shape-shifting is common to almost all cultures worldwide. It’s not all about werewolves and vampires and things that are meant to terrify us. Myths are often simply a way of interpreting the complex world around us, a world of infinite possibilities.
Deep Water was inspired by my belief that just because we can’t prove something scientifically, it doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist. And the possibility that such things are real makes the world a far more interesting place.
acknowledgements
Many people have helped me build the story of Deep Water, in lots of different ways. Some just by reading it and liking it. Some by coming up with ideas or suggesting ways to improve it – and others (like my family) simply by lifting my spirits when I felt like throwing in the towel. I’m bound to have forgotten someone in the following list, so if it’s you – apologies.
Big thanks to Christine O’Brien, Nick Holmes and Alison Powell who were there at the start and encouraged me to grow the story. Also my wonderful Bath Spa University tutors, Julia Green and Nicola Davies, who helped me give it life – along with my amazing (and uber talented) MA group: Clare Furniss, David Hofmeyr, Alex Hart, Blondie Camps and HB Alexander.
I owe a massive debt to Debbie Taylor at Mslexia – and judges Malorie Blackman, Julia Eccleshare and Julia Churchill – for choosing Deep Water to win the Mslexia Children’s Novel Writing competition in 2013. (You changed my life!)
My favourite readers, who gave me honest feedback and helped me brainstorm plot ideas, include Lottle Sweeney, Eugene Lambert, Olly Perry and Russell Sanderson.
Help with research came from The Museum of Witchcraft in Boscastle (Ancrows by another name) and Marian Green, among many others.
Biggest thanks go to my lovely agent, Ben Illis, for his boundless enthusiasm and support, and basically just being himself. Rebecca Hill at Usborne for commissioning it, my brilliant editor, Sarah Stewart, for helping to make Deep Water as good as it can be, and everyone else at Usborne, just for being great.
And last (but by no means least) SF Said – for very timely and much appreciated advice. It saved me resorting to chain-smoking.
For more magical and mysterious reads, check out www.usborne.com/fiction
This ebook edition first published in the UK in 2015 by Usborne Publishing Ltd., Usborne House, 83-85 Saffron Hill, London EC1N 8RT, England. www.usborne.com
Copyright © 2015 by Lu Hersey
The right of Lu Hersey to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by her in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988.
Cover photography: Landscape © Stelian Porojnicu Alamy; lightning © Johan Swanepoel Alamy; sea © Sergey Orlov/Shutterstock; girl © Dmitry Laudin/Shutterstock
The name Usborne and the devices are Trade Marks of Usborne Publishing Ltd.
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This is a work of fiction. The characters, incidents, and dialogues are products of the author’s imagination and are not to be construed as real.
A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
ePub ISBN 9781409591429
Batch no. 03521-02