INSPIRATION AND IMAGES FOR SERENA AND TOBI
What the Characters Serena and Tobi Look Like In My Head
Welcome to Monday Mermaid Musings where I talk about my new book The Mermaid Riot (Fire and Ice YA, March 19, 2024) and how much of the story was created. I hope you enjoy these tidbits as I hope to extend the conversation around the book beyond the mythology, lovely as that is most of the time.
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3 JUNE 2024
INSPIRATION AND IMAGES FOR SERENA AND TOBI
What the Characters Serena and Tobi Look Like In My Head
The two lead characters in The Mermaid Riot are Serena Robinson and Tobi Doyle who team up to determine how to help a mermaid return to her natural home in the sea. Much should go into coming up with a character beyond what they look like physically. It was important to me to have images of Serena and Tobi in mind and in print as I wrote about them, but I also chose goals and desires based on research of the era.
This is what Tobi looked like in my mind as I described not only his physical attributes but his intellect, beliefs, and more.
This is what Serena looked like in my mind as I described an 18-year-old woman who wants a future as a teacher at a time when a college education for women was not as prevalent as it is today. She needed a goal that would help her forget the sad past of fictional Kingston, SC as well as a career that would align with her natural inclination to help those less fortunate.
My research into The Reconstruction era after The U.S. Civil War did indeed present learning options for women wanting professional careers. I decided she would want to teach because she likes to read, and many times during the story she makes sense of what’s happening based on what she has read in books such as Twenty-Thousand Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne.
My characters developed organically in response to the plot action, but I believe The Mermaid Riot is a plot-driven narrative because I centered the plot around the changes that occurred mainly in Tobi. Do you think the story is plot-driven or character-driven, or combination of the two? I’d love to know what you think.
In other mermaid news, I’m grateful and thrilled to share these links to thoughtful, wonderful reviews of The Mermaid Riot. My appreciation to Robin G. and Ashley B. I encourage you to visit their wonderful websites! Have you left a review yet?
Hollies, Happiness and Healing “Book Review for The Mermaid Riot by Joy E. Held.”
Adventures in Literature, “Book Review: The Mermaid Riot by Joy E. Held.”
I like mermaids because they make waves.
Stay tuned for more background, how I twisted the so-called facts of the “mermaid incident” to suit the story, and how I applied literary license to write a fantasy novel about learning to believe what you’re told and when to question it.
~JEH
The Mermaid Riot is a work of fiction inspired by a true event that happened in Charleston, South Carolina in 1867 which became known as the mermaid riots. Names, dates, and locations have been fabricated to accommodate the plot.
The Mermaid Riot by Joy E. Held is available in ebook and print form from online retailers. Read a sample and purchase here
https://www.fireandiceya.com/authors/joyeheld/mermaid.html
JOY E. HELD is an author, educator, editor, entrepreneur, and literary citizen responsible for this site and its contents. She is the author of
Writer Wellness: A Writer’s Path to Health and Creativity (Headline Books, Inc., 2020)
Writer Wellness Workbook: A Guided Workbook and Journal to Accompany Writer Wellness: A Writer’s Path to Health and Creativity (Headline Books, Inc., 2023)
The Mermaid Riot (Fire and Ice YA, 2024) Young Adult Historical Fantasy
She writes spicy historical fiction under a pen name.
She is the winner of multiple writing and book awards:
West Virginia Writers, Inc. Annual Writing Contest, Honorable Mention, Novel, 1998.
New York Book Festival, Honorable Mention, Writer Wellness, 2020.
Next Generation Indie Book Awards, Finalist, Writer Wellness, 2021.
Northeast Ohio Romance Writers of America, Member of the Year, 2020.
Northeast Ohio Romance Writers of America, First Book Award, 2020.
She is an adjunct faculty member in the Southern New Hampshire University Online MFA Creative Writing.
She is a proud graduate of Seton Hill University in Greensburg, PA with an MFA in Writing Popular Fiction.
She is a member of The Authors Guild and the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators.
Joy is the founder and CEO of My WRITEDAY Subscription Box for writers and readers.
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When Gerard Cochran loses his father at Waterloo he is alone, wounded and without direction until rescued by an aged French general. Yet when two English cousins show up to rescue him, one of whom is the beautiful and sympathetic Juliet Chandler, he is reluctant to go with them into yet another plan someone has made for his life. But then they kidnap him and the temptation of Juliet’s lips is too much for any mortal to resist. Even a pawn can change the game.
