Martina Boone is the author of the Heirs of Watson Island series, filled with fantastic characters both living and dead. Boone took a minute to explain all about all the spooky things that fill her novels.
From Martina Boone
I adored Hart of Dixie — I’m so sad it went off the air. I didn’t discover the show until after I already had a book deal for Compulsion, and watching all those eccentric and flawed characters in that charming Southern setting was like discovering a grown up version of my book. The gossipy, judgmental, and close-knit town of Blue Belle reminded me of Watson’s Point, and Zoe Hart coming in from New York with her Louboutins and her preconceptions was in many ways an adult version of my own Barrie Watson. The only thing missing was the magic, the mystery, and the bit of creepiness that comes with the Southern Gothic genre.
Picture Compulsion, Persuasion, and Illusion as young adult versions of Hart of Dixie with ghosts and magic. Lots of ghosts and magic.
And just like ghosts come in different flavors in “real life,” there are different types of ghosts in the Heirs of Watson’s Island series. Many of these are based on Native American culture, because at the turn of the 18th century when the three plantations in the book were settled by the founding families, up to 50 percent of the slaves in the Carolinas were Native American. The resulting mixture of Native American, African, and European beliefs and magical systems resulted in a unique blend of magic and culture.
Here’s the breakdown on the ghosts of Watson Island:
The Fire Carrier
This guardian spirit is based on the Atsil’-dihye’gï of Cherokee mythology, a spirit or witch so terrible that Cherokee do not know what it looks like, apart from the fact that it carries a light around at night. But the Fire Carrier was also the title of the war priest who carried the coals from the sacred fire when the tribe went to war.
The Fire Carrier who sets the river around Watson Island on fire each night as part of a magic ceremony is a blend of these different aspects of Cherokee history and mythology. He’s both a priest and a spirit, a warrior and a guardian. Who he is and why he is on the island is the central mystery of the trilogy.
In modern terms, he is an intelligent haunting, a trapped spirit, but I can’t be more specific because…spoiler.
The Yunwi
The mischievous and benevolent spirits who first take Watson’s Landing apart and then help to keep it running are based on the Yûñwï Tsunsdi’, the Cherokee Little People. But because the Little People are common to many different Native American tribes, and to other beings in different cultures, there are some differences. They have their own magic as well, which grows over the course of the series as Barrie Watson learns more about them.
They are both intelligent hauntings and trapped spirits. They’re also something else, but again, that’s part of the central mystery in the series.
The Fountain Spirit
Based on the Cherokee Yûñwï Amai’yïnë’hï and the African beliefs of water spirits who inhabited “fountains” or water holes of the Carolina and Georgia Lowcountry, Watson Island is inhabited by guardian spirits who live in the water. They are both helpful and authoritarian, which is a commonality with the glaistigs of Scottish mythology. Again, the commonalities are not coincidental. They’re based on the blending of cultures, but also on common roots. The series is all about building bridges, so I specifically looked for similarities as I was doing the research.
The fountain spirits in the Heirs of Watson Island trilogy are more akin to free spirits — they’ve crossed over from elsewhere. Where that is, you’ll have to wait for Illusion to find out.
Luke Watson and Twyla Beaufort
These spirits from Compulsion are residual hauntings, echoing the last moments of their lives over and over until they are released by…something. Again, that’s a bit of a spoiler.
Obadiah
Introduced in Persuasion, Obadiah is a twist on the “magical negro” often found in Southern literature. Where that is too often a character plopped into the story to help the main character, I wanted to make Obadiah his own actor. I wasn’t sure whether he was the villain or the hero until the last chapter of Illusion, and he became one of my favorite characters to write.
Although he has studied magic all around the world, he’s based loosely on a cross between the Raven Mocker of Cherokee mythology and the Boo Hag of Hoodoo legend. There’s also a term for him in European mythology, but I can’t provide it because…spoiler. In ghost definitions, he’s basically a living spirit.
Elijah and Ayita
Introduced in Persuasion, these are the most powerful spirits in the books. Both had magic in life, so they remain powerful in death, and they can amass additional strength and power as needed.
They are trapped spirits and also vengeful spirits.
Alcee and Ann Colesworth
Introduced in Persuasion, these are minor guardian spirits who hijack power from Elijah and Ayita or wherever they can find it. They are crisis apparitions with a twist — they appear to guard the dead.
The Colesworth Mansion on the Night It Burned
This is a time projection sent by Alcee and Ann Colesworth in Persuasion for a specific purpose.
About Martina Boone
Martina Boone was born in Prague and spoke several languages before learning English. She’s the author of Compulsion and Persuasion, books one and two in the romantic Southern Gothic trilogy, the Heirs of Watson Island. She’s also the founder of Adventures In YA Publishing, a three-time Writer’s Digest 101 Best Websites for Writers site, the Compulsion For Reading book drive campaign for underfunded schools and libraries, and YA Series Insiders, a site devoted to the discovery and celebration of young adult literature and encouraging literacy through YA series. Locally in her home state of Virginia, she is on the board of the Literacy Council of Northern Virginia, helping to promote literacy and adult education initiatives.
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