Author at work: Chapters 7 and 8

flip-flopedWell, I started and finished Chapter 7 of Sirena, yesterday. Before you applaud my writing prowess, please be advised that I actually wrote only one half to two thirds of it, yesterday. The remaining bit had already been written months ago and was waiting to be slotted in at the appropriate point in the narrative.

I also finished most of Chapter 8, yesterday. In this case, almost all of the contents had been written early in 2015 and was just waiting for Chapter 7 to happen. I still have a bit of work to do on this chapter, including some dialogue at the end.

Then, there are the tweaks and refinements waiting to be done. Nothing is ever completely finished, is it? I just want things to be as good as I can make it before my editor gets a hold of these two chapters.

Throughout the first part of the story, readers will learn more about Amy’s parents and her extended family, offshore. Though Amy’s father, Phrastôr, is away from home most of the time, he’s still a good man and does his best to provide for his onshore family. He’s a feral merman who hasn’t taken to life on land, just yet.

Amy’s mother, Loraine, came from a long line of feral merfolk. Though Loraine’s mother had been born and raised as a feral mermaid, she wanted her child to have an onshore education. Raising a child as a single parent was not unusual for feral mermaids and Loraine essentially followed suit with Amy.

Loraine’s mother had chosen the name so her daughter would fit in more with the humanised residents of Colony Island. Feral Merfolk usually do not have last names and when told she was going to need one for life on dry land, Loraine’s mother chose the first thing she saw; a Seagull.

Once Loraine was done with school and deemed ready to choose a mate and breed, Loraine’s mother returned to sea, full time. There were, however, regular visits to check on her daughter, catch up on gossip and indulge her fondness for mainland food.

On one of these visits, Phrastôr tagged along and the rest was history.

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