(The Heirs of Watson Island #1)
by Martina Boone
October 28, 2014
Goodreads Summary:
Beautiful Creatures meets The Body Finder in this spellbinding new trilogy.
Three plantations. Two wishes. One ancient curse.
All her life, Barrie Watson has been a virtual prisoner in the house where she lives with her shut-in mother. When her mother dies, Barrie promises to put some mileage on her stiletto heels. But she finds a new kind of prison at her aunt’s South Carolina plantation instead--a prison guarded by an ancient spirit who long ago cursed one of the three founding families of Watson Island and gave the others magical gifts that became compulsions.
Stuck with the ghosts of a generations-old feud and hunted by forces she cannot see, Barrie must find a way to break free of the family legacy. With the help of sun-kissed Eight Beaufort, who knows what Barrie wants before she knows herself, the last Watson heir starts to unravel her family's twisted secrets. What she finds is dangerous: a love she never expected, a river that turns to fire at midnight, a gorgeous cousin who isn’t what she seems, and very real enemies who want both Eight and Barrie dead.
Q. What’s your favorite thing about Compulsion?
A. I secretly love Gothic novels. There was a point where Daphne du Maurier's REBECCA and Mary Stewart's AIRS ABOVE THE GROUND were among my favorite novels. I've always adored books with exotically dangerous settings, quirky characters, and elements of mystery and suspense. Since I'm from Prague, one of the most magical, broodingly beautiful cities in the world, the bar for magical locations is set pretty hight. But the South. Ah, there I have all the elements I love—a haunted past, regret, anger, continuing conflict, and questions of morality galore. Southern plantations are the closest thing to moldering abbeys and decaying castles that we have in the United States. I'm grateful to Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl for reminding me of how much I love all the elements they included in BEAUTIFUL CREATURES, because their series got me thinking about the possibilities of Spanish moss and crumbling Southern mansions. My favorite thing about Compulsion, hands down, is the setting and how it shaped (and twisted) the characters and families who live there.
Q: What do you want readers to take away from COMPULSION?
A. That you can pick your family, the people you love. And that you need to do more than just survive your life. You have to go out and live your life.
Q: Why did you want to tell this story?
A: Pirates, ghosts, witches, voodoo, treasure, forbidden love, mystery, murder . . . Who wouldn't want to tell this story? Seriously, it's the loneliness of the characters, their quest to find each other, and ultimately their ability to save each other or destroy each other. The characters became as real for me as my own family, and I wanted to share them to make them live for other people, too.
Q: COMPULSION is part of a trilogy. Did you already have the series written when you submitted the manuscript?
A: I never meant to write a series, but I knew I wasn't done with Watson Island yet, so after I'd written the second draft, I gave both Eight and Cassie little sisters. I intended to let them help me explore the magical aspects of those families in companion novels. When my agent and I were getting ready to submit COMPULSION to publishers, I very quickly wrote synopses for the novels. Just quick sketches. And then I immediately went to work writing the second book to keep from going crazy while I was waiting to see if COMPULSION would sell. We already had a phone call scheduled with a publisher for a Monday, and my agent called me at five o'clock on Thursday night to tell me that Annette, my future editor, wanted to talk to me the next day, and did I have time. Um, does McDonalds sell hamburgers? Also, he said, Annette wanted to know if I would consider making the other two books a series. Sure, I said. Of course. And then I had until ten-thirty the next morning to come up with ideas: plot and character arcs for the series, a plot that was progressive instead of episodic, themes that would carry across the books. All that. So I called my critique partners and begged for brainstorming help. We were all focusing on plot at first, and then when I was just talking things trough, I finally realized what the character progressions had to be. Instead of crying about the loss of what I'd already written in Book Two, I got excited about the series idea instead, and I also realized that I could use what I'd done for Book Two. Just in a different way.
Q: If you could hang out with one of the characters from COMPULSION, who would you pick?
A: Well, I'm married. And I'm old. Er. Older. So I shouldn't say Eight, right? Okay, yeah. Definitely not Eight. And if we take Eight out of the picture, then I'd have to say Mark, because anyone would have a blast hanging out with Mark.
Q. Where does the name Eight come from? Is that anything like Four?
A. Nope. Not at all. Family and tradition are big in the South, and that’s even more true on Watson Island where the family histories go back three hundred years and the gift is passed down to the oldest child. Eight is short for Charles Robert Beaufort, VIII. His father is Seven, Charles Robert Beaufort, VII. And obviously, that tradition goes back a few years. : ) Eight is tired of feeling more like a number than a person, so when we first meet him, he can’t wait to get away from Watson Island. That becomes a big problem once Barrie arrives, because it turns out she literally won’t be able to ever leave the island.
Q: What makes Barrie a character that readers could look up to?
A: She's vulnerable and clueless about herself the same way that so many girls are clueless, the same way that society sends us signals about not being worthwhile unless we conform to some kind of "ideal image." She's naïve and she falls into the trap of wanting to look for the good in everyone. But she hasn't had a lot of life experience, and her longing to belong makes her willing to put up with too much for the sake of fitting in. At the same time, she's deeply compassionate and she fights against injustice whenever she finds it. She's willing to go to the mat for anyone who is being treated unfairly. She's heroic in that way. And eventually she does find her strength. Or at least she starts to find it in this book.
Q: If you were going to write a spin-off about one of your characters, who would it be and why?
A: Cassie, because I know why she is how she is—and because I know the relationship that's coming to her in Book Two, and the guy is so super hot and wonderful (seriously, possibly my favorite hero EVER) that I want to write the falling in love process from her perspective just so I can feel it with her.
Q. Watson Island is an important character in COMPULSION. Did you plan it that way?
A. There are certain conventions in Gothic fiction, but to be honest, I tried very hard not to think about any of that while I was writing or editing COMPULSION. I just wanted to convey the history that shaped the families and made Barrie, Eight, Cassie, Pru, Seven, and Wyatt who they are all in the book. Because the history creates the story instead of just forming a framework for the story, I think it takes on a deeper meaning. It's certainly fascinating—at least to me. I mean, pirate treasure, ancient spirit witches, blood feuds, lonely, demented characters, curses, forbidden romance . . . How could I resist?
At the same time, I love having the opportunity to use elements of Watson's Landing, Colesworth Place, Beaufort Hall, and Watson Island itself to underscore Barrie's moods and trace the way she grows and changes. That’s going to be especially true in the subsequent books as well, but the questions of morality that are often a part of Gothic literature are definitely going to be an even bigger part of Books Two and Three. And yet I'm having fun going places where Southern Gothics don't normally go. Give me a rule, and I pretty much have to break it.
Q: There's a moment when the love between Eight and Barrie almost feels a little insta-lovish. But it isn't. Did you worry about that when you were writing?
A: At the moment when Barrie and Eight meet, the reader doesn’t fully understand their gifts, so it was a risk leaving that open to the reader’s interpretation. I like to leave room for the reader, though, so I never spell that out. Once readers understand the gifts, they get it when they think it through. It isn’t insta-love at all! And Barrie is very determined not to make the mistake of letting herself believe in love that comes too quickly. The two of them do fall for each other, but they go through a lot together very quickly. And trust me, their story is far from over in the first book.
As far as insta-love in general goes? My husband told me he loved me in the middle of a poker party two weeks after we met. We married less than a year after we met, and we're still married. Love can happen very fast and still be real and lasting. I'm not personally a fan of the kind of insta-love where a character is in danger but the second she sees a hot guy, all she can do is think about how hot he is. Or the kind where one or two super-hot guys fall in love with a heroine who's not only ordinary looking but doesn't really do anything that makes her stand out. Barrie takes action early on, even though she's scared and not used to handling things on her own. She's naïve, so sometimes her decisions aren't the smartest, but you know what? I was making naïve decisions when I was a lot older than Barrie. That's what I love the most about her. She does the best she can at any given time. Her choices sometimes drove me crazy as I was writing, but I had to let them be her choices, based on her background and her character.
Q: What do you think is the hardest part of writing a series?
A: I'll have to come back and answer that when I'm further up the learning curve, but I think so far it's the fact that with the first book, everything is open to you. You can explore any idea, any theme. But the rest of the books have to build on the foundation you've already established. It's easy to discover that you have some new direction you want to take, but that it would have been better served if you hadn't already been stuck by your previous choices. That's hard, but it's also an intensely invigorating challenge that's making me grow as a writer.
Q: What is your writing process?
A: Sit in chair. Open laptop. Write. Erase what I've written. Rewrite. Rinse. Repeat ad nausuem until I think I have something, Write. Write the next page. Go back to the previous page. Decide what I wrote isn't good enough. Start all over again. Drink some tea. Eat some chocolate. Start all over again. Wonder where all my hair went.
Q. English wasn't your first language. What other languages do you speak?
Q. What do you love most about Young Adult lit?
A. I love that young adult literature is brave. There aren’t any topics that can’t be addressed, genres that can’t be twisted or bent, rules that can’t be broken. Sure, there are always going to be people who don’t want their kids reading things that someone has written, and that breaks my heart. But young adult literature shapes the future by shaping young minds, and the more we encourage young adults to read, think, and most importantly, to put themselves into the shoes of others and feel for and with someone else, the brighter the future will be. My favorite thing about young adult literature is that it builds empathy, and I think that’s something we very badly need.
Q: Who do you think is the hottest couple in YA lit?
A: The couple I can't stop thinking about is Blue and Gansey in Maggie Stiefvater's RAVEN BOYS series. But they aren’t actually a couple yet, so . . . Obviously, Karou and Akiva, too, in Laini Taylor's DAUGHTER OF SMOKE AND BONE series. And a couple in Tahereh Mafi's SHATTER ME series, except I can't say who because . . . spoilers. And Lilac and Tarver in THESE BROKEN STARS by Meagan Spooner and Amie Kaufman. And any of the hot guys that Jennifer L. Armentrout dreams up—and whichever of her female characters—because she could make a granola bar have sex appeal. She does boil-over-the-pot chemistry super well.
Three plantations. Two wishes. One ancient curse.
All her life, Barrie Watson has been a virtual prisoner in the house where she lives with her shut-in mother. When her mother dies, Barrie promises to put some mileage on her stiletto heels. But she finds a new kind of prison at her aunt’s South Carolina plantation instead--a prison guarded by an ancient spirit who long ago cursed one of the three founding families of Watson Island and gave the others magical gifts that became compulsions.
Stuck with the ghosts of a generations-old feud and hunted by forces she cannot see, Barrie must find a way to break free of the family legacy. With the help of sun-kissed Eight Beaufort, who knows what Barrie wants before she knows herself, the last Watson heir starts to unravel her family's twisted secrets. What she finds is dangerous: a love she never expected, a river that turns to fire at midnight, a gorgeous cousin who isn’t what she seems, and very real enemies who want both Eight and Barrie dead.
Teaser
“Feuds
are always personal. That’s what makes it hard to break the cycle. Everyone lives locked
inside their own anger until someone is finally brave enough to step outside
themselves to see the view from the other side. It’s why I need to get away from this place.”
“But you’re not stepping out for a
different view.”
Barrie tipped her face up to the stars so she wouldn’t have to look at him. “You’re stepping out to run away.”
He was silent, and she was suddenly afraid. Afraid
that she had said too much, presumed too much, hoped too much. She rolled her
capris as high as they would go, then ran toward the water. She didn’t look back until she was knee
deep, which was as far as she dared. He was right behind her, his face gleaming
in the kind of light that turned beautiful boys into gods. He caught her, and
held her, his skin so warm and alive, she couldn’t help but melt.
“Why did
you run?”
he asked.
“To see
if you’d come
after me.”
“It
scares me how willing I am to run after you. We’re both doing too much running.”
“So kiss
me again.”
Her hands crept around his neck, tangling in his
hair to keep him closer, even though she knew that beautiful boys with
expiration dates couldn’t be held, only borrowed for a time.
Interview
about Compulsion
Q. What’s your favorite thing about Compulsion?
A. I secretly love Gothic novels. There was a point where Daphne du Maurier's REBECCA and Mary Stewart's AIRS ABOVE THE GROUND were among my favorite novels. I've always adored books with exotically dangerous settings, quirky characters, and elements of mystery and suspense. Since I'm from Prague, one of the most magical, broodingly beautiful cities in the world, the bar for magical locations is set pretty hight. But the South. Ah, there I have all the elements I love—a haunted past, regret, anger, continuing conflict, and questions of morality galore. Southern plantations are the closest thing to moldering abbeys and decaying castles that we have in the United States. I'm grateful to Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl for reminding me of how much I love all the elements they included in BEAUTIFUL CREATURES, because their series got me thinking about the possibilities of Spanish moss and crumbling Southern mansions. My favorite thing about Compulsion, hands down, is the setting and how it shaped (and twisted) the characters and families who live there.
Q: What do you want readers to take away from COMPULSION?
A. That you can pick your family, the people you love. And that you need to do more than just survive your life. You have to go out and live your life.
Q: Why did you want to tell this story?
A: Pirates, ghosts, witches, voodoo, treasure, forbidden love, mystery, murder . . . Who wouldn't want to tell this story? Seriously, it's the loneliness of the characters, their quest to find each other, and ultimately their ability to save each other or destroy each other. The characters became as real for me as my own family, and I wanted to share them to make them live for other people, too.
Q: COMPULSION is part of a trilogy. Did you already have the series written when you submitted the manuscript?
A: I never meant to write a series, but I knew I wasn't done with Watson Island yet, so after I'd written the second draft, I gave both Eight and Cassie little sisters. I intended to let them help me explore the magical aspects of those families in companion novels. When my agent and I were getting ready to submit COMPULSION to publishers, I very quickly wrote synopses for the novels. Just quick sketches. And then I immediately went to work writing the second book to keep from going crazy while I was waiting to see if COMPULSION would sell. We already had a phone call scheduled with a publisher for a Monday, and my agent called me at five o'clock on Thursday night to tell me that Annette, my future editor, wanted to talk to me the next day, and did I have time. Um, does McDonalds sell hamburgers? Also, he said, Annette wanted to know if I would consider making the other two books a series. Sure, I said. Of course. And then I had until ten-thirty the next morning to come up with ideas: plot and character arcs for the series, a plot that was progressive instead of episodic, themes that would carry across the books. All that. So I called my critique partners and begged for brainstorming help. We were all focusing on plot at first, and then when I was just talking things trough, I finally realized what the character progressions had to be. Instead of crying about the loss of what I'd already written in Book Two, I got excited about the series idea instead, and I also realized that I could use what I'd done for Book Two. Just in a different way.
Q: If you could hang out with one of the characters from COMPULSION, who would you pick?
A: Well, I'm married. And I'm old. Er. Older. So I shouldn't say Eight, right? Okay, yeah. Definitely not Eight. And if we take Eight out of the picture, then I'd have to say Mark, because anyone would have a blast hanging out with Mark.
Q. Where does the name Eight come from? Is that anything like Four?
A. Nope. Not at all. Family and tradition are big in the South, and that’s even more true on Watson Island where the family histories go back three hundred years and the gift is passed down to the oldest child. Eight is short for Charles Robert Beaufort, VIII. His father is Seven, Charles Robert Beaufort, VII. And obviously, that tradition goes back a few years. : ) Eight is tired of feeling more like a number than a person, so when we first meet him, he can’t wait to get away from Watson Island. That becomes a big problem once Barrie arrives, because it turns out she literally won’t be able to ever leave the island.
Q: What makes Barrie a character that readers could look up to?
A: She's vulnerable and clueless about herself the same way that so many girls are clueless, the same way that society sends us signals about not being worthwhile unless we conform to some kind of "ideal image." She's naïve and she falls into the trap of wanting to look for the good in everyone. But she hasn't had a lot of life experience, and her longing to belong makes her willing to put up with too much for the sake of fitting in. At the same time, she's deeply compassionate and she fights against injustice whenever she finds it. She's willing to go to the mat for anyone who is being treated unfairly. She's heroic in that way. And eventually she does find her strength. Or at least she starts to find it in this book.
Q: If you were going to write a spin-off about one of your characters, who would it be and why?
A: Cassie, because I know why she is how she is—and because I know the relationship that's coming to her in Book Two, and the guy is so super hot and wonderful (seriously, possibly my favorite hero EVER) that I want to write the falling in love process from her perspective just so I can feel it with her.
Q. Watson Island is an important character in COMPULSION. Did you plan it that way?
A. There are certain conventions in Gothic fiction, but to be honest, I tried very hard not to think about any of that while I was writing or editing COMPULSION. I just wanted to convey the history that shaped the families and made Barrie, Eight, Cassie, Pru, Seven, and Wyatt who they are all in the book. Because the history creates the story instead of just forming a framework for the story, I think it takes on a deeper meaning. It's certainly fascinating—at least to me. I mean, pirate treasure, ancient spirit witches, blood feuds, lonely, demented characters, curses, forbidden romance . . . How could I resist?
At the same time, I love having the opportunity to use elements of Watson's Landing, Colesworth Place, Beaufort Hall, and Watson Island itself to underscore Barrie's moods and trace the way she grows and changes. That’s going to be especially true in the subsequent books as well, but the questions of morality that are often a part of Gothic literature are definitely going to be an even bigger part of Books Two and Three. And yet I'm having fun going places where Southern Gothics don't normally go. Give me a rule, and I pretty much have to break it.
Q: There's a moment when the love between Eight and Barrie almost feels a little insta-lovish. But it isn't. Did you worry about that when you were writing?
A: At the moment when Barrie and Eight meet, the reader doesn’t fully understand their gifts, so it was a risk leaving that open to the reader’s interpretation. I like to leave room for the reader, though, so I never spell that out. Once readers understand the gifts, they get it when they think it through. It isn’t insta-love at all! And Barrie is very determined not to make the mistake of letting herself believe in love that comes too quickly. The two of them do fall for each other, but they go through a lot together very quickly. And trust me, their story is far from over in the first book.
As far as insta-love in general goes? My husband told me he loved me in the middle of a poker party two weeks after we met. We married less than a year after we met, and we're still married. Love can happen very fast and still be real and lasting. I'm not personally a fan of the kind of insta-love where a character is in danger but the second she sees a hot guy, all she can do is think about how hot he is. Or the kind where one or two super-hot guys fall in love with a heroine who's not only ordinary looking but doesn't really do anything that makes her stand out. Barrie takes action early on, even though she's scared and not used to handling things on her own. She's naïve, so sometimes her decisions aren't the smartest, but you know what? I was making naïve decisions when I was a lot older than Barrie. That's what I love the most about her. She does the best she can at any given time. Her choices sometimes drove me crazy as I was writing, but I had to let them be her choices, based on her background and her character.
Interview with Martina
Q: Tell us a
little about yourself.
A: Five things: 1) I'm from Prague, 2) I'm a reader,
3) I'm crazy about horses, 4) I'm essentially tone deaf, and 5) I'm actually
pretty shy so I babble as a defense mechanism. I plan to outgrow that someday.
But then I've been planning to do that for more years than I want to mention,
so I'm pretty sure it's not going to happen.
Q: What is your favorite
way to waste time?
A: Pinterest. I use it for inspiration, and then I get distracted by shiny squirrels.
A: Pinterest. I use it for inspiration, and then I get distracted by shiny squirrels.
Q. If you could have one superpower, what would you
want it to be?
A: Invisibility. I think it would be super handy—actually, I
know it would be because I've got a book half-written that kind of deals with
that. Sort of. But not in an X-men, Marvel Comics way.
Q: When did you know you wanted to be a writer?
A: I've always been a reader and a dreamer, and I've always loved to write, but my family is all physicists and mathematicians and scientists. So writing was kind of a waste of time activity and I was encouraged to think about a job that actually, you know, paid. I tried very hard to get published in book form when my son was born, and nearly made it, and then I made the mistake of giving up. I started a business, and between that and family, I was literally working eighteen hours a day and had no time to write, so I put off my dream. If I can pass along one piece of advice to writers—heck to humans regardless of what they want to do: don't put off your dreams. Go balls to the wall. Try. You may fail, but at least you won't always wonder what if?
Q: When did you know you wanted to be a writer?
A: I've always been a reader and a dreamer, and I've always loved to write, but my family is all physicists and mathematicians and scientists. So writing was kind of a waste of time activity and I was encouraged to think about a job that actually, you know, paid. I tried very hard to get published in book form when my son was born, and nearly made it, and then I made the mistake of giving up. I started a business, and between that and family, I was literally working eighteen hours a day and had no time to write, so I put off my dream. If I can pass along one piece of advice to writers—heck to humans regardless of what they want to do: don't put off your dreams. Go balls to the wall. Try. You may fail, but at least you won't always wonder what if?
Q: Did anyone encourage you to write?
A: A lot of people. Almost everyone. My husband didn't
think I could manage it, simply because the odds are so huge against being
traditionally published, but he supported me when I said I wanted to give it a
serious effort. My son has collected books since he was two months old, so he
supported me in a general way by asking about the writing. And my daughter is
the reason I started writing YA, because she has a learning disability, so
reading is tough for her. When she found books she loved, I would read them
too, and I fell in love with the voices and the subjects, with the whole coming
of age feeling. I've never looked back. So I guess you could say that I was
encouraged by all the authors whose books I read, and I was also encouraged by
the entire online writing community. It's phenomenal. Apart from that, I'll
leave the rest for the acknowledgements I put into COMPULSION. They're
basically as long as the book.
Q: Where do your ideas come from?
A: I read. I watch TV. I go to movies and museums and
castles and cathedrals. I live life. Ideas take root from all sorts of
different places. As writers, it's our job to combine them and twist them into
shape. Mostly I do that by asking why about every individual piece. By
the time I have the whys, I've fallen in love with the character and
that character becomes the story.
Q: What do you think is the hardest part of writing a series?
A: I'll have to come back and answer that when I'm further up the learning curve, but I think so far it's the fact that with the first book, everything is open to you. You can explore any idea, any theme. But the rest of the books have to build on the foundation you've already established. It's easy to discover that you have some new direction you want to take, but that it would have been better served if you hadn't already been stuck by your previous choices. That's hard, but it's also an intensely invigorating challenge that's making me grow as a writer.
Q: What is your writing process?
A: Sit in chair. Open laptop. Write. Erase what I've written. Rewrite. Rinse. Repeat ad nausuem until I think I have something, Write. Write the next page. Go back to the previous page. Decide what I wrote isn't good enough. Start all over again. Drink some tea. Eat some chocolate. Start all over again. Wonder where all my hair went.
Q. English wasn't your first language. What other languages do you speak?
A: Czech and French, although I haven't had much occasion
to speak French in many years, so I'm not sure how much I still remember. I
used to speak Danish and Norwegian, but I've definitely forgotten those.
Sometimes I worry I've forgotten English.
Q: What did you do before you wrote a book?
A: Some of my more interesting jobs – starting from high school – have included mounted trail guide, ski instructor,
horse trainer, web developer, marketing consultant, and web content developer.
I also waited tables at an auberge in Switzerland one summer. (I was
really bad at it.)
Q. What do you love most about Young Adult lit?
A. I love that young adult literature is brave. There aren’t any topics that can’t be addressed, genres that can’t be twisted or bent, rules that can’t be broken. Sure, there are always going to be people who don’t want their kids reading things that someone has written, and that breaks my heart. But young adult literature shapes the future by shaping young minds, and the more we encourage young adults to read, think, and most importantly, to put themselves into the shoes of others and feel for and with someone else, the brighter the future will be. My favorite thing about young adult literature is that it builds empathy, and I think that’s something we very badly need.
Q: Who do you think is the hottest couple in YA lit?
A: The couple I can't stop thinking about is Blue and Gansey in Maggie Stiefvater's RAVEN BOYS series. But they aren’t actually a couple yet, so . . . Obviously, Karou and Akiva, too, in Laini Taylor's DAUGHTER OF SMOKE AND BONE series. And a couple in Tahereh Mafi's SHATTER ME series, except I can't say who because . . . spoilers. And Lilac and Tarver in THESE BROKEN STARS by Meagan Spooner and Amie Kaufman. And any of the hot guys that Jennifer L. Armentrout dreams up—and whichever of her female characters—because she could make a granola bar have sex appeal. She does boil-over-the-pot chemistry super well.
Giveaway
I loved this novel and I can't wait for book two! I love that the author had no real big plans to make this a trilogy but quickly came up with ideas for one. I am so excited for the next book!
ReplyDeleteI haven't read it yet but I'm excited to pick it up! Maybe once the sequel comes out since I don't think I can stand the wait :S
Delete