by Megan Tayte
Darkly, Deeply, Beautifully comes from my favourite era in English literature: Romanticism. The words were penned by two different Romantic poets during the early nineteenth century. In ‘Madoc’, Robert Southey describes an ocean that is ‘Blue, darkly, deeply, beautifully blue’. In ‘Don Juan’ Lord Byron writes:
O! ‘darkly, deeply, beautifully blue,’
As some one somewhere sings about the sky…
Where did you write the books?
Here, there, everywhere. I wrote on park benches, on trains, in hotel lounges, in hotel rooms, at my desk, at my dining table, at my kitchen counter, in my (stationary!) car – and in cafes, many cafes, in the city of Nottingham.
When I read The Ceruleans now, I flash back to where I wrote scenes. Chester’s flying hug of Cara (Death Wish) was written cross-legged on a bed in a Kent hotel while I was on a business trip. Scarlett’s fiery demise in Forget Me Not flowed out of me in the arts library at the University of Nottingham. The discovery of Elizabeth and subsequent attempt to save her (Devil and the Deep) formed on the page in a Starbucks cafe, where the tears I couldn’t hold back attracted plenty of ‘Beware: Crazy Lady in the Corner’ looks.
Which character did you most enjoy writing?
Cara. For her strength, her humour and her faith, but most of all for her bluntness. We should all be more like her and tell it as it is, I think. (But perhaps flash a little less leg?)
Which character was the most challenging to write?
Elizabeth in Death Wish. Selfish, over-dramatic, needy; a nightmare.
As a mum myself I found it difficult to write her that way, because she behaves so differently to how I would be with my own kids. But I tried not to judge her. She’s lost so many people: her partner, her daughter and her baby boy. She’s not a bad person, just one who’s hurting badly.
Which character is most like you?
Scarlett. Like her, I was independent at a young age. Like her, I’m happy enough in my own company. Like her, I lack fashion sense and am a danger to myself in high heels. And like her, I know grief.
But I’m not Scarlett Blake, and she’s not me. We differ in many ways. I can cook a meal without burning it, for example, and if Chester was my dog, I’d likely have a breakdown. And when it comes to the ocean, we’re not in tune. I’m a sit-on-the-beach-and-dream sort, not a ride-the-waves one. Scarlett overcomes her fear of the water to become a pretty kick-ass surfer. That’s not me at all: I’d remain as Scarlett is at the start of Death Wish – clinging to a surfboard and in dire need of rescue. Ideally by a very hot surfer, of course.
What Cerulean snippets lie discarded on the cutting-room floor?
Plenty! Here are some highlights:
Scarlett was fleetingly Ruby; Sienna started out as Elle; Bert was Ben; Adam was Simon; Michael’s birth name was Peter. St Mary’s was St Michael’s, until Michael became Michael. And Twycombe was Mousecombe (inspired by the Cornish Mousehole, home of the fabulously named Stargazy Pie), but was changed to Twy– as a nod to the Berkshire village of Twyford I lived in as a child.
In the first draft, Elizabeth gave birth to her twins on Christmas Day, and she called them Noah and Elle for Noel. She’d decided on the name Holly for her second daughter before leaving Gabriel (to match Noah and Elle). But when the baby was born – prematurely – she named her Scarlett. Because she needed her fragile little girl to be a fighter: fiery and fierce. And because she wanted her daughter to be the very opposite of blue.
Elizabeth attempted suicide Death Wish version #1. But I got so depressed writing that chapter, and so thoroughly fed up with Elizabeth, that I cut the scene. You can read the draft of it online at http://megantayte.com/blog/a-death-wish-deleted-scene-elizabeths-cry-for-help and get an exclusive insight into how much the young Elizabeth knew about Gabriel.
For all of ten minutes, Grannie Cavendish was revealed to be Gabriel’s mother – until it dawned on me that twist made Luke and Scarlett cousins. Speaking of too-close-for-comfort connections, Evangeline really isn’t Jude’s mother; he’s descended from a different couple in the origins story. (Geek alert: I have an extensive family tree.)
And finally, I have a lot of notes and sketches in my files about a guy with ‘wolf-like amber eyes and a physique that spells danger’. Something about Daniel intrigues me. The question is: will he haunt me sufficiently to inspire a new series, The Vindicos…?
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Thank you to:
My husband, who always believes, always listens, always champions, and is always ready with a hug, followed by a healthy dose of, ‘Pull yourself together, woman.’
My close family, for never once doubting I had it in me.
The ‘inner circle’ who read and gave feedback on drafts, and urged me to keep writing.
My wider family and friends and friends of friends, who decided to read something by ‘that writer girl’.
The online reading community, especially the many book bloggers who’ve read and shared The Ceruleans: you rock.
And, finally, to all those who watch over me from above. I feel you.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Once upon a time a little girl told her grandmother that when she grew up she wanted to be a writer. Or a lollipop lady. Or a fairy princess fireman. ‘Write, Megan,’ her grandmother advised. So that’s what she did.
Thirty-odd years later, Megan is a professional book editor and ghostwriter by day, and an indie novelist by night. Her fiction – romance with soul and a hint of sass – recently earned her the SPR’s Independent Woman Author of the Year award.
Megan grew up in the Royal County, a hop, skip and a (very long) jump from Windsor Castle, but these days she makes her home in a village of Greater Manchester. She lives with her husband, a proud Scot who occasionally kicks back in a kilt; her son, a budding artist with the soul of a palaeontologist; and her baby daughter, a pan-and-spoon drummer who sings in her sleep. When she’s not writing, you’ll find Megan walking someplace green, reading by the fire, or creating carnage in the kitchen as she pursues her impossible dream: of baking something edible.
You can connect with Megan online at:
Her blog
Facebook
Goodreads
Instagram
Twitter
CONTENTS
BEGINNING
BOOKS BY MEGAN
DEDICATION
COPYRIGHT
EPIGRAPH
PART 1: SOMETHING OLD, SOMETHING NEW
1: MAVERICK
2: WHAT I MAY BECOME
3: FOR NOW
4: THE SCARLET THREAD
5: UP IN THE HEAVENS
6: COLD, HARD REALITY
7: DEAD END
8: THE WOLVES
9: MIND MELT
10: VISION OF FORMER WOES
11: NOBLE
12: ALL THAT MATTERS
13: CUPCAKES AND FROSTING
14: AFTER ALL THE DRAMA
15: FAMILY – THAT’S US
16: A LADY AND A TRAMP
17: LETTIE AND ENNA
18: THE POSSIBILITY
19: PERHAPS
20: EMPTY
21: HIM
22: A BEAST OR A GOD
23: CRYSTAL CLEAR
24: GONE
PART 2: SOMETHING BORROWED
25: WHAT HE LEFT BEHIND
26: SOMEONE
27: LIMBO
28: PURGATORY
29: A TERRIBLE THING
30: COME TO ME
31: A CHANCE
32: THE GHOST
33: SON
34: COME DOWN
35: LET GO
PART 3: SOMETHING BLUE
36: LITTLE MERMAID
37: AN ELEMENT
38: INSPIRE
39: PETER
40: READY
41: SACRIFICE
42: THERE
43: THEREAFTER
44: EPILOGUE
AUTHOR’S NOTE
THE BIT WHERE MEGAN INTERVIEWS M
EGAN
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
CONTENTS
