Hook scowled and flashed a dark look toward Charlie, but he said nothing.
“Set the course!” Charlie shouted.
Wendy opened Pan’s compass, and the outline of an island glowed in the palm of her hand. The needle spun, and then settled. She looked up into the sky for her bearings.
“Once we clear England’s shores, and counting, sir, from Stella Polaris, mark heading degree second to the right, and then straight on ’til morning!”
“Second to the right, and straight on ’til morning!” Charlie echoed.
And Wendy turned her gaze to the sea.
More Tales of the Wendy!
We hope you enjoyed The Wendy! Continue Wendy's adventures in The Navigator, book 2 in the Tales of the Wendy series!
For the latest news and events from Erin Michelle Sky and Steven Brown, visit DragonAuthors.com. For new releases and special offers, sign up here!
For even more from the series, including behind-the-scenes commentary, cover sketches, occasional book swag, and sneak peeks at future books, visit the VIP site at patreon.com/DragonAuthors.
But wait! Who is Peter Pan, and why is he the way he is? Find out in Tigerlilja, a companion novella from the Tales of the Wendy series!
One, cursed by accident.
The other, cursed by destiny.
But losing everything isn’t always the end.
Sometimes, it’s just the beginning.
Also by Erin Michelle Sky and Steven Brown: The Intuitives.
Six unusual teens.
Ancient powers unleashed.
One strange summer to solve a mystery ...
before history catches up to them.
About the Authors
As a child, Erin fell in love with llamas and with the books of Anne McCaffrey, whose Dragonriders of Pern series inspired her to become a writer. When she finally met Anne McCaffrey at a fantasy convention some two decades later, she wept uncontrollably throughout the entire affair. She does significantly better with llamas.
Steven spent his childhood reading anything he could get his hands on, sharing his favorite stories with his younger brothers and then acting them out, especially if this required sword fighting on horseback. When they ran out of books, he wrote his own, including his brothers as the main characters by sketching original illustrations on magazine clippings.
Together, they are Dragon Authors, writing science fiction and fantasy novels for teens and adults. You can find them online at dragonauthors.com.
Acknowledgments
The Wendy began as an experiment. Could an unknown writing duo attract enough of a following on Patreon.com to defray the cost of publishing a book? We were as surprised as anyone when the answer turned out to be “yes.”
We posted the first chapter in February of 2016, and by September our extraordinary patrons had bought us a cover. For a book that wasn’t even finished. Such was their faith in us. They went on to fund the book’s editing, cover layout, and interior design—an entire book paid for in advance, one chapter at a time.
We will forever be humbled by the experience.
So first and foremost, to all of our patrons, who spent the last year and a half believing in us, thank you! You are the greatest friends any authors—or book—could ever have. The Wendy would not exist without you.
To Dwayne “@ThatDwayne” Melancon and Rae McManus, for going above and beyond, and for your unwavering conviction that this story would one day end up in print. We wish you as many Twitter followers and as much ice cream as any human being could ever want.
To Ken Howell, for reading all our drafts and waiting eagerly nonetheless for the next chapter of every single thing we write. You have no idea how much your enthusiasm does to keep us going.
To Donna Alvis, at the Ephesus Public Library, thank you for being excited about every little step along the way. You have provided us with countless morale boosts. We consider ourselves tremendously lucky to have such a wonderful librarian in our corner.
To our families (Molyna Richards, get in here for that photo), for supporting our dreams, for believing in our potential, for championing our books, and for loving us through the insanity of the creative process. We could not do it without you.
To Stephanie Plotkin, author of TeacherofYA's Book Blog, we miss you every day. You departed this life far too soon, but your unflagging encouragement and enthusiasm will stay with us forever. Your friendship can not be replaced.
The Wendy was our first novel to take place in an historical setting, and that involves a whole slew of thanks beyond anything we could reasonably include here. We had no idea going into it how much research the book would require. We’ll tell you—it’s a lot. (Our Patreon commentary for each chapter is almost as long as the chapter itself!)
We have tried to make Wendy’s world as historically accurate as possible. Where we have failed, those failures are our own. But where we have succeeded, we have to thank all the dedicated souls who spend untold hours chronicling the past and making it available to twenty-first century authors on the Internet. The following are a few of the websites to which we are most indebted. It is by no means a comprehensive list.
BBC—British History in depth: Life at Sea in the Royal Navy of the 18th Century.
The British Library—Georgian entertainment: from pleasure gardens to blood sports.
The David Rumsey Historical Map Collection—Composite: England, Wales.
London Lives 1690 to 1800—Crime, Poverty & Social Policy in the Metropolis.
University of Michigan—Money and Denominations in 18th c England. (Sorry, Dad. Go, Ohio State!)
And speaking of history, we also have to thank the many librarians who work tirelessly to preserve the texts of previous centuries, scanning the originals and placing them online for the benefit of the entire world. For example, Mary Wollstonecraft’s Thoughts on the Education of Daughters, published in 1787, can be read online thanks to the LSE Digital Library.
Finally, we find ourselves indebted to a man who died more than two hundred years ago. We realized early on that Wendy needed a mentor. Someone to see past her gender and prepare her for a life at sea. But who in 18th-century England would have had both the knowledge and willingness to teach a ten-year-old girl how to be a sailor?
We reached out to our network with the problem, and cosplayer Ember Tay, who happens to be a history student, suggested we read The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, written by Olaudah Equiano himself and published in 1789. Everything that character says to Wendy in chapter two about his life is chronicled in the actual autobiography, up to and including his story about watching his mother charge into battle with a broadsword.
A broadsword! Wendy would have been mesmerized.
His autobiography has long been a part of the public domain. It is available through most library systems and can be downloaded for free on most e-readers.
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