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Check out Emily's Splash interview with author J. Kathleen Cheney now if you missed it last week!
"To Tail or Not to Tail…"
by J. Kathleen Cheney
by J. Kathleen Cheney
My books have sereia in them. In Portuguese, that translates
into siren, but it also translates as
mermaid. When they're talking about
one, they're talking about the other.
But what exactly constitutes a mermaid? Is it enough that she can live in the sea? Or does she have to have a tail?
So I hit on the idea of protective
coloration, like that of butterflies that have an 'eye' on their tails or
cuttlefish that can blend in with everything around them. I sat down and considered what evolution
would want to disguise the sereia as…and came up with the answer of a
carnivorous sea creature. As one of the largest fish, tuna seemed the most
obvious choice…so the sereia markings mimic various types of tuna.But what exactly constitutes a mermaid? Is it enough that she can live in the sea? Or does she have to have a tail?
From the start, I didn't want fish tails.
If your mermaid/siren has a fish tail, that's an impediment
to her doing anything on land. If she wants to get out of the water and run,
she can't have a tail. In fact, tails are impediments to a lot of things, including passing as human or having a long-term
relationship with a human man.
If a fishtailed mermaid wants to get out on land, she has to
get rid of her tail somehow. That usually involves magic. The writer has two
options: a spell of some sort (like in The Little Mermaid) that will replace
the tail with legs, or shape-changing. I've
written both shape-changers and magic before, and there are selkies and
otterfolk in my books, so I'm not prejudiced against them, but I didn't want to
take either route with my sereia.
I tried to make them magical creatures rather than creatures
that use magic. I made them chimeras. They're mostly human, but have a few
fishy traits: gills on their necks that permit them to breathe underwater;
webbing between their fingers that sense motion in water like a seal's
vibrissae (whiskers); and airbladders that keep them oriented in water.
Tails? No. I stuck with legs. But I still wanted sailors to have some
excuse to think the sereia had fish tails.
I mean, after all, even when we have statues or paintings with two separate legs, they still look like tails.
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| © "The Fisherman and the Syren" by Frederic Leighton (1830-1896) |
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| © J. Kathleen Cheney took this photo while she was in Lisbon! |
Several years ago I had a
dream. It started out wonderfully. I was swimming undersea, enjoying the liquid
caress of it and the freedom of effortlessly sliding through a gorgeous
universe.
(I could have gone with sharks, but they're rather bland to
look at. Sea snakes would have been terribly odd--stripes?--and no one wants to
look like a giant squid from the waist down. Well, some people probably do, but
I'm not one of them.)
Therefore, my sereia look fishy from the waist down, but
aren't actually fish.
Fortunately, I found enough tail-free mythology to feel safe
going this route. The ones mentioned in The
Lusiads (the epic poem by Camões) had no tails. There are mermaids in the One Thousand and One Nights that are
tailless. And sirens on the whole (as opposed to mermaids) tend to be more
likely to have legs, despite living in water (rusalki are in this group).
So that's where I ended up. No tails. Woo Hoo!
Who knows? For the next set of novels I may change my mind.
Tails for everyone!
(That's unlikely, BTW. Everyone in the next series is human.
But perhaps after that…)
~*~
O F F I C I A L I N F O:
Title: THE GOLDEN CITY
Author: J. Kathleen Cheney
Release Date: Nov. 5, 2013
Publisher: Ace / Roc / Penguin
SUMMARY:
Vowing vengeance, Oriana crosses paths with Duilio Ferreira—a police consultant who has been investigating the disappearance of a string of servants from the city’s wealthiest homes. Duilio also has a secret: He is a seer and his gifts have led him to Oriana.
Bound by their secrets, not trusting each other completely yet having no choice but to work together, Oriana and Duilio must expose a twisted plot of magic so dark that it could cause the very fabric of history to come undone….
Title: THE SEAT OF MAGIC
Author: J. Kathleen Cheney
Release Date: July 1, 2014
Publisher: Ace / Roc / Penguin
SUMMARY:
Magical beings have been banned from the Golden City for decades, though many live there in secret. Now humans and nonhumans alike are in danger as evil stalks the streets, growing more powerful with every kill….
It’s been two weeks since Oriana Paredes was banished from the Golden City. Police consultant Duilio Ferreira, who himself has a talent he must keep secret, can’t escape the feeling that, though she’s supposedly returned home to her people, Oriana is in danger.
Adding to Duilio’s concerns is a string of recent murders in the city. Three victims have already been found, each without a mark upon her body. When a selkie under his brother’s protection goes missing, Duilio fears the killer is also targeting nonhuman prey.
To protect Oriana and uncover the truth, Duilio will have to risk revealing his own identity, put his trust in some unlikely allies, and consult a rare and malevolent text known as The Seat of Magic….
It’s been two weeks since Oriana Paredes was banished from the Golden City. Police consultant Duilio Ferreira, who himself has a talent he must keep secret, can’t escape the feeling that, though she’s supposedly returned home to her people, Oriana is in danger.
Adding to Duilio’s concerns is a string of recent murders in the city. Three victims have already been found, each without a mark upon her body. When a selkie under his brother’s protection goes missing, Duilio fears the killer is also targeting nonhuman prey.
To protect Oriana and uncover the truth, Duilio will have to risk revealing his own identity, put his trust in some unlikely allies, and consult a rare and malevolent text known as The Seat of Magic….
~*~
****Giveaway*****
Ready to check out
THE GOLDEN CITY and THE SEAT OF MAGIC?
THE GOLDEN CITY and THE SEAT OF MAGIC?
1 paperback each of THE GOLDEN CITY and THE SEAT OF MAGIC by J. Kathleen Cheney
Unfortunately, because of shipping, this will be a US/CAN only giveaway.
However, if you are international, you can still enter our main giveaway for a featured book of your choice!!
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