1. The series takes inspiration from Shapespeare's Taming of the Shrew, especially in terms of the four main characters. Katherine becomes Harper, Bianca becomes Gemma, Petruchio becomes Daniel, and Lucentio becomes Alex. Harper isn't exactly shrew, and Daniel has no intentions to "tame" her, but she needs to relax a bit, and with genuine caring and support, Daniel does help her.
2. Bernie's Island is based on a real place. I was once trapped on a boat broken down boat with no radio for a couple days on the Boundary Waters in northern Minnesota. I eventually flagged down help, but a few miles away from me in the middle of the lake was this tiny island that had a cabin and a boathouse. And that island became Bernie's Island.
3. Gemma, Harper, and Alex's cars are all cars I once owned. Gemma has a Chevy Spectra, Harper has a Mercury Sable, and Alex has a Mercury Cougar. All of my cars are now since deceased, but I loved them and wanted to pay homage to them.
4. All four of the main characters (five if you count Marcy) are from working class families. I read an article about how so many of the heroes in YA fiction were wealthy, especially in romance where love and money seemed all tied up together. So I made a deliberate decision to have all the main characters come from ordinary families with ordinary incomes that struggled financially at times but were hardworking.
5. I've wanted to write about a monster in a resort town ever since I read Jaws.
6. Alex's middle name is Leonard. It's never mentioned in the whole series, but that's what it is. Also, Marcy's middle name is Dayton, and that's not mentioned, either.
7. The entire series takes place over three months. I wanted it all to happen during one summer, so it starts in June and ends on Labor Day. (Not counting the short story Forgotten Lyrics, which takes place five years before Wake starts).
8. If you're a Greek mythology aficionado, you'll pick up on a few subtle references throughout the series. There are some obvious mentions (more so in Tidal and Elegy), but there's many hidden hints and allusions to other myths.
9. My assistant/best pal Eric came up with the name Watersong. We were spit-balling ideas, but he was the one that came up with it, and actually helped name the individual books, too.
10. I created a written language for the Watersong series. I actually did a ton of research on ancient and dead languages, and then using an app to make new fonts, I went about creating a whole alphabet and translating several words and phrases based on the dead languages. Only a couple of words actually make it into the series, but I still went through a lot of work on it.
