Half the shops are shut then, and the town feels empty. When the weather turns bad and the nights draw in, a different type of person can be found on the beach: beachcombers with pockets full of treasure, dog walkers who’ve seen a thing or two, tall dark strangers who stand and look out to sea. There’s a secret life to old coastal resort towns that you don’t see if you only go there in the summer, and paddle in the sun. I’ve often lived near to the sea, but it was coming to live in a seaside town – and being there all year round – that inspired Eerie-on-Sea.
What inspired the setting of Eerie-on-Sea? In this case, changing the ‘S’ of ‘salamander’ to an ‘M’ allowed me to hint at ‘Mal’, the French for ‘evil’, whilst evoking an aquatic creature that creeps and slithers on land. I was lucky with the name – taking an existing word and changing just one letter to create something new is a powerful technique, but it doesn’t always work. I could have used a monster out of Greek or Norse myth, but it’s much more fun to invent my own. Mythology and folklore are at the heart of the inspiration for these stories, but I don’t want to just use existing legends or well-known fantastical creatures. Did the ancient Greek myths influence your writing at all? How did you decide on a name for the mysterious creature in the story? The word malamander sounds very similar to salamander, which is derived from ancient Greece. I would say Herbie is a bit like me, while Violet is more how I’d like to be. But between them, they make a pretty good team.
Herbie finds Violet alarming, and Violet finds Herbie frustrating.
Herbie and Violet both love mystery and adventure but approach it from a different ends: Herbie likes his adventuring to be done form the safety of his Lost-and-Foundery, with the help of clever ideas and tricks, whilst Violet is physically much braver and takes a ‘let’s just do it!’ approach.
How are the main characters Herbert and Violet similar? How are they different? Which one are you more like? It’s a story about friendship and belonging, about out-of-season seaside towns and bewildering weather, about mysteries, mischief and monsters. Malamander is the first in a series of stories about the ‘Legends of Eerie-on-Sea’, in which we meet Herbert Lemon, Lost-and-Founder at the Grand Nautilus Hotel, and his friend Violet Parma, who is lost and wants to be found. I wonder if you could start by telling us a but about your new book Malamander? Author Thomas Taylor talks to Ian Eagleton about his new book Malamander, Greek myths, mysteries and monsters, and his exciting plans for a sequel… You can find out more about Thomas Taylor and his work here!
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