Athena Giles is joining us today to talk about their novel, Waves Take Your Bones. Here’s the publisher’s description:
The dead rise and the sea is calling.
Tallis and Finn, simple farmers, find their quiet village overrun by shriekers, a horde of undead revenants. After a devastating attack and heartbreaking losses, they must flee the only land they’ve known for the capital of the kingdom of Okaesa. Along the way, Tallis and Finn are separated from the other refugees, with their only escape across the Nightmare Bridge, a thing of horrific legends, which leaves them both scarred from the experience.
In the capital, there is still no safety, for Tallis and Finn are drafted into the navy aboard separate ships, under dueling commanders. Amid struggling with the loss of their home they might find themselves crossing blades with those dearest to them who have fallen to the mysterious undead disease. The capital, an island fortress, seems to be the last refuge of the kingdom, until Tallis discovers the undead have learned to sail…
What’s Athena’s favorite bit?
“She cursed like a sailor.” As I was writing Waves Take Your Bones, I knew I couldn’t have a novel about a seafaring society without including some colorful cursing. Besides, who wouldn’t start swearing a bit when confronted by zombies?
The problem was, I was writing a young adult novel. When I was deepest into my drafting process, I was a teaching assistant working with 6th graders. I wanted to write something that my students could read and be appropriate to feature on their classroom’s bookshelves or in a school library. So, most existing swears were off-limits, and I couldn’t keep using the line “she cursed under her breath” over and over again. I had to invent my own colorful language.
Throughout the process of writing Waves Take Your Bones, the ways in which Okaesa, a society developing as an island and coastal nation, would be influenced by the sea were at the forefront of my mind when world-building. The phrase “waves take your bones” is itself either a blessing or a curse, depending on the context in which it’s said. When said of someone who has passed away, it is a prayer for that person’s soul to find its way to the embrace of the Lady of the Waters, the Okaesan goddess of the sea. When said to someone still alive, it’s an expression of hoping to see that person dead.
I applied this same thought process the first time I wanted to insert a swear. I wanted a “son of a b-” vibe. My process of creating a curse started with breaking down what the phrase “son of a b-” is communicating. This person is being compared to a dog, likely a stray, nuisance dog in the context of the development of that insult. I thought, what animal would a seafaring society find to be a nuisance? This led me to Googling, “what is the most annoying fish for fishers?”
This brought me to a website called “Alaska Outdoors Forums”. Paul H (full username) posted a thread in 2013 titled “What’s the most annoying species of saltwater fish”, expanding on his question with “I.e. you’re minding your business and no matter what you try, that one annoying fish keeps biting no matter how many times you throw it back.” This was exactly the kind of information I was looking for (thank you Paul H). There were an overwhelming number of users answering “spiny dogfish”. These little sharks will snap up expensive bait, many fishers say they don’t taste very good, and (as their name implies) are spiny and can tear up your hands. The connection in the name back to the original meaning of “son of a b-” sold me immediately, which gave me the line “We’re human you daft sons of dogfish!”
None of the other curses created for the book had me turning to Google. Generally, I thought of what things would pose the greatest problems at sea, and how these might evolve into profanity, such as “salt and rotting fish”. There is still some usage of a certain “real world” swear, because excrement is an ever-present human problem. Despite being a person who will inevitably get nauseous if you put me on a boat in the ocean, researching and incorporating the nautical themes into how I wrote Waves Take Your Bones was a highlight of my writing process.
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BIO:
Athena Giles grew up adventuring in the woods of Seacoast New Hampshire, wooden sword in hand. They graduated from Hampshire College, where they studied creative writing and children’s literature, before running away to join the circus for 5 years. Athena is now a Special Education Teacher living in Arlington, Massachusetts. Their work with middle school and upper elementary students has inspired them to expand the books available for children and adolescents to see themselves in, especially for those identifying as trans and non-binary. For updates on their work, visit www.athenagiles.com.