There is a saying among writers, to “write what you know” and with this book, it could not be truer. The world of Compass and Blade is set in a world that nudges up against the islands I call home. The Isles of Scilly, my home, is an archipelago twenty-eight miles off the south coast of the UK, nestled deep in the Atlantic Ocean. It’s surrounded by over one thousand shipwrecks, drowning in history, and is the kind of place where real magic may exist in our world.
Mira’s voice first spoke to me when I was sea swimming one day. I pictured her swimming out from the shoreline, and wondered who she was and what her life looked like. From there, her story tumbled out of the pages. When the winter storms rattle through Scilly, it truly feels like you’re at the edge of the world, there is no barrier, no safety net. Only you, your home and the cracks of thunder overhead.
And although Mira’s story and the Fortunate Isles in the book are born of real details, real experiences and snippets of historical fact, I began to wonder if there was more hidden beneath the waves. Creatures and magic and the lure of siren song, passed down in folklore.
In our homes we have pieces from past wrecks. We have doors, tables – even shoes that washed up from the wreck of the Cita in 1997. It’s up to you, the reader, to find the seeds of truth in this tale, and to wonder what might be fiction.
I hope you enjoy your visit to the world of Compass and Blade at Mira’s side. I hope you enjoy this romantasy, meeting enigmatic Seth and the elusive Elijah. I hope you taste the salt on the sea breeze, feel the powder-soft sand beneath your feet and clamber aboard Phantom with the thrill of adventure singing in your blood.
– Rachel
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