The tale of a pirate girl sailing the high seas and protecting a group of islands from her evil assassin father has won a Cambridgeshire author a three-book deal and she has just brought out the second in the trilogy.
Bex Hogan spent years learning the hard way how to become a novelist and had seven rejected manuscripts under her belt before striking gold with her young adult novel, Viper.
Her follow up, Venom, is launched this month, and is set to be just as popular, but the author is sad she wont get to enjoy her planned publicity events and launch party because of the coronavirus lockdown.
Bex said: I was so looking forward to my launch and even had non-alcoholic cocktails planned based on the book, it was going to be so good. But theres not a lot we can do.
Every single event I had planned has been cancelled. I was going to do a tour of schools, festivals, speaking events, a book signing in London, so it was slightly devastating.
Im lucky this is book two so I already have a lovely group of people who enjoyed book one and want to read my new novel and celebrate with me. Im thinking of holding a Twitter party for the launch instead.
The story centres on 17-year-old Marianne who is fated to one day become the Viper, defender of the Twelve Isles. But the reigning Viper stands in her way. Corrupt and merciless, he prowls the seas in his warship, killing anyone who gets in his way. Hes the most dangerous man on the ocean and hes her father.
Bex, who lives in St Ives with her husband and two daughters, brought out the first in the trilogy last year. Venom carries on three months after the events of the first book.
Bex says: Marianne is the daughter of the Viper, who is the kings personal assassin on Eastern Islands.
Originally the Viper and his crew were supposed to protect the people of the isles as much as work for the king, but over the years that has changed and this particular Viper, Mariannes father, is corrupt and cruel and he is doing whatever suits him as opposed to helping anybody.
Marianne on the other hand is not a killer, she is more of a healer and she has to keep that side of herself hidden while she decides whether to follow in her fathers footsteps and become the heir to the Viper, or whether she wants to stand up to her father and try to protect the isles, like she is supposed to.
The story is set across 12 islands in a fantasy world split between six Eastern Isles and six Western Isles they were at war 200 years ago and have not been friendly since.
Bex, who comes from Cornwall, says she gained inspiration for her fantasy setting from childhood holidays on the Isles of Scilly.
If you have ever been to the Scilly Isles they all have this unique sense of identity and they are all different, which is what I wanted the islands to have in my book.
The Isles of Scilly have Briar, which is the one most exposed to the Atlantic and is wild and battered and bleak. Right next door you have Tresco, which is like a tropical island and I thought that was a fascinating idea for my own setting.
So my books have the First Isle, which is the biggest island where the king lives and is where all the industry happens and the money is, and then you have the other islands which have particular qualities that make them stand out from the others; they have their own microclimates, one is always surrounded by mists, one is just rock where lots of mining happened.
I wanted readers to know by the surroundings which island they are on.
The world-building part of writing this series was great fun. At the moment Im doing edits on book three and am exploring a couple of new islands in the west, so Im getting to do it all again, losing myself in the detail of them. Getting down to the nitty gritty is fun.
It would be really organised to have a pin board for each island, but Im a messy scrawl-in-a-notebook kind of writer. At my desk I have a pile of notebooks. I jot down my ideas. Im terrible at drawing but I like to doodle plants and create the flora and fauna for the island that have medicinal properties.
Im from Cornwall so I also drew a lot from growing up on the coastlines and the sea.
I dont sail, though. Im actually quite afraid of the water. Marianne is too, which makes the ship more of a prison for her because she cant escape onto the sea.
I had to do some research on ships and boats because its not my thing. Im more of a potter on the beach and pick up shells kind of person. I might go in the sea up to my ankles but no more, the water is too intimidating to me.
The idea that started the series actually came to Bex in a vivid dream.
Im one of those people who has annoyingly real dreams and I dreamt of the initiation scene in book one completely out of context. I didnt know who anyone was or what was happening really, but when I woke up I just needed to know who the people were, what had happened to get them to this point and what was going to happen next. In fact the scene I dreamt is in the book exactly as I dreamt it.
It was one of those moments where you wake up and think, well, I need to write that down.
However, this was not her first book idea. Bex had already completed seven manuscripts before this series was accepted for publication.
She says: I stopped counting the rejections, but it was in the hundreds. I kept going because I just knew it was something I wanted.
I was a stay-at-home mum, so I was fortunate I could just keep writing. I had lots of ideas and I could learn a lot from every manuscript I wrote. You slowly get a few more encouraging comments from agents as the rejections come in. I did have moments when I thought, oh gosh, maybe I should just give up. But I knew there wasnt a time limit on it, so that helped and I knew I was learning and getting better with each book.
Bex says the secret to staying on track was to start a new book while she was sending out the previous one for consideration by literary agents.
So, when the rejections inevitably came in I had already moved on psychologically because I had a new project. That kept me going just looking forward all the time.
Completely self-taught, Bex explains she couldnt afford to do a creative writing course when she started out. Courses are brilliant but are not essential, she says. They might make your journey a bit quicker I suppose.
Instead she spent her time lost in the kinds of books she likes to write. I have always loved fantasy, watching it, reading it, absorbing it.
My earliest memory of books is of mum reading Grimms Fairy Tales to me. I love escaping into other worlds with different rules. I love legitimately day dreaming and calling it work.
Now already writing her third book, Bex says she runs all her ideas past her mum, who is an English teacher, and her eldest daughter. She is a huge young adult and fantasy reader, says Bex. She is a really fast reader and reads my pile of books first before I get the chance. I bounce my ideas off her. She is actually writing her own book now, she is so talented.
Viper and Venom are out now, published by Hachette.
Excerpt from:
Venom by Bex Hogan: High stakes on the high seas - Cambridge Independent
- High Seas Forecast (Tropical Atlantic) - December 8th, 2016 [December 8th, 2016]
- U.S. High Seas Marine Text Forecasts by Area - December 10th, 2016 [December 10th, 2016]
- Global High Seas Marine Preserve A non-profit dedicted ... - February 2nd, 2017 [February 2nd, 2017]
- New centre for high seas visitors in Angus - The Courier - The Courier - February 11th, 2017 [February 11th, 2017]
- Naval Presence on High Seas Underscored - Financial Tribune - February 11th, 2017 [February 11th, 2017]
- Pirates Face Push Back On The High Seas - American Media Institute - February 12th, 2017 [February 12th, 2017]
- Queen Mary 2 to Host High Fashion on the High Seas - Cruise Hive - Cruise Hive - February 13th, 2017 [February 13th, 2017]
- Nigeria Rescues Oil Tanker From High-Seas Pirates - OilPrice.com - February 13th, 2017 [February 13th, 2017]
- Cabin cam shows the hilarious frustration of rolling on the high seas - Pickle - February 13th, 2017 [February 13th, 2017]
- Ransomware Gangs Have Become the High-Seas Pirates of the Internet - On the Wire (blog) - February 13th, 2017 [February 13th, 2017]
- Suspect in high-seas homicides hospitalized, putting case on hold - Sacramento Bee - February 15th, 2017 [February 15th, 2017]
- Gargrave Pantomime Group hit the high seas with Sinbad the Sailor - Craven Herald - February 16th, 2017 [February 16th, 2017]
- Sailing the high seas: Top cruises for first-timers, families and excursions in 2017 - Malay Mail Online - February 16th, 2017 [February 16th, 2017]
- The Cold War returns to the high seas (opinion) - CNN.com - CNN - February 16th, 2017 [February 16th, 2017]
- All aboard for Cosplay on the high seas, Latest Travel News - The ... - The New Paper - February 17th, 2017 [February 17th, 2017]
- The Cold War returns to the high seas - CNN International - February 17th, 2017 [February 17th, 2017]
- Star-Studded Broadway on the High Seas 8 Sets Sail Feb. 17 - Playbill.com - February 17th, 2017 [February 17th, 2017]
- 'The internet is like the high seas' - Deutsche Welle - February 18th, 2017 [February 18th, 2017]
- Sailing the high seas - Fiji Times - February 18th, 2017 [February 18th, 2017]
- In Dramatic High Seas Rescue, Four Fishermen Rescued By Good Samaritans Off Galveston, Texas, Coast - Patch.com - February 18th, 2017 [February 18th, 2017]
- Greg McQuade discovers life on the high seas aboard USS Dwight D. Eisenhower - wtvr.com - February 18th, 2017 [February 18th, 2017]
- Escape to the high seas at the National Aviary - NEXTpittsburgh - February 22nd, 2017 [February 22nd, 2017]
- Ocean Prediction Center-Coastal, Offshore and High Seas ... - February 22nd, 2017 [February 22nd, 2017]
- Lagerstein hitting the high seas for Rum City - Bundaberg News Mail - February 23rd, 2017 [February 23rd, 2017]
- Scapa Flow German High Seas Fleet scrap sites explored - The ... - The Orcadian - February 24th, 2017 [February 24th, 2017]
- Two boats towed in harbor in high seas - Cayman Compass - February 24th, 2017 [February 24th, 2017]
- Take to the high seas with Condor Sailing Adventures - Pensacola News Journal - February 25th, 2017 [February 25th, 2017]
- Aging high-seas murder suspect out of hospital and back in court - Sacramento Bee - March 1st, 2017 [March 1st, 2017]
- Masters of the waves talk of high seas, thrills & spills - The New Indian Express - March 2nd, 2017 [March 2nd, 2017]
- Campbell River Sea Cadet off to England to hit the high seas - Campbell River Mirror - March 3rd, 2017 [March 3rd, 2017]
- Survival on the high seas (From The Northern Echo) - The Northern Echo (registration) - March 3rd, 2017 [March 3rd, 2017]
- Industry 4.0 on the High Seas - MarineLink - March 3rd, 2017 [March 3rd, 2017]
- New Pirates Of The Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales Trailer Brings Us More Action On The High Seas! - LRM Online (press release) (blog) - March 4th, 2017 [March 4th, 2017]
- Eco-warriors meet government authority on Ballina's high seas - Echonetdaily - March 6th, 2017 [March 6th, 2017]
- Tech on the high seas: Fred Olsen IT chief chats cloud, connectivity and security - www.v3.co.uk - March 7th, 2017 [March 7th, 2017]
- Why newbie Drusilla is preparing for life on the high seas - The Wharf - The Wharf - March 7th, 2017 [March 7th, 2017]
- Bhang Travel Inc. Brings Cannabis Networking to the High Seas - PR Web (press release) - March 8th, 2017 [March 8th, 2017]
- Drama on the high seas: East Kilbride couple reveal dramatic rescue after boat sinks in Gulf - Scottish Daily Record - March 8th, 2017 [March 8th, 2017]
- Journey through the high seas - The Standard - March 10th, 2017 [March 10th, 2017]
- French, Irish yacht sailors survive high seas off Australia's coast - TRT World - March 10th, 2017 [March 10th, 2017]
- 3 Digital Marketing Lessons From a Lawyer Focused on the High Seas - Entrepreneur - March 11th, 2017 [March 11th, 2017]
- Captain Cannonball sails the high seas as a pirate - Destin.com - Destin Log and Walton Log - April 8th, 2017 [April 8th, 2017]
- No clean boats on the high seas | Kochi News - Times of India - Times of India - April 8th, 2017 [April 8th, 2017]
- Trekr Racing makes its debut on the high seas - Washington Blade - Washington Blade - April 8th, 2017 [April 8th, 2017]
- Real 'Pirate Women' On The High Seas Of Old | On Point - WBUR - WBUR - April 8th, 2017 [April 8th, 2017]
- Cruise Operators Continue to Hide Behind the Death on the High ... - Cruise Law News - April 8th, 2017 [April 8th, 2017]
- Cruise ship crime: Who's in charge of law and order on the high seas? - Star2.com - June 6th, 2017 [June 6th, 2017]
- Footprints: PERIL ON THE HIGH SEAS - DAWN.com - June 6th, 2017 [June 6th, 2017]
- You can gamble on the high seas out of Galveston, but it might not always be smooth sailing - Rare.us - June 6th, 2017 [June 6th, 2017]
- An Energy Shock from the High Seas - Wall Street Journal (subscription) - June 6th, 2017 [June 6th, 2017]
- Navy dispatched 52 flotillas to high seas in 8 years - Mehr News Agency - English Version - June 7th, 2017 [June 7th, 2017]
- Barker and Team Japan ruling the high seas - Royal Gazette - June 7th, 2017 [June 7th, 2017]
- Hitting The High Seas: US LNG Finds A Home - Seeking Alpha - June 7th, 2017 [June 7th, 2017]
- A U-Boat Strikes and Terror Follows on the High Seas - New York Times - June 7th, 2017 [June 7th, 2017]
- HOPE LARSON and REBECCA MOCK Hit the High Seas with KNIFE'S EDGE - Newsarama - June 8th, 2017 [June 8th, 2017]
- Geopolitics On The High Seas And In Today's Headlines | On Point - WBUR - June 8th, 2017 [June 8th, 2017]
- World Oceans Day Comes at a Critical Time for High Seas - Natural Resources Defense Council - June 8th, 2017 [June 8th, 2017]
- High seas force Durban beaches closure | Berea Mail - Berea Mail - June 9th, 2017 [June 9th, 2017]
- African states band together to defeat crime on high seas | News24 - News24 - June 10th, 2017 [June 10th, 2017]
- Handmade boat for the high seas - New Straits Times Online - June 12th, 2017 [June 12th, 2017]
- High Seas, High "C"s: "The Little Mermaid," at the Prospect Park Auditorium through June 18 - River Cities Reader - June 13th, 2017 [June 13th, 2017]
- 'Skull & Bones' takes open world online gaming to the high seas - Engadget - June 13th, 2017 [June 13th, 2017]
- The Electric, Driverless Revolution Is About to Hit the High Seas ... - Bloomberg - June 13th, 2017 [June 13th, 2017]
- Brazil Gets Ready to Fight on the High Seas and Sets Aside US$ 1.8 Bi for New Warships - Brazzil.com - June 16th, 2017 [June 16th, 2017]
- Skull and Bones is pure high seas sailing fun from Ubisoft - Critical Hit - June 16th, 2017 [June 16th, 2017]
- Disney PhotoPass coming to capture your high-seas adventure on Pirates of the Caribbean at Magic Kingdom - Inside the Magic - June 16th, 2017 [June 16th, 2017]
- Coast Guard unloads 18 tons of cocaine seized on the high seas - The San Diego Union-Tribune - June 16th, 2017 [June 16th, 2017]
- High seas inspire collection - Royal Gazette - June 17th, 2017 [June 17th, 2017]
- High Yields on the High Seas | Equities.com - Equities.com - June 20th, 2017 [June 20th, 2017]
- Spectacle on the high seas: The best boat races in the Caribbean - USA TODAY - June 20th, 2017 [June 20th, 2017]
- Taking the Fight to the High Seas with the Dutch Royal Navy - MMORPG.com (press release) (registration) (blog) - June 22nd, 2017 [June 22nd, 2017]
- Big waves close coastal walkway, but some still brave stormy seas - Taranaki Daily News - June 26th, 2017 [June 26th, 2017]
- Seniors make waves with high-seas whodunit - Simi Valley Acorn - June 26th, 2017 [June 26th, 2017]
- High seas adventures at the Hannibal Aquatic Center - Hannibal.net - June 26th, 2017 [June 26th, 2017]
- Come See the Value Opportunities I Saw on the High Seas - TheStreet.com - June 26th, 2017 [June 26th, 2017]
- High seas adventures at the Hannibal Aquatic Center - Columbia Daily Tribune - June 27th, 2017 [June 27th, 2017]
- Slovenia wins battle with Croatia over high seas access - BBC News - June 30th, 2017 [June 30th, 2017]
- Arbitration panel grants Slovenia access to high seas - Fox News - July 2nd, 2017 [July 2nd, 2017]
- High Seas Governance Must Take Account of Existing IMO Framework - Hellenic Shipping News Worldwide - July 14th, 2017 [July 14th, 2017]
- An app to track missing people on high seas - Times of India - July 14th, 2017 [July 14th, 2017]