A: The family story is that my first ambition was to be a garbage collector. If you look at my office, it’s a goal I have achieved. At various times I wanted to fly airplanes, be an engineer, biologist, baseball player, historian. I think I became a writer because I loved to read.
Q: You have written stories in a wide range of genres. What are some of your sources for inspiration?
A: I read and enjoy a wide range of genres. Every story has its own telling. The way a story is told is part of what the story is. A funny story needs energy and a sharp pacing. A sad story needs more attention to a steady pacing, with perhaps greater attention to the choice of words and the lyrical flow of each sentence. A story that is suspenseful needs carefully constructed chapters to build a sense of crisis.
Q: What were you like as a child? Were you drawn to stories set at sea?
A: My father liked to fish, so family vacations were often by the sea. When you are near the sea, there are always boats, many different kinds of boats. There are often old boats too, half buried in the ocean swells. If you read Treasure Island, as I did, you have a sense of story about every boat. Sailors—and I have known some—are great storytellers. In many ways the story of America is the story of ships and the men who sailed them.
Q: Which writers, if any, were you influenced, by growing up?
A: Every writer influences me. The first writer I came to love was Thornton W. Burgess, who wrote animal stories for young readers. In my day there were many “boys” books, such as The Hardy Boys and Tom Swift. I read them by the shelf. They were adventure stories, full of mystery.
Q: What do you like to do when you’re not writing?
A: I am a reader, a cook, a runner, and someone who enjoys the outdoors.
Q: Your descriptions of the Seahawk and the life of its crew are very vivid. Did you spend time on a ship as research? If not, can you please explain your research process?
A: I did spend some time on old ships. But there is a vast library about sea travel. Diaries are the best because they give you great details, as well as the language that people used. Most importantly, they help you understand the way people thought about their lives and how they lived.
Q: What appeals to you about writing stories set in different time periods?
A: I read history for pleasure. History has millions of stories. It is a story. Each period of time has its own fascination.
Q: You mention your inspiration for Charlotte’s story in your pref ace, but how did Charlotte’s character come to you?
A: My writing process is to constantly rewrite, and characters gradually evolve. I like what the poet Robert Frost said: “No surprise for the writer, no surprise for the reader.” I am, after all, telling myself a story too. I want to shape a story so that it is fun to read.
Q: Charlotte remains popular more than twenty years after you created her. What do you think makes her so appealing?
A: Charlotte learns who she is and what she can achieve in a world that wishes her to be less. I suspect many young people see her predicament as their own.
Q: Major events in the story depend on Charlotte’s misjudging the people around hen Zachariah, Captain Jaggery, Keetch, and her own father. What is your advice to young readers for how they might make wiser judgments about people and situations?
A: Live by questions, not answers.
Your True Confessions
“I was given a volume of blank pages . . . and instructed to keep a daily journal of my voyage across the ocean so that the writing of it should prove of educational value to me. . . .
“Keeping that journal then is what enables me to relate now in perfect detail everything that transpired during that fateful voyage across the Atlantic Ocean in the summer of 183?.” (Page 3)
While Charlotte may have started her journal because her father ordered her to do so, keeping a journal is a great way to remember something that happened to you and how you felt as you were going through it. Here are some tips to help you get started!
1. Grab a blank notebook (preferably one with a cover that inspires you) and your favorite pen or pencil. Having materials you like to work with makes writing in your journal more enjoyable.
2,. Find a quiet place. Deep thinking can be hard to do in a busy or loud environment. Choose a spot where you can focus on your thoughts away from any distractions. Or maybe you’re the type of person who likes to write while listening to music. In that case, turn on your favorite tunes.
3. Reflect. Spend time thinking about your day or what you’ve recently experienced, such as a vacation or something important you’ve accomplished.
Further Reading
If you enjoyed The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle, here are some other timeless seafaring adventures you might like!
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne
Set in 1866, this science-fiction novel, told from the per spective of renowned scientist Pierre Aronnax, chronicles a harpoon ship’s expedition to track down and destroy a mysterious ship-sinking sea creature.
Escape from Home: Beyond the Western Sea Book One by Avi
In 1851, Maura and Patrick O’Connell, driven from their Irish home by a cruel English landlord, unwittingly join the landlord’s younger son, Laurence Kirkle—who is fleeing an abusive family situation—on a journey that takes them to the port of Liverpool on the first step of their quest to reach America.
Into the Storm: Beyond the Western Sea Book Two by Avi
In the continuation of Escape from Home, Maura, Patrick, and Laurence find themselves at the mercy of their shady fellow passengers. Ahead lies their future in America, filled with danger and more crises than they ever anticipated.
Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe
In this fictional autobiography, castaway Robinson Crusoe documents the twenty-eightyears he spent on a remote tropical island near Trinidad, encountering cannibals, captives, and mutineers.
Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson
Young Jim Hawkins describes the dangerous adventures he encounters on his search for the buried treasure of the notorious pirate Captain Flint.
Two Years Before the Mast by Richard Henry Dana
A riveting account of Richard Henry Dana’s voyage from Boston to South America and around Cape Horn to California, and what life at sea was like in the early nineteenth century.