The Mermaid Maker
Have you ever read sentence so beautiful and whimsical and wondered: does this person actually speak this way?
For the writer the beautifully crafted Lost Voices trilogy, the answer is yes.
I cannot express the fondness I hold for Sarah Porter’s mermaid trilogy. When feeling particularly dreamy or imaginative, I’ll open one of her books and read a passage. Sarah’s ways with words are evocative and leave behind a feeling of cold beauty, as one would hope from a book that is both haunting and alluring.
This wonderful woman (who allowed me to call her Sarah and avoid the confusing Mrs. Ms. or odd way of typing just the last name) was a joy to talk to. She was open, amiable, and as excited about talking about her books as I wish any writer to be. Sarah even asked me questions about my writing during the interview with genuine interest, which I panic-ily replied to. Then there was a whole moment when we became distracted chatting about my old fanfiction.
Anyway (back on track), I started off by asking Sarah about the origin of her story.
She had two. First, she started writing a fantasy story titled “Raven” in the fifth grade and loved to imagine the shiny, foil cover the book would have. “I wrote about 50 pages, but never finished it,” Sarah stated.
I did that in high school. Book to be burned along with the memories.
The second time was in college where she wrote a short work titled Jamie and the Sun. Her professor told her with wonderment, “I dreamed about your story. I’ve never had a student affect me this way before.”
At the time, Sarah was focused on her art career, but those words gave her (the same girl who’d written “Raven” in fifth grade) the push she had needed.
I believe it was around eight grade when my English teacher told me she couldn’t put down the creative writing project I turned in, an event which sent me down the maddening spiral of perfectionism, dictionaries, and daydreams.
“I flailed for a really long time,” Sarah said, “And finished two novels in my twenties.”
It was in her 30s that Sarah really felt as though things were settling in the waves of the writing world (though, they never really do, but they were calmer in a sense).
“I hope you don’t mind, but I stalked your Instagram and noticed some amazing drawings. You started off with art—can you tell me more about that?” I asked.
“I actually did the illustrations for one of my books—VASSA.”
Sarah told me quite a bit about the story and it seemed completely different from her usual work, but just as wonderfully fanciful. She receives a lot of compliments on the illustrations, but for some reason, no one ever realizes she did them.
The next question, I was hoping, had an easy step-by-step guide. Or a magical agent-fairy that would drop down from above.
“How did you get your agent?”
“An online dating website.”
No, she wasn’t the one on the website, but the story was humorous nonetheless: A nameless friend gave her the connection.
Sarah showed the lovely agent a book she was really enthusiastic about. They loved it but, as the tangled world of literature goes they “had no idea what publisher would buy it.”
As it turns out, Sarah gave them another project based around “traumatized, teenage, killer mermaids.”
(Say that enough times and you start hearting “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles”)
And thus, the fantastical Lost Voices trilogy was born!
We chatted about Lost Voices for a moment (some of it seriously and other parts of the conversation had me squealing about how much I loved the Trilogy). Sarah explained it was inspired by a very low point in her life along with a low point in the world around her. As some of you may remember, the U.S went through The Great Recession during the late 2000s and early 2010s. It was a time of raging poverty and depression—times such as these show the depravity and selfishness of other humans upon seeing others in pain. Sarah envisioned the chaotic future of the young ones as a result of the adults, “screwing things up for their generation.”
One of her title ideas for the traumatized, teenage, killer mermaid trilogy (Lost Voices) had actually been “A Young lady’s Primer on the Problem of Evil.”
We eventually got to talking about other worlds and characters she’s created, and I asked her if she had a favorite. The book she most adores is Umber—the one the agent said they didn’t believe a publisher would buy.
While I’m not a publisher, I’m intrigued and I would buy it, Sarah. We will all be keeping an eye out for Umber.
#FreeUmberFromJail
“What do you like most about writing?” I asked to lighten the mood on the foggy world of publishing.
“You get to throw a huge party for your imaginary friends and invite other people to come.”
Because kidnapping people and having them act out your ideas is wrong, I thought. But it’s true—one of the best parts of writing is making an imaginary world for the real one to enjoy. Sarah stated the reviews she enjoys the most are the ones where the reader feels something “real” in her imaginary kingdom.
As a reader, I can assure you—mermaids had never felt more real than when immersed into the icy waters and seductively evil songs described in Lost Voices.
“What do you like least about it?” I asked.
“The frickin’ instability is a big frickin’ drag. Everything takes foreverrr. ”
I laughed. “May I write your reply just like that?”
Sarah agreed.
“It’s all wait, wait, wait, and wait and once in a while you do publish something and it’s addicting.”
Better books than drugs, I suppose.
“What advice would you have for young writers trying to get their book published?”
“Suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer,” Sarah replied without hesitation. “Get Twitter. Get known. Make some other projects.”
I am suffering, but thank you for the reminder. Let’s suffer together, fellow writers and non-writers. And, Sarah, try not to suffer too much. You are a kind, wise lady.
I did take her advice and made a Twitter. It’s awful and you can follow me @laurahut0699
And don’t forget to follow the lovely Sarah @sarahporterbook and start the hashtag #FreeUmberFromJail. All other places you can follow Sarah and buy her books will be linked below.
As for the model posing with Sarah’s books, thats the gorgeous Paola Barrios. Her instagram is angelicapby
Until next time, lovelies.
Sarah's website