Thora and the Green-Sea Unicorn

Gillian wrote:

The idea for Thora began on a visit to Iceland.

My great grandparents on both sides came to Canada from Iceland and I had often heard of a distant relative named Thora. When she was sixteen, she travelled by horseback across the Icelandic highlands with a group of people that included her father and a young poet named Jonas Hallgrimsson. The young poet and Thora fell in love. But Thora\'s father refused when the poet asked for his daughter\'s hand in marriage.

The poet went on to become a well known Icelandic poet and his poem Journey\'s End recited by school children throughout the country. The poem was written when he was much older and is about his love for the young girl, Thora.

I began the Thora books with the intention of turning this romantic story into fiction. But I somehow turned Thora from a sixteen year old school girl into a ten year old half mermaid on a quest to find her missing father. The only thing that really remains of my original idea is the Icelandic name Thora.

I think that as I started the book, my own experiences began to trickle into the story and crowd out the historical details. It wasn\'t long before my character assumed a life of her own. I took her to the places I had lived in (Canada, England, Australia) and allowed her to run free. (For though she is half mermaid, she does have legs!)

I liked Thora because she says what she thinks and is not afraid to ask questions --even when it makes her look a little dumb. I was not like this as a ten year old. I\'m still not. But that is what is so exciting about writing. You get to be things you are not. To create worlds. Imagine how people (or mermaids) behave. Sometimes ideas are hard to come up with, especially when you are just starting out.

If I were to give any advice about writing, it would be to read a lot. And while that advice might sound boring, stories, novels and poems definitely are not. For while stories can often come from real life, it is through reading that we learn how to shape these events into fiction.

A writer I admire once said that if you don\'t like a book after a few pages, put it down. Don\'t force yourself to read books you don\'t like (unless you have to for school!) Just keep hunting until you find something you like. Because there are books to suit everyone.

For those of you who are already hard-core readers, I remind you to keep a journal. Write down ideas as they pop into your head. Write down details about the weird and wonderful people you meet, places you travel, things that you think, eat, smell. A lot of what we experience in life can disappear like a dream. A journal helps you grab it and hold on to it. It\'s like a back up disk of experiences.

Other Books by Gillian Johnson:
Thora

Contact Gillian Johnson at:
Email:mcuv80@dial.pipex.com