Linda Wilgus

Linda Wilgus grew up in the Netherlands and lived in Italy, Belgium, and the United States before settling in England. A graduate of the University of Amsterdam, she worked as a bookseller and a knitting pattern designer before becoming a full-time writer. Her short stories have been published in numerous literary magazines. Wilgus shares her home with her husband, three children, and their dog.

The Sea Child is Wilgus's debut novel.

My Q&A with the author:

How much work does your title do to take readers into the story?

The Sea Child was not the original title of the book. It went out to publishers with the title The Sea Bucca’s Daughter which is also the title I used to query agents. I think by the time we went out on submission to publishers though everyone felt that the title may need to be changed as, even though the Sea Bucca legend from Cornish folklore is very important in the story, hardly anybody would know who the Sea Bucca was before they read it. After some brainstorming with my US and UK editors and my agent, we settled on The Sea Child and I feel it is the perfect title for the book. The title refers to Isabel, the main character, and to her connection to the sea which is such an important part of the book and a driving force in the narrative. It also hints at the magic in the story, because it raises questions for readers, namely, why is Isabel the sea child and what does this mean for the character and her journey?

How surprised would your teenage reader self be by your new novel?

I think my teenage self would be surprised that my dream of writing and seeing a novel published has come true, but I don’t think the story itself would be too surprising to her. I grew up in a part of the Netherlands called Twente, which has very strong folkloric tradition, and I have loved folklore from an early age. My favourite genre to read back then was historical fiction, as it is now. Plus, even as a teenager, I was a huge romantic! So to see a story that combines all these elements does fit with what I imagine my teenage self would have liked to write someday.

Do you find it harder to write beginnings or endings? Which do you change more?

I find endings harder to write, mainly because, try as I might, I’m unable to predict how my novels will end. Before I wrote my debut The Sea Child, I wrote three other adult novels and during the writing of those I learned that for me, it’s important to draw up a structure before diving into the actual writing. But even as I wrote a structure for The Sea Child and have also written for my second book, which is coming out in Spring 2027, and for the third which I’m currently working on, I seem to be able to plan about 75% of the book and the last 25% only comes to me during the writing. Beginnings are fairly easy for me as I usually have a sense of how I want the book to open but with endings I can only hope that the puzzle pieces will fall into place by the time I get to writing them.

Do you see much of yourself in your characters? Do they have any connection to your personality, or are they a world apart?

Isabel, the main character in The Sea Child definitely shares some character traits with me. Like Isabel I tend to be somewhat impulsive and I can be a bit stubborn too. And like her, I have always loved the sea and have felt connected to it in a way, albeit not in a mystical way like Isabel! I love to swim in the sea too but am by no means a strong sea-swimmer. And in other ways Isabel is very different from me. I do recognise something of myself in many of my characters but the characters are very much their own personality as well and there are many more differences than there are similarities.

What non-literary inspirations have influenced your writing?

Folklore and history, in particular the history of Cornwall and other Celtic cultures, are huge inspirations to me. Another inspiration is travel as I love visiting the places I write about and getting to know them by exploring their landscapes. In my books landscape plays a big role and in a way ends up being almost like another character as the part it plays in the story is so important, as is the case with the Cornish landscape and particularly the sea in The Sea Child. I love taking long hikes in the different settings I write about and getting a sense of the landscape that way. It’s one of my favourite things about writing!

Visit Linda Wilgus's website.

The Page 69 Test: The Sea Child.

--Marshal Zeringue