This chapter starts off by simply following on with the story. It concerns how George acquired a boat. I remember enjoying writing the scene with the snake and how he lost the first boat. I really don’t want George to be a Superhero. It is very important to me that he isn’t. He is lucky, but life gives everyone a certain amount of luck. Personally, I would say I am lucky to be alive – considering some of the stupid things I did. So, yes, George is lucky, but believable. Not everyone has life-saving luck like I did.
Just how he got the boat, however, was, for a while, a problem. I remember watching the movie Six Days, Seven Nights, starring Anne Heche and Harrison Ford. There is a scene where they struggle downstream with two pontoons. This inspired me indirectly. It reminded me that rivers are trouble. And it also told me not to do this with George. George is not a ‘Marlboro man’. (I loved the advertisements when I was growing up.) In fact, he is the total opposite – so I had him screw up getting the boat. This is nicely contrasted by Evylin’s character – sensible and clever – and how she builds two bonfires to tell him where she is while causally sunbathing. She also had time to weave him a hat! Stress-free, as if it were an everyday event.
For me, the real fun of this chapter begins with her appearance.
It has to be stated again (perhaps) that Evylin’s physic was modeled on my own Beatrice. So, naturally, when I read these parts, I return to moments of my life filled with love and passion – probably all fictitious and self-generated moments and the reality was something else. I think this is a plus and a minus side for being able to imagine things. Perhaps my love and passion were all one-sided, or worse still, a figment of my imagination. I will never know.
Due to this, I feel the chapter might also reflect my own attitude or psychological inabilities concerning sex. George is basically shy. And yet his desires are strong. This influences his responses and confuses him. Evylin, on the other hand, has a very straightforward approach to sex. The idea of touching and putting on coconut oil is simple. For George, however, it has layers. (I love Shrek’s description of this with the onion!)
I have spent my whole life having layers concerning human contact. I think I have deliberately chosen to give George the same kind of issues because, one, I understand them, and two, it makes him more realistic, at least in my mind (LOL).
George is not me. That would be absurd, but sometimes, he behaves in a way I would. This is because I did not grow up in a world where sharing or even showing your feelings was done. This is not a ‘Cross’ I carry (LOL), as everyone grew up this way. It was my generation. Those people who grew up around me. Those kids living on my street, going to my school. Not those in London. They were not part of my life.
The same applies to Evylin’s character. She is also not based on anyone – although her physical beauty does reflect my memories of Beatrice (LOL).
As you can see, explaining this chapter is not easy but necessary, as I feel by using my own fears, memories, and fantasies, I have been able to push the story forward. I have tried to develop Evylin’s and George’s character: Revealing Evylin’s niggling questions about Jessie, after demonstrating her logical approach to most things, does indicate that her comments are more than idle curiosity; they could even be interpreted as jealousy.
George’s denial that he has looked at her or Evylin (St. Peter’s denial) is later contradicted by his private admittance, later on in the chapter, that he has noticed the physical difference between Jessie and Evylin.
As you can see from the blog, I don’t really remember any particular points of inspiration, but like each chapter, I enjoyed writing it. Using my own emotional instabilities and infatuations to develop characters might seem like a strange way of writing a book, but basically, that is what I did in this chapter.
Indigenous Chapter Twelve
