A CHILDREN'S adventure book based on Celtic folklore and set in the Isle of Man has been published.
First-time author Catherine Copeland was inspired by two etchings she bought at an art exhibition in Australia.
And after five years of work and two years living in the Island she has completed The Underwater Detectives.
Catherine, of Ashley Ro
ad, Onchan, said it felt 'fantastic' to be a published author, adding: 'It's taken such a long time — there were times I imagined it would never happen.'
And she has already started working on the second in the series, which she hopes will be out next year.
Catherine said she has always been interested in fairytales and folklore and was inspired by two etchings by Sydney-based artist Jane Stapleford, which she bought at an art exhibition in Sydney 12 years ago.
The first was of a mysterious looking tattooed mermaid and was titled Merrow with Cohuleen Druith. The second was of a young boy shedding a seal skin and was titled Selkie on Rocks.'
She discovered that merrow were a type of mer-people originating in the Irish Sea. They have a cohuleen druith – enchanted cap – and can take the form of humans if they enter onto land and remove the cap.
Meanwhile selkies are faery seals and can take human form if they remove their skin on land.
'Immediately I thought, wouldn't it be great to be a child again and have one of these magical items, even better if your best friend had one too, that would make a great story for children,' she said.
In the story, a girl who gets bequeathed a mysterious red cap after her great-aunt dies, her friend, and a merrow, become intent on solving the mystery behind the sinister and untimely death.
Catherine, 43, was born in Perth and later moved to Sydney.
She started writing the book in 1998 but it got put to one side after she started university and bought a house.
She said: 'I saved the outline of the story onto a floppy disk and forgot all about it until many years later when I found myself on the Isle of Man.
'The story came flooding back and I picked up where I'd left off.'
She wrote the book at the same time as bringing up her two children, Hector, five, and Orry, two.
It is aimed at nine to 12-year-olds but she said that adults who like crime thrillers or fantasy fiction would also enjoy it.
There will be a book signing at Waterstone's, Douglas, on Saturday (December 12), between 10.30am and midday. Everyone who attends will be given a free T-shirt.
The book, priced £6.99 was published by Lily Publications and is available from a number of stores in the Island.
