After having a ridiculous amount of fun writing “Taming the Wyld,” I jumped at the chance to do it all over again with a novella set in the breathtaking isles of Bermuda. Its natural beauty offers the perfect backdrop for romance to flourish.
Here’s a very brief overview of the incredible setting I was lucky enough to procure!
Bermuda is an island chain and an archipelago, which is essentially the high outer rim of an under water volcano. It consists of 181 different islands-the biggest of which is usually referred to as Bermuda-that jet out from under the Atlantic Ocean. The collection of islands were formed by the Mid-Atlantic Ridge that spits molten magma out from under the Earth’s tectonic plates. (Can you tell I was a Geology Major for 2 semesters?)
6-inch Mk VII gun, by Aodhdubh, CC BY-SA 3.0
The island was first discovered in 1505, but wasn’t immediately settled. It was sometimes used as a place to resupply ships on the passage over to the New World, famously to the failed Jamestown colony in Virginia, but it was officially claimed for the British crown in 1612.
It’s still a British Territory today and sits in the middle of the Atlantic where it makes up the top point of the Bermuda Triangle. Due to it’s strategic location, the island has a strong military history, both in regards to the United States and the world.
Bermuda has had many names in its past including La Garza, Virgineola, and my personal favorite, the Isle of Devils. It seems fitting considering the mysteries surrounding the infamous Triangle that bares its name. Though if you dig a little deeper, the reason for it being called the Isle of Devils was due to strange noises early visitors wrongly attributed to spirits and devils, noises that are now thought to have been made by birds.
It has a diverse population that includes decedents of Indigenous peoples from the East Coast of the United States and other islands in the West Indies, some of whom ended up in Bermuda after being sold into slavery. Africans and decedents of slaves and indentured servants were also brought to Bermuda during the slave trade. And being a British Territory, it’s not surprising that Europeans make up a good chunk of the population. Due to this variety, its culture has been influenced by many others including Native American, Caribbean, and cultures from the British Isles.
The barrier reef that incircles the islands is responsible for sinking dozens of vessels and is the reason Bermuda is known as the shipwreck capital of the world. The crystal clear waters offer amazing opportunities for scuba diving, a fact I intend to use in my novella. One of my main characters is a dive instructor that leads tours of varies wrecks around the island. (He may or may not be pictured on the right!)
I’m kind of jealous because Bermuda has been on my must visit list for ages. But one of the wonderful things about being a writer is that you can live vicariously through your characters.
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