The Story Behind the Creation of the Novel "Legend of Hornigold’s Treasure"

Map of Andros and the Bahama Islands.

Part One: Selecting a Location

The EcoExplorer’s adventure novel "The Legend of Hornigold’s Treasure" takes place on Andros Island, the largest of the 26 inhabited Bahamian Islands. A group of teenagers, all members of an organization called the EcoExplorers from central Virginia travel to the island for a weeklong marine biology course at Rockwood Field Station. Here’s a little insight behind the creation of the novel from the authors of EcoExplorers young adult novels Allen B. Graves and C. Joseph Elder.

 Why did you select Andros as the location for your novel?

 Elder:

"As scuba divers, we chose the first novel in the EcoExplorers series to focus on marine biology, reef ecology and to touch a little on the decline of the coral reefs. We met with a dive buddy from Charlottesville, Gary Eisenhuth, who teaches chemistry at Western Albemarle High School and marine biology courses at Piedmont Virginia Community College. Each summer, Gary would take a group of teenage students to Forfar Field Station run by International Field Studies International Field Studies for a weeklong hands-on, outdoor course in marine biology. We talked with Gary about his excursions and that was the seed that led us to Andros."


Graves:

"Andros is such a ripe kettle of history, culture, flora and fauna, so it was the perfect tapestry for the convergence of fact and fiction. Captain Benjamin Hornigold was operating in the Bahamian waters during the age of piracy and he had easy access to the remote island. Even today Andros has unexplored areas and our research and adventure trip there included seldom seen inland blue holes. The decision to go and explore for the setting of the novel was an easy one and I look forward to the day when I return."

 So you actually traveled to Andros?

Elder:

"Yes, we contacted International Field Studies and booked a week stay at Forfar Field Station. There we were able to interact with a group of visiting students and be a part of their daily agenda. Forfar’s dive master and other staff members also toured us around the island and out to various dive locations."


Graves: 

We not only traveled to Andros but felt we had to go to make the story complete. You can outline a story, which is the skeleton, you can put the connective tissue and skin on, which is the covering, but to get at the marrow, you have to get some sand between your toes and drink in the nectar of the surroundings.

Great analogy Allen.  What was your favorite memory of your Androsian adventure?

 Graves: 

Field lab, Rat Cay

We spent a day at Rat Cay snorkeling and took lunch. The teacher had a field lab planned for the afternoon and one young man complained that it sounded too much like schoolwork. Several minutes into the lab that consisted of looking at tiny marine life through magnifying glasses, the young man stopped being a student, the lab was not work, it was the moment he became an EcoExplorer.

Elder: 

The trip back into the Androsian outback in search of the first blue hole. We rode along with two of the back of the aged passenger van Forfar dive staff. The van was loaded down with scuba gear and underwater camera equipment. The trip was pretty much as described in the novel with the van plowing through the overgrown pot-holed logging trails, but I still remember hearing the sounds of Led Zepplin blaring out of the speakers as we ventured back into the jungle. We finally arrived at the location with a view through a small clearing of the distant blue hole. It felt really good to suit up and get into the the cool water for our first blue hole dive.

One of the many blue holes on Andros, Bahamas.

Another reason for choosing an island in the Bahamas is because of it's vast history of pirating during the 17th and early 18th century. Andros is also rich in myths and island legends that we thought would play well into our adventure, so we wove in these great stories throughout the novel. We'll get more into this later.

Next blog- Who is Captain Benjamin Hornigold?