This year (2020) is the 10th anniversary of Forgive My Fins(!!!). I thought it would be fun to sit down with the star of the series to ask her some questions and find out a little more about her.
Warning: This interview contains SPOILERS! It takes place several months after Just For Fins, so if you haven’t read that far in the series you might want to wait on this.
I caught up with Lily (Princess Waterlily Sanderson, if you want to be all formal about it) on a sunny Florida beach. She came alone, but I’m pretty sure I saw the watchful eyes of Thalassinian guards observing us from just offshore.
Tell me a little about yourself. Who is Lily Sanderson?
Oh, wow. Way to start with a tough one. Um, well, I guess in most basic terms I just an ordinary mergirl. I love sushi and cake and pretty much every other kind of food. I’m learning how to ride a motorcycle. I care a lot about the oceans and climate change. And I also happen to be Crown Princess of Thalassinia, a mer kingdom in the Western Atlantic.
So how did you end up here, on land?
Funny story. When I was about twelve or thirteen, I learned that my mom had been a human. She’d died shortly after I was born and until that point I thought I she’d been a mermaid like me. I also learned that her sister, my aunt Rachel, lived on land really close to the edge of our kingdom.
That’s when I decided to spend some time on land, learning more about my mom and her world. So I moved in with Aunt Rachel and started going to human high school.
What have been the best and hardest parts of living on land?
Can I say all of it? I love so many things about land life. Hot baths. Ice cream. Television. The internet. We have a lot of wonderful things in the mer world, but not anything that requires electricity.
The hardest part is, always, missing my friends and family. My dad and I are really close, so it’s tough to be so far away. I also have a hard time dealing with the stress of the human world. Plus, walking. Sometimes walking is really, really challenging. Swimming is so much easier!
Thalassinia sounds wonderful. What’s it like?
It’s the most beautiful place on earth. I mean, of course I would say that, it’s my home and my kingdom. But it really is. Between the colorful sea life, the (mostly) friendly people, and the organic architecture, it’s hard to think of anywhere better.
Did you expect to fall in love with a human guy?
Expect to? Not exactly. And I certainly didn’t expect to fall in love with one who rides motorcycles and doesn’t know how to swim. But if you think about it, my dad fell in love with a human. That’s how I came to be. So it was kinda fate that I would fall in love with one too.
If you could visit any other mer kingdom, which one and why?
I’ve always wanted to see Archikos in the Aegean. It’s the original mer kingdom, the one founded immediately after Capheira created the first merfolk. They have buildings dating back thousands of years and a library said to house the greatest treasure trove of mer literature in the world. They also host an amazing theatre festival every year. Peri and I have been talking about attending forever. We definitely need to go. Soon!
What does the future hold for you, as a princess and a mergirl?
Tons! As I’m swimming more into my role as Crown Princess, I have a lot more duties to juggle. My work to combat climate change and the effects of ocean warming on Thalassinia and our neighbors is just getting started. I’m hoping to expand our efforts beyond the Western Atlantic soon.
Personally, I have a lot going on too. Now that Quince is spending so much more time underwater, I love getting to show him even more of my favorite parts of mer life. Plus, with so many of my friends finding their special someones and Doe and Brody planning to split their time between land and water, it feels like there is always something social going on.
Whew! I’m getting worn out just thinking about it all. I’d probably better get back to it. Who knows what kind of a crisis popped up while I was up here.
After I thanked Lily for taking time to meet me and we said our goodbyes, she turned and walked into the surf. She dove into an oncoming wave. As she swam away, I caught a quick flash of green and gold scales as her tailfin flicked above the surface.
That won’t be my last meeting with Thalassinia’s favorite princess.
I hope you enjoyed this interview with Lily. I have more interviews planned for the future (with the cast of Forgive My Fins and other series) so watch out for those.
In the meantime, check out how Lily and her human love first met in my free short story, When Quince Met Lily.
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