As I’ve gone on with the Vampirates sequence, it’s continued to be a melting pot of genres, ideas and influences. For the second book, Tide of Terror, I created a Pirate Academy, and it was really important to me that I make it unlike any other school I’d experienced or read about. As Connor says to Grace “You know me and schools . . . it’s just not a good combination.” So I had to come up with something a little bit different…
Pirate Academy has an exotic, tropical location and the buildings are painted bright yellows, pinks and oranges. The central building is the Rotunda, which is known by academy students by the nickname “the Octopus” on account of the eight corridors which lead off from it. Suspended from the roof of the Rotunda are the swords of famous and infamous pirate captains, including the three brothers Wrathe.
Pirate Academy is a fun school for apprentice-pirates, aged 7-17. One of its most noteworthy students is Cheng Li, who returns to the academy in Tide of Terror as a student teacher. All the other teachers are former notorious pirate captains from around the world, who have now left their ships to groom the “best of the best” into the pirates of the future. The staff are presided over by the charismatic and dangerous Commodore John Kuo, who is also a senior-ranking officer within the Pirate Federation.
The academy is set amongst lush gardens and, of course, it has its very own harbour. This is after all a school for pirates, so plenty of their classes will take place on the water, rather than on dry land.
Talking of classes, these had to be a little bit different too and this was an opportunity to let my mind run riot. I wanted to make the school feel as real as possible so I borrowed one of my nephew’s actual school timetables and then started swapping out regular classes for pirate-themed ones.
From Pirate History to Extreme Maritime Survival, I invented a dream curriculum for Connor. My favourite creation is the “Strength, Stamina and Motivation” class, which kicks off each day at Pirate Academy. The content of the class varies distinctly from day to day as a different pirate captain takes charge. The class could be rather like a conventional school assembly, though with a focus perhaps on pirate history, or a gentle form of exercise such as yoga or t’ai chi. But on the day which Connor undertakes his first “SSM” class, Captain Pavel Platonov is in charge. And his idea of a great way to start the day is a brisk 10 km run around the lush academy gardens!