I know no one seems excited about my wish to write a story for the series "Ingo" by Helen Dunmore, but I really want to do it any way. Things is, I'm having trouble coming up with a plot; an adventure plot that will result in pushing my two favorite characters into a romance. Nothing pure fluff.

I'm now going to type a lot of detailed and necessary info about the four books of the series for you to insightfully answer my concerns about plot at the bottom. If you wanna take a stab at the bottom without the lengthy explanation and no backstory, I advise you to get there NOW, because this journal is going to be LOOOOOOOOOOooooooooooooNG! I'm only posting details to prevent suggesting plot ideas that have already been covered and/or to give you ideas about new possibilities. Last chance to get out. Here we go:


Sapphire is a human girl with equal parts Earth/Air and Mer blood in her. Her older brother, Conor, has more Earth/Air blood than Mer. Sapphire's father mysteriously disappeared one night in the ocean despite being an excellent sailor. Sapphire soon feels the pull of the ocean inside of her as well and soon meets a Mer boy, Faro. Faro's sister, Elvira, in turn charms Conor to the water. But unlike their father, Sapphire and Conor remember their responsibilities to their mother and have the willpower to come back to land. The Mer world is called Ingo, hence the title. Granny Carne is a Dumbledore of sorts that is an expert of the Earth; she reminds Sapphire that she is not full Mer and her mixed blood has a greater destiny than running off like her father.

Basically the first book is the discovery of Ingo, Sapphire's resentment of her mother's new scuba diving boyfriend Roger, convincing Faro that not all humans are evil, and the teamwork to rescue Roger when he dives into a dangerous part of Ingo.

The second book is The Tide Knot. The family has moved from their cove house to the city where the mom works and can be closer to Roger. Sapphire hates it, Conor's adjusting pretty well. To compensate Sapphire being uprooted, her mother bought her a dog, Sadie. And she even makes friends with a very Earth/Air girl, Rainbow. Despite all of this, Sapphire finds ways to return to Ingo. Faro wishes for Sapphire to meet his mentor, Saldowr, who is pretty much Ingo's version of Granny Carne. Saldowr is guardian to a knot that keeps the tides bound from the land, but the knot is breaking.
Some other stuff happens including Sapphire being thrust into The Deep by a rogue current and a whale helps her back to her friends; Sapphire meeting the family that has rented their house in the cove and realizing the wife, Gloria, is feeling the pull of Ingo and must be restrained from that. Sapphire also meets with her changed father, whose legs have fused into a tail and is newly married to a wife with child in Ingo. She suspects that her father might not have joined the Mer with real choice and plans to confront that issue later with Conor. The knot finally lets the tides loose and they flood the city. Conor, Sapphire, Elvira, and Faro work with Saldowr to bind the knot once more. The mother moves the family back to the cove house because the city is pretty destroyed.

Still with me?

Third book, The Deep. Issue is the Kraken is awake. He lives in the Deep where none of the Mer can go because of the crushing pressure. But it's been proven that those who have mixed blood can survive there. Meaning Sapphire and Conor are recruited by all of the Mer to defeat the monster. They negotiate that if they take the job, their father must be given the choice to renounce his Mer life and return to land. Faro wants to accompany the siblings and confirms earlier hints that he is not fully Mer, so he is able to come despite being ashamed of his mixed blood discovery.
The whale Sapphire met before ferries them to the Kraken's lair but must leave them to surface for air. They defeat the Kraken, the whale brings them back up, Elvira introduces them to their father's new child and they realize they can't force their dad to abandon a baby and his new wife when his land family can manage just fine.
Also important, earlier in the recruitment meeting we are introduced to Ervys; a Mer with a purist attitude. His supporters are growing and his ideas clash with Saldowr's. The Mer are peaceful, but Ervys would force a war and desires to rule as king, but will not make his move yet. He is resentful that they need the help of Sapphire and Conor, and mocks Faro's shameful secret when it is revealed.

One more and then we get to the question!

Fourth book, The Crossing of Ingo. This is a journey that young Mer take as a rite of passage across all the oceans of the world. A call goes out every five years and those who feel their blood stir answer the summons. They then go before all the Mer, touch a special stone, and the Mer spectators observe whether the candidates are "chosen." On land, Sapphire and Conor are on their own as their mother has jettisoned off to Australia with Roger for a few weeks. Conor and Rainbow are obviously developing a well-suited romance for each other. Ervys' messengers, the sea gulls, are staking out the cove house though and occasionally attack Sapphire. They even hurt the dog Sadie bad enough to need stitches and eventually be looked after by Granny Carne. Everything works out to where Conor and Sapphire can disappear for their journey without suspision for a few weeks. It is especially important that Sapphire and Conor as humans complete this crossing; it will balance their blood and abolish old prejudices of the Mer. Ervys will do everything to stop this from happening
After Sapphire, Conor, Faro, and Elvira are chosen, they are attacked by a minion of Ervys - a SHARK- on the first leg of their journey. They know other plots of Ervys will await them on this journey so they turn around and make the trip backwards starting by going North instead of South. In the arctic seas, Elvira is touched by an Atka, a personal guardian and knows her place lies in the North. She will see her companions through the rest of the journey but each step away from the North pulls at her heart now. This choice negates any possibility of a romance with Conor, which was going on in the earlier books on some muted level that Sapphire could see but not understand.
Excluding a major spoiler, right when they're about to complete the journey, Ervys' army is waiting for them, there's a battle of Saldowr's supporters coming to protect the kids, Ervys is killed, his followers disband and become ashamed of their actions, and recognize at least Sapphire as a friend to Ingo.

Important follow-ups: After this crossing is made, Sapphire no longer feels torn between her mixed blood. Earth/Air thoughts no longer bring her pain and are very clear to her when she is in Ingo now. In the first book, part of the villlage's history includes a boy that washed up on shore, speaking no known language, and who went on to marry and have many children - so many that everyone in the village at least has a little of this boy's blood in them. This hints at an answer to how Sapphire and her father even had Mer blood to begin with; for if humans can join the Mer, the Mer can find a way to become human.

****** This is the bottom ******

Okay, this is where you guys come in. Sapphire and Faro will be around 17 years old and I want them to realize their feelings for each other in the middle of an adventure. My ideas for said adventure are:

-The humans polluting or overfishing enough to hurt Ingo. Conor will be some environmentalist and do his side of the job on land with Rainbow.

-Some Mer disease, and Elvira (as a healer) must come back and help. Conor will feel conflicted with Rainbow and Elvira both, and as Sapphire and Faro try to help, they discover their own romance. With the disease, there might even be a clock to declaring themselves.

-We find some way to explore Sapphire's Earth/Air blood instead. Some land issue that I have no idea about.

-That woman, Gloria, finds a way around all of those protecting Ingo and gets there herself. Find some way to get her into trouble and how it's up to Sapphire to get her out of it...

-I make up some really good way that Faro finds a way to come onto land. Only thing is, as Saldowr's pupil, he is destined to become the new guardian of the Tide Knot and I can't take him permenantly away from that. One of concerns I've given Sapphire is that she's never seen Saldowr or Granny Carne in a romance, and if that's even allowed for Guardians.


Your job, guys, is knowing all the important details I've given you, what could this new adventure be and how could it bring Sapphire and Faro together? Give me a new plot idea or expand on the ones I've listed. The more detailed the better.


Kisses to everyone who leaves an encouraging, insightful, creative, or just plain awesome comment!


p.s. after months with a paid account I finally learned how to use journal skins!