This is the next instalment in my series of character spotlights in the lead-up to the release of my second book, The Lord of the Underworld.
Quashy
The Cheeky Coati
Itzel may be the protagonist of The Jade Necklace, but it’s fair to say her coati companion steals quite a bit of the spotlight. Quashy has been part of the story since the very beginning. One of the first encounters I imagined in the Underworld was a mischievous coati snatching Itzel’s magical necklace. From the start, he had that ridiculously long tail he could stretch at will—somewhere between Mr Fantastic of Fantastic Four and Luffy from One Piece. The twist of giving him only his tail to rely on, with no legs at all, came later, and it quickly became one of his defining traits.
Quashy also became something of a surrogate character for me. Through him, I could slip in my own brand of wisecrack humour, playing his quips against Itzel’s earnestness. He’s laid-back, quick with a joke, and has that breezy, go-with-the-flow attitude I admire—though of course he has his flaws (cough kleptomania cough).
Itzel: What are you up to, Quashy?
Quashy:
His name came naturally from Belize’s own word for a coati, “quash.” But it also carries personal history. Long before I was born, my parents spent some time living in the Belizean jungle, where they cared for several injured or abandoned animals. One of them was a coati named Quashy. She was eventually released back into the wild, but a few months later she reappeared—this time with a trail of kits following behind her, as if she wanted to introduce her new family to her old one.
So the name Quashy holds a lot of sentimental value for me. In a way, it’s a tribute—not only to that mischievous little animal my parents once cared for, but also to the wildness and wonder of the Belizean landscape that shaped my imagination. And like his real-world namesake, my Quashy may be a thief, but he’s also full of heart.
(Still, best to keep an eye on your jewellery—just in case.)