First loves...

We all have something that started us on the path toward becoming a writer. For me, it was books like White Fang and Sweetgrass that first made me realize I wanted to tell stories as well. I was a voracious reader, to the point my dad took me into a bookstore around 12-13 and asked "She's read them all, what's next?"

But no matter how much I've read, I have a singular soft spot for mythos. Whether its the dead rites of ancient Egypt or that time Thor dressed as a woman to get his hammer back from a giant, I love old tales of gods and monsters and heroes.

Greek mythology has, particularly, been a passion of mine. I often return to it, immersing myself in the stories that set fire to my imagination as a kid. I remember being in 4th or 5th grade, writing a story during 'movie day' and handing it in to my teacher to read.

It was a story about a girl and her Pegasus. I ought to have known then I would wind up here as an adult.

Like many, the story that always draws me in is that of Hades & Persephone. The wild abduction, her adjustment to the Underworld as the mortal realm suffers, eating of the pomegranate that binds her to the realm, Hades promising to be a good and loyal husband.

That last one definitely reads like a romance, but its part of the earliest copies we have of the lore.

Of course, they story has been done over and over again, sometimes brilliantly. Lore Olympus & Punderworld immediately leap to mind. Both are new takes on the old mythos, not strictly romances, and I am hopelessly addicted. Not to mention, the art styles are totally unique and breathtaking. If you haven't checked them out, find them both on WebToon.

So, I'm going to give the classic tale my own spin. Why not? I haven't written anything in weeks, excepting a super-late and now totally off-schedule web serial. But, since deciding to go back to the thing that always lights my fire, I've written an ENTIRE outline for the whole novel already and spit out 2,000 words this weekend like it was nothing. I'm going to go ahead and follow my muse.

Part of my rediscovery of all this is I picked up Circe by Madeline Miller and positively devoured it. Much like The Song of Achilles, it roped me in and brought me back to that thing that I love. I've got Lore by Alexandra Bracken next up and Mythos by Stephen Fry comes in today.

Imma drown myself in the ancient Hellenic cultures. Don't try to save me. Know that I'm going down as I have always wanted to.

Waiting on the last round of query replies, but for now, Hades is calling me.

-C.A.