Emily is the author of the Hundredth Queen series, along with Before the Broken Star, Into the Hourglass, and Everafter Song in the Evermore Chronicles.

Her latest novel is Wings of Fury, which was released earlier this year, and we’ll be discussing it today. It is the first in the Wings of Fury duology; the second book, Crown of Cinders, will be out in October of this year.

Born in Canada and raised in the United States, Emily is a shark advocate, a consumer of gummy bears, and an islander at heart, but her greatest interests are her children and three cantankerous cats. 

In this episode Emily and I discuss:

• How she chose which versions of mythology she was going to use in her novels.
• What she learned about the role and lives of women in Ancient Greece.
• Why she wrote a duology as opposed to a trilogy or a longer series.

Plus, her #1 tip for writers.

Recommended Resources for Greek Mythology

https://www.theoi.com/

Goddesses in Everywoman: Powerful Archetypes in Women’s Lives by Jean Shinoda Bolan

Muse by Brittany Cavallaro

The Book of Greek Myths by d’Aulaires

Mythology: Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes by Edith Hamilton

Circe by Madeline Miller

If you are interested in learning more about Greek Mythology, we hope you will check out these books via our Amazon Affiliate links. DIY MFA will receive a referral fee at no cost to you.

About Emily R. King

Emily R. King is the author of the Hundredth Queen series, as well as Before the Broken Star, Into the Hourglass, and Everafter Song in the Evermore Chronicles. Her latest novel, Wings Of Fury, will be released March 1, 2021, the first in the Wings of Fury duology. 

The second book, Crown of Cinders, will be released October 5, 2021.

Born in Canada and raised in the United States, she is a shark advocate, a consumer of gummy bears, and an islander at heart, but her greatest interests are her children and three cantankerous cats.

You can find Emily on her website or follow her on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.  

Wings of Fury

This past March, Emily R. King, the beloved fantasy author of the Hundredth Queen series, released WINGS OF FURY (March 1, 2021; 47North; Trade Paperback Original; $14.95), an empowering new tale inspired by ancient Greek mythology. Fans of both Circe by Madeline Miller and Wonder Woman will delight in making the acquaintance of Althea Lambros, a young woman who must fight both with—and against— the gods to save her family.

Althea’s world is ruled by Cronus, the God of Gods, whose inheritance is the world and women, his playthings. He takes mortal women as prizes and discards them when he’s through. No woman dares to defy him.

After her mother is taken from her and dies as a result of Cronus’s cruelty, Althea is determined not to suffer the same fate as so many women before her. To honor the dying wish of her mother, Althea promises to take care of her sisters no matter the cost.

Following the vision that has been revealed to her by the Fates—that she will crush the Almighty and free the world from his terror—Althea travels to the southern isle of Crete, where women who seek refuge from Cronus live hidden among the exalted Boy God. The Boy God, Zeus, the only son of Cronus, is believed by most of the world to be dead. But he is very much alive and his destiny is tied with Althea, for the Fates foretold that he too will destroy his father.

As Althea and the Boy God train and gain support for their fated journey, Cronus learns of the rebellion and begins amassing his own army to quell any resistance. Cronus may be The Almighty, but Althea will not fail her mother, sisters, or the imprisoned women helpless against the cruel god.

Crown of Cinders

May Gaea be with you . . .

Althea Lambros is growing into her power, wrestling with a burdensome heritage, and unwilling to concede to Cronus, the redoubtable God of Gods. For that, Cronus is making good on his promise. Calling upon the elder Titans, he’s bringing down his wrath on the world. Suffering quakes, tempests, fire, and hail, mortals are paying in blood for the war of the gods.

With the help of her friend Theo, Althea takes cover with her sisters, Bronte and Cleora. But they can’t hide forever. To mastermind the downfall of the evil king, Althea must recruit allies of her own before the aggrieved mortals surrender the sisters to Cronus in exchange for peace.

Is Althea formidable enough to win? It’ll take the help of her sisters and those willing to fight for the cause of the just. As the gods pick sides, Althea must divide heaven and earth to defeat the enemy and write the true history of the war to end all wars.

If you decide to check out these books, we hope you’ll do so via these Amazon affiliate links: Wings of Fury and Crown of Cinders, where if you choose to purchase via the link DIY MFA gets a referral fee at no cost to you. As always, thank you for supporting DIY MFA!

Link to Episode 365

(Right-click to download.)

If you liked this episode…

Head over to iTunes, Stitcher Radio, Spotify, or Google and subscribe so you’ll be first to know when new episodes are available.

Also, remember that sharing is caring so if you know anyone who might enjoy this podcast, please tell them about it or leave us a review so other listeners will want to check it out.

Until next week, keep writing and keep being awesome!

The post Episode 365: Fantasy Inspired by Greek Mythology – Interview with Emily R. King appeared first on DIY MFA.

When I read Gail Carriger’s interpretation of the heroine’s journey, it struck a chord with me (imagine angelic chorus here). I thought that Instead of reviewing the structure and analyzing a genre story using the structure, as I did with the hero’s journey and the virgin’s promise, I’m going to let you know about Carriger’s approach to the heroine’s journey, its structure, and what it taught me about the stories I gravitate toward.

Carriger’s Background

Gail Carriger graduated university with an honors degree in archaeology, with minors in theology, geology, anthropology, philosophy, and classics. She is a hugely successful author, has taught classes, sat on panels, and discussed mythic books with readers, librarians, and booksellers.

Every time she mentioned the heroine’s journey, people asked her what she meant. So, she decided to put her years of learning and practice into a book.

Her Approach

After reviewing the hero’s journey for context, Carriger uses three core goddess-based ancient myths as the basis for an understanding of the heroine’s journey narrative beats and themes. She draws on Demeter from ancient Greek myth, Isis from ancient Egyptian myth, and Inanna from ancient Sumerian myth.

Then, she explores the critical, social, and academic disenfranchisement of the heroine’s journey in contrast to its commercial success. Carriger finishes with a breakdown of how the heroine’s journey can be used to create a compelling narrative in a variety of genres. I encourage you to pick up The Heroine’s Journey for yourselves if you want to dig into these last two points.

The Structure

Carriger presents the heroine’s journey beats in a simple list with italics to demark the major divisions. I’m going to add a little formatting to make the structure even clearer.

·         Act 1: The Descent

1.       Descent precipitated by a broken familial network.

2.       Heroine’s pleas are ignored, and she abdicates power.

3.       Withdrawal is involuntary.

4.       Family offers aid but no solution.

·         Act 2: The Search

5.       Heroine’s loss of family yields isolation/risk.

6.       She employs disguise/subversion and alters her identity.

7.       She appeals to and forms a surrogate network (found family).

8.       She visits the underworld, aided by friends/family.

·         Act 3: The Ascent

9.       Success in her search results in a new or reborn familial network.

10.     This ties to negotiation and compromise that will benefit all.

What I learned from The Heroine’s Journey

While Carriger’s heroine’s journey shares much with Kim Hudson’s virgin’s promise (family issues, disguise, emphasis on healing family rifts or newfound family, the heroine or virgin may be of either gender/any sexual identity), Hudson’s book, though I liked it better than Vogler’s (The Writer’s Journey), didn’t resonate with me in the same way as Carriger’s. I had to sit with the thought for a while before I figured out why.

Carriger’s beats are more accessible. They’re unambiguous. I didn’t have to work out what they might refer to. And I saw—so clearly—that this pattern is present in all my stories. Every. Single. One. I’ve been inadvertently trying to make heroes out of my heroines, and it’s caused all kinds of writerly problems. Carriger’s book was a revelation. It will help me to stay true to my stories, my characters, and their arcs.

Though the heroine’s journey is ideally suited to romance, mythic or fairy tale retellings, and middle grade and young adult stories, it can apply to many genres and categories. If readers are expecting a mythic hero’s journey, however, they may be disappointed when confronted by a heroine’s journey story. The key is to clearly signal what kind of story you’re writing and to set up reader expectations so they won’t feel betrayed. Again, I’ll defer to Carriger with respect to how to do this and invite you to read her book.

Over to You

I’ve shared my experience with The Heroine’s Journey in the hope that it might prove helpful to other writers of mythic journeys. If you’ve felt that your stories or characters are like square pegs trying to fit into hound holes (or, vice versa), you may be relying too heavily on a journey or archetypes that aren’t suited to the stories you want to tell.

Have you read a writing craft book or attended a workshop that shed a revelatory light on your work or process? If you have, and you’re willing to, please share your experience in the comments. You never know who it might help.

Until next time, keep speculating and see where it takes you!

Melanie Marttila creates worlds from whole cloth. She’s a dreamsinger, an ink alchemist, and an unabashed learning mutt. Her speculative short fiction has appeared in Bastion Science Fiction Magazine, On Spec Magazine, and Sudbury Ink. She lives and writes in Sudbury, Ontario, Canada, where she spends her days working as a corporate trainer. She blogs at https://www.melaniemarttila.ca and you can find her on Facebook and Twitter.

The post Mythic Storytelling: The Heroine’s Journey by Gail Carriger appeared first on DIY MFA.