I loved Stephen Fry's Mythos. The myths of Ancient Greece were one of my favorite stories when I was a child even if they were available only in rather bland and partially censored Soviet form. I still remember the book called The Myths and Legends of Ancient Greece by N. Koon, and I owe much of my love for literature to the stories of Kronos eating his children and Athena coming up with a brilliant reward-slash-punishment for Arachne's blasphemy.
Fry's retelling contains the myths of Titans and Gods: there is no Heracles, no Illiad, no Trojan War, because the stories of the Gods alone take up four hundred pages, and with all the heroes we would have had eight hundred—a size that would have stretched the the book's ability to be entertaining. From what I can tell, the text stays close to the sources while Fry does his best to inject a little levity into the story and make his unique voice shine through.
If I have one semi-complaint, it's that this is very much Stephen Fry's work: with the same wit and flourish that he speaks with, and in the beginning that was distracting for me. I usually prefer authors that do It didn't bother me one bit by the time I finished the book.
2018 is here, and it's time for New Year resolutions!
First of all, I will get more people to read my professionally written, most wonderful, exorbitantly beautiful novel. I will start by marketing it to owlbears, I think. Yes, planning on the first of January is the best!
Second, I'll be more authentic and less snarky Or I'll try at least, because part of my authen . . . authenti . . . authenticity, yes, is my snark. So separating the two is a pain. But life often gets difficult enough without me being smart at people.
Happy New Year, everyone!
2017 has been pretty good for me, though I'm tired as hell and can't wait for it to be over. I released my first novel and wrote a lot of fan fiction people liked, which is awesome.
Next year I'll write more and work on getting more stuff to readers.
It took me the longest time to realize that creators I come back to on social media are the ones who care about their topic and about their readers or viewers and who keep putting out great stuff—I used to think it was eccentricity or expertise that drew me to them. And I now believe Seth Godin (one of those creators) when he says that in this age, caring is the best marketing.
Some people believe that it’s luck—the magic of internet chaos that picks favorites. I don’t believe that.
When I see Hank and John Green make funny, educational, and heartfelt videos year after year as comments erupt in flame wars, while Hank and John also raise kids and deal with mental health problems, I don’t see luck. I just think it takes guts and kindness and a work ethic to succeed on the Internet, and few have it or are ready to pour it into unpaid work.
The recent article in NY Times about the self-identifying fascist Tony Hovater has caused extreme backlash among American liberals including half my Twitter feed. Where I live, Hovater's views would see him in jail, but this post isn't about that.
Nobody is questioning whether the article is accurate or whether it's written to the highest journalistic standards. So I guess the position the readers are expressing is that truth must not be reported if it causes harm to society. And in their view, portraying fascists as anything but monsters through and through humanizes them and lessens the need to fight against extreme nationalism. Some go as far as saying that the journalist painted a rosy portrait of a family who want to wipe out other races, although this accusation isn't supported by the article.
I don't agree that trying to understand the enemy is harmful to the fight. I also don't support suppressing the truth for any reason except it causing direct and immediate harm to human beings, and I don't believe this is the case here. Shushing the media is a slippery slope, and it is far too easy for censorship to be abused.
