Heart Hunter progress
I have been involved in a rewrite of The Hunter Duology that I've now decided to keep as one book and stick with the title of Heart Hunter. As I've blogged before, this began as a Ph.D, where it had to demonstrated Campbell's 17 part hero quest, applied to a female hero. The thesis taught me something very important about how we interpret narratives, which is through a patriarchal lense. Thus, the so-called strong female heroes often touted as role models, are often men in drag.
A strong female hero is not a woman who kills as well as a man, or is as callous, or as ruthless, or is the same as the way the male hero is traditionally constructed. A female hero is one whose traditional female attributes of nurturing and connection are exulted as being just as noble and powerful as sword skill or political cunning.
When I was writing the thesis, I had a moment of despair when the male hero had to rescue the female hero, thus bringing the structure back to the traditional interpretation. Luckily the despair was followed by an insight that has guided my writing since: that the female hero commonly rescues the male hero emotionally, thus making him a fully-formed human being. This is what myths tells us over and over again: the hero must overcome his demons (the dragon), to rescue the damsel (his female elements [anima in Jungian terms]), who he then marries (accepts and assimilates) to live happily ever after.
One of the benefits of working on a story for a long time (the Ph.D dates from 1997) is that you come to recognise elements that weren't apparent in earlier versions. I've dabbled with this story on and off for years now, and it's been rejected by all the usual publishers. There has always been enough grist to persevere though, and launching #TheEmeraldSerpent on Amazon in 2015, has given me an avenue to let it live in the public arena.
As a deep fantasy writer, I am now critically reviewing the elements in the earlier version that give it the subtextual power I'm interested in. Myths often use water as a motif of the unconscious, and water is central to Heart Hunter.
The delay of the season of snowmelt, leaving the Sceadu's streams empty of water and fish, is instrumental in Chant's quest. The fact that Chant can't swim predisposes her to step in the bear trap, and that in turn forces her to accept the name the Sceadu's shamanic leader has plucked from the void for her.
Her need to cross rivers also means she must trust Tel, her other half, and complement in terms of lack. Eg Chant considers herself to be mature and ready to marry (the Shaman disagrees); Tel is too immature to risk himself emotionally (yet the Sunnen Elders believe he is excellent husband material).
Chant's quest is to bring water back to her people, but there is a second more important quest revealed at the end. The motif of water and ice, its congealed form, mirror Chant and Tel's states, and its ability to manifest in more than one state, is central to the narrative--a point I will explore in later blogs.
A strong female hero is not a woman who kills as well as a man, or is as callous, or as ruthless, or is the same as the way the male hero is traditionally constructed. A female hero is one whose traditional female attributes of nurturing and connection are exulted as being just as noble and powerful as sword skill or political cunning.
When I was writing the thesis, I had a moment of despair when the male hero had to rescue the female hero, thus bringing the structure back to the traditional interpretation. Luckily the despair was followed by an insight that has guided my writing since: that the female hero commonly rescues the male hero emotionally, thus making him a fully-formed human being. This is what myths tells us over and over again: the hero must overcome his demons (the dragon), to rescue the damsel (his female elements [anima in Jungian terms]), who he then marries (accepts and assimilates) to live happily ever after.
One of the benefits of working on a story for a long time (the Ph.D dates from 1997) is that you come to recognise elements that weren't apparent in earlier versions. I've dabbled with this story on and off for years now, and it's been rejected by all the usual publishers. There has always been enough grist to persevere though, and launching #TheEmeraldSerpent on Amazon in 2015, has given me an avenue to let it live in the public arena.
As a deep fantasy writer, I am now critically reviewing the elements in the earlier version that give it the subtextual power I'm interested in. Myths often use water as a motif of the unconscious, and water is central to Heart Hunter.
The delay of the season of snowmelt, leaving the Sceadu's streams empty of water and fish, is instrumental in Chant's quest. The fact that Chant can't swim predisposes her to step in the bear trap, and that in turn forces her to accept the name the Sceadu's shamanic leader has plucked from the void for her.
Her need to cross rivers also means she must trust Tel, her other half, and complement in terms of lack. Eg Chant considers herself to be mature and ready to marry (the Shaman disagrees); Tel is too immature to risk himself emotionally (yet the Sunnen Elders believe he is excellent husband material).
Chant's quest is to bring water back to her people, but there is a second more important quest revealed at the end. The motif of water and ice, its congealed form, mirror Chant and Tel's states, and its ability to manifest in more than one state, is central to the narrative--a point I will explore in later blogs.
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