Bringing Myth to Life
Yesterday I told you about my Camp NaNoWriMo project, To Keep a Star and promised to introduce you to each of my characters one by one up until Camp starts. So today, let me introduce you to my star, literally.
There are a lot of myths (even just in Greek myth) around the constellation the Pleiades, and some of it is conflicting. As an author, I actually love that because it gives me a little more creative room to wiggle around with. But the most consistent part of the story is that there were seven sisters being chased around by an unwanted suitor and the gods, in mercy (?), placed the sisters in the sky. Who was chasing them and which sister did what is in the gray area, but that's the general idea. The other consistent part is that one of the seven turned away her light from earth. The version I remember reading is that Electra, mother of Troy's founder (which is also in the gray), could not bear to watch the destruction of the city and left her place in the heavens. The other sisters being so grieved by the event were forever dimmed. Other versions say it was a different sister who left. There are some astronomers who wonder if at one time there were seven visible stars because many cultures have the same kind of story where there were once seven and explaining why there are now six. Who knows, maybe at some point there were?
In any case, I'm working with the version I read (which you can find in Thomas Bulfinch's Age of Fable ). So obviously Electra is going to play a major role in my story. In the beginning, you will see how her star's light was lost (not going to tell you just how yet, but you'll learn soon enough). As the Keeper of her star, she vows to do whatever it takes to return the light to its place.
Electra fits well in the classical definition of beauty: curly, strawberry-blond hair, large toffee-colored eyes, and well-proportioned. She is immortal and while she tries to blend in with the people around her, she is most comfortable in loose, flowing clothes. When she speaks, you hear her accent and there's a sense of timelessness about her. She appears to be in her mid-twenties, though she's obviously much older, and will occasionally fill the role of wise-council-giver. Because let's be real, we all need one of those sometimes!
Just three more days until Camp NaNoWriMo starts. Will you be writing this April? Tell me about your project!
P.S. Hopefully tomorrow I'll have some character sketches for you to look at. :)
There are a lot of myths (even just in Greek myth) around the constellation the Pleiades, and some of it is conflicting. As an author, I actually love that because it gives me a little more creative room to wiggle around with. But the most consistent part of the story is that there were seven sisters being chased around by an unwanted suitor and the gods, in mercy (?), placed the sisters in the sky. Who was chasing them and which sister did what is in the gray area, but that's the general idea. The other consistent part is that one of the seven turned away her light from earth. The version I remember reading is that Electra, mother of Troy's founder (which is also in the gray), could not bear to watch the destruction of the city and left her place in the heavens. The other sisters being so grieved by the event were forever dimmed. Other versions say it was a different sister who left. There are some astronomers who wonder if at one time there were seven visible stars because many cultures have the same kind of story where there were once seven and explaining why there are now six. Who knows, maybe at some point there were?
In any case, I'm working with the version I read (which you can find in Thomas Bulfinch's Age of Fable ). So obviously Electra is going to play a major role in my story. In the beginning, you will see how her star's light was lost (not going to tell you just how yet, but you'll learn soon enough). As the Keeper of her star, she vows to do whatever it takes to return the light to its place.
Electra fits well in the classical definition of beauty: curly, strawberry-blond hair, large toffee-colored eyes, and well-proportioned. She is immortal and while she tries to blend in with the people around her, she is most comfortable in loose, flowing clothes. When she speaks, you hear her accent and there's a sense of timelessness about her. She appears to be in her mid-twenties, though she's obviously much older, and will occasionally fill the role of wise-council-giver. Because let's be real, we all need one of those sometimes!
Just three more days until Camp NaNoWriMo starts. Will you be writing this April? Tell me about your project!
P.S. Hopefully tomorrow I'll have some character sketches for you to look at. :)
No comments have been added yet.
