Originally posted June 3, 2007
I’m realizing that I prefer myth incorporated contemporarily in fiction to fiction set in a mythological or historical setting. I read and accept all submissions with an open mind and attempt to have a balanced array of work on Fickle Muses. However, after reading the wide range of fiction that has come to me, I find myself undeniably drawn to a certain style. That doesn’t mean possible contributors should be wary of submitting fantasy or stories in historic settings. Some of my most beloved authors are J.R.R. Tolkien, George McDonald, and even C.S. Lewis, but what they did was fresh at the time they wrote it. Making the old Greek and Roman myths original is difficult, and perhaps easier to make new when set in present day. In my opinion, too many writers keep trying to reinvent Tolkien. We all borrow from other authors – we can’t help it – we build on what came before. For example, Lewis was inspired by McDonald’s other world in “Lilith,” accessed through a mirror in the attic, and used that idea when creating his magic wardrobe into Narnia (I can’t believe I just said Narnia on our Web site – sorry Sari).
What I would really love to see is more fiction that evokes less known mythologies. Joy Harjo wrote a story based on the Native American cosmology of the woman who fell from the sky. Ursula K. Le Guinn made the werewolf myth brand spanking new in “The Wife’s Tale,” and drew from Taoist principles in “The Earthsea Quartet.” Robert Olen Butler weaves Vietnamese myth and European fairy tale into his collection of short stories: “A Good Scent from a Strange Mountain.” Ana Castillo, in her novel, “So Far From God,” incorporates La Lorona and other Southwestern folkloric myth into her dysfunctional family saga.
So many of the old myths (Greek and Roman), while well loved, have been overused. Therefore, the challenge before us is to create a new mythically cognizant style, or genre as Sari refers to it – something that looks back at the classics, while, if set historically, plays with anachronism rather than attempting to imitate a certain time and place. Of course, this is only my opinion and will most likely stir many of you on to write the opposite – just to show me. And if you do (show me) my work here will be done.
– Leslie Fox
Editor
Sari Krosinsky lives in Albuquerque, New Mexico, with her partner and two cats.
She received a B.A. in religious studies and a M.A. in creative writing from the University of New Mexico. Her poems have appeared in Poesia, Pebble Lake Review, The American Poetry Journal, Arsenic Lobster, Verse Daily, and others. Fiction Editor
Leslie Fox lived in Central America during her formative years and in New Mexico since the mid-70s – before it was cool.
She writes novels, short stories, plays, screenplays and creative nonfiction. Some of her short fiction has appeared in The Medical Muse, red. a journal of arts, Earth’s Daughters and Earthships: A New Mecca Poetry Collection. She has a M.F.A. in creative writing from the University of New Mexico.Art Editor
Dianne Schlies is a practicing artist and has taught studio art since 1986. She received her M.F.A. from SMU at Dallas, Texas in 1990. She has studied or worked with David Bates, Mel Bochner, Squeak Carnwath, Harmony Hammond, Ed Harris, Joyce Kozloff, Mary Ellen Mark, Duane Michals and Robert Rauschenberg. Schlies presently teaches Drawing and 2-D Design in Albuquerque, New Mexico.