DREAMFEST HOOOO!

Welcome One and All to the Dream Sequence Blogfest! 

I am thrilled to host this event for you all! Hopefully we all got to challenge ourselves a little bit, by writing a good sequence, and hopefully we can all learn about what works and what doesn't from the posts of our fellow participants! Please do get around to comment on everyone's posts, and offer them some feedback so that we can all write bigger and better dream sequences in the future!

Thanks so much to everyone who is participating! I'm heading out to read all your posts right now! You can find all the blogs who are participating on the Mr. Linky!



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Thanks for stopping by, for commenting, and for participating!! You guys are awesome! The winner of the Amazon GC, drawn randomly, will be announced on the blog on Tuesday!

Dream Sequence Blogfest REMINDER!

IT IS TOMORROW!

SIGN UP HERE.
(Don't forget to leave a comment if you want to be entered to win the Amazon GC.)

I'm looking forward to reading everyone's posts! (one early entry here that I've seen so far! Another early post here!)

DREAMFEST GO!

Er. At midnight, I mean. :)

It's Tuesday!

I need to post about something today, but the Theseus letter is a hard act to follow, especially since I was away all weekend. You'd think it was some kind of holiday or something. (I feel a little bit guilty making that joke because Memorial Day is serious business, but I am equally determined not to do a Memorial Day post, so, I guess that's that.)

So what am I posting about today? I haven't been doing a lot of research recently-- I was once again derailed by a side project from Helen and didn't get the reading done on Theseus that I meant to this weekend, so I have nothing to report in that regard. I've been looking up a lot of French for the side project that is so awesome at derailing me. For some reason, I like latching onto secondary and tertiary characters and giving them stories of their own. Obviously this involves a lot of French because I like to torture myself with languages I don't speak. (Oh, Icelandic! Someday! I promise you! French means nothing to me! It's just a fling!)

But here's the thing. Sometimes, you just have to write it. Sometimes, a character comes along with a voice that grabs you, and you just have to listen. Sometimes that means putting aside the project you're working on and getting it out of your system. Sometimes repressing the voice just makes it shout that much louder, and makes it that much harder to keep working on what you're determined to work on. Sometimes, you just have to do what you have to do.

Which brings us to this guy. He quit his job, and decided to just walk across the United States. Because he can. Because it seemed like the thing to do. Because he just wanted to do it. This guy should be an example to all of us who write, all of us who are pursuing some goal that seems outrageous or impossible or bizarre, that doesn't make sense to anyone else outside of ourselves. We should all be like this guy, and not let the fact that people don't get it, get in our way. Because you know what the best part of this guy's story is? All the people he's met on his journey who DO get it, and want to help him move forward.

No matter what you're trying to do, no matter what story you want to tell, need to tell; no matter how impossible it seems, how insurmountable the industry might appear; there are people who are interested, people who want to know, people who are willing to help and willing to lend you an ear or a moment of support. And most of all, it can be done. You can do it. Just like this guy. So.

I'm just writin'.

What about you?

A Letter to Theseus

Dear Theseus,

Can you even keep your own story straight? I would hate to be persuaded that you're a compulsive liar, and that's why your history got so screwed up, but how is it that no one can agree on which Amazon Queen you abducted married? Was it Hippolyta or Antiope? For that matter, were you with Heracles on that trip, or on your own? While I'm asking, was this Amazon Queen fighting for you or against you when the Amazons invaded Attica after you violated made off with their sovereign, got her pregnant, and then hooked up with Phaedra?

Plutarch swears up and down that your hook up with Phaedra was after the Amazon Queen's death, and the rest of those stories are just dirty lies, but he was writing a millenium after you supposedly lived, and frankly, I'm not sure I trust him not to fabricate a little truth here or there if it served his agenda, so what am I supposed to believe, here? I know that whole Ariadne business wasn't really your fault, Dionysus forced your hand, and I can even believe that the Phaedra and Hippolytus situation was the work of the gods and outside of your control, but seriously? You don't even remember the NAME of the woman who you stole, married and had a son with? I would think that if you loved her that much that you just HAD to have her, you'd at least take the time to get her name straight!

If you would be so kind as to straighten out this little misunderstanding for me, that would really make my life easier-- not to mention improve your reputation, because quite frankly, I think you're in danger of losing your heroic appeal. Real heroes remember the names of the women they fall in lust love with, after all! I'm SURE that it isn't REALLY your fault that these later historians/priests/entertainers/men couldn't be bothered to fact check the names involved, what with her being a mere woman, but it really does reflect poorly on your-- shall we say, charm? You might want to have your publicist look into it.

Your Biggest Fan,
Amalia

P.S. Nobody else seems to have these kinds of issues with THEIR heroes. I really hope that you're not wasting my time-- Thor is already threatening to pummel you, and I really think he might win if it came down to that. xoxo

Getting To Know You

Hello Followers and Friends!

Tomorrow I have a highly entertaining blogpost for those of you with a passing familiarity with Theseus, and maybe for those of you who don't, too. And thanks so much to everyone who commented and enjoyed Tuesday's post on Mycenaean clothing and fashion disasters. But for today, I just wanted to ask you all a question!

What was the first book that you read by yourself?

For me, it was Dr. Seuss's One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish. I still remember the day, and how excited I was to have read a book all by myself. That made me wonder about you all, my followers! If ever there were a people gathered together who could reminisce fondly over the first book they ever read on their own, I thought that perhaps it would be you! So let's do this thing!

Today is my three-year anniversary with my husband, and we're going to celebrate by going out to eat at one of my absolute most favorite restaurants in life. (It is something of a drive.) I will not be on the blog so much to reply to comments as-they-are-posted, but I will be looking forward to reading about all the books that started us on the journey we are on now!

Mycenaean Culture!

So it occurred to me today that I have been fudging the clothing of my characters in HELEN for approximately 120,000 words now, and it was about time that I did some research to at least make sure my fudged approach was something that I could get away with, and not totally, completely beyond wrong. Nobody wants to get called out on historical accuracy over a dress, after all.

I do actually have a couple of textbooks on the Aegean Bronze Age (Christmas presents from my parents!), but for some reason they don't seem to have a lot of good pictures. This is probably because there aren't a lot of good pictures to be had, and black and white never does a fresco justice. I've talked about it a little bit before-- if not here, at least on GeekaChicas during the Not-yet-of-Troy series letters-- but we suffer from a real lack of evidence when it comes to this period. Primarily the only information we have is about palace life. There is little if any evidence regarding the common person or daily life for anyone outside of the palace, and the evidence we have for the palace itself is less about the daily life and more about societal structure. Very fortunate for me that Helen was a princess, and not some street girl. On the other hand, Sparta isn't one of the cities known for its Mycenaean Palace of Awesome. (Welcome to the clash between history and myth, our next stop will be clothing... Also, you REALLY do want to click that link, because that rendering of the palace at Pylos will blow your mind.)

As far as clothing goes, we pretty much have frescoes. Jewelry is another story--grave goods and the like have been found and preserved, probably because metal doesn't decompose. There's a good image of men's clothing in a fresco (definitely click this first link!) on this website, and a great description of both men's and women's fashions (of which I make no guarantees about the source, but it SOUNDS right to me).

Basically, men wore belted, short dress-like outfits, sometimes with short pant-like bottoms instead, which gave them freedom of movement. Common people probably went without a shirt altogether, and ran around in just a skirt or shorts. They don't seem to be all that fancy, except for detailing around the edges (image from wikimedia commons). This isn't all that different from Minoan dress-- Mycenae really kind of ripped off a lot of culture from Crete-- but in general, Mycenaean's were a little bit more conservative in style. This is more apparent in women's dress.

Contrary to later styles, Mycenaean's and Minoans wore fitted clothing. Women especially. The image to the right is from a fresco, supposedly of a Mycenaean woman. (from wikimedia commons) You can see the detailing and complicated design of the skirt (do those look like pants to anyone else?) and the top. Minoan women, as far as we know, went bare breasted. Mycenaean women did not ALWAYS follow this convention, but as you can see, it wasn't unheard of. They usually wore a belt, to emphasize the waist and the skirt was kept full and flowing. Don't ask me how that kind of a shirt is practical at all, however. It seems like it would be a pain to keep on. The image to the right gives you an idea of what a top that covered the breasts would look like (from wikimedia commons).

For the purposes of my book, I would expect that Helen dressed as conservatively as she was able-- being the most beautiful woman in the world would probably invite enough attention without showing off her breasts as well. Theseus is another issue altogether. (and if you're wondering, no, Athens didn't have a Mycenaean (or Minoan) Palace of Awesome, either.) He was, by all accounts, a very successful king for Athens (until he got thrown out after the underworld debacle). I expect when he shows up somewhere, he does it in style to show off the wealth of his city and by association, his power as its king.

Has my fudging been at all accurate? Well, yes and no. I'll probably need to go back through and tweak a few things. But honestly, there is no real way to write about the mythology of the Trojan war while maintaining BOTH historical and mythological accuracy (more on this in a future post, probably). What about you? Has there ever been an aspect of your book that you fudged, only to research and find out that you had it totally wrong?

Also, am I the only one who looked at that rendering of the Megaron of Pylos and went WHOA? Talk about opulence!

Friday Stuff!

I should know better than to post about things I find really interesting on Fridays, because my hits are totally unreliable, but I'm doing it anyway.

First Things First, Though: Dream Sequence Blogfest! Sign up! Leave a comment! Post your scene on the date! Be entered to win a prize! What are you waiting for?!

So the other day I stumbled across this link on twitter-- and I thought it was awesome. Apparently, they found some skulls, one of a knight, in some castle and decided to do a reconstruction of the knight's face. I have literally not closed the tab for days because I keep going back to stare at him and think "whoa."

AND THEN, I thought, HOW COOL WOULD IT BE if they reconstructed and rendered the faces of the vikings they found in that mass grave?!?! My friends, I want this to happen. Any of you who have connections with anyone who has connections with people who do this kind of thing, please do what you can to set it into motion. I want to see what the vikings look like when they're rendered back into CG flesh and bone. I know you do too! Who wouldn't?! Give the beheaded vikings back their faces! I think they'd like that! I bet as vikings they would be like "Hey look at that! Now when the end days come, folks will recognize us when we sweep in to fight for Odin!"

All right, I know, I can do better than that-- I didn't really think about it. Give me time and maybe I'll figure out something better. (I kind of feel a short story coming on.)

Lastly, I want to welcome all you new followers! Thanks for joining up at  Good to Begin Well! I promise that I do sometimes post more than just blogfest entries, and I do try to keep it interesting with a smorgasbord of science, history, mythology, and writing. Most of you don't really seem to care about the science stuff, but sometimes it really is cool! And I promise I won't waste your time with anything that isn't!

Any questions? Anything you're dying to know? Ask away below!

What I want to know from you is: what's your all time favorite book? (Title and Author please!)

Now that I've asked that question, I'm trying to think of what my answer is and having a heck of a time. I'll get back to you!

OH! P.S. During one of the earlier blogfests-- First Kiss maybe, or else Kissing Day Blogfest-- Someone posted a scene with a guy named Lucan. I can not for the life of me remember to whom Lucan belongs, but he is lurking about in the back of my mind and I would be TOTALLY GRATEFUL if someone could point me in the right direction!  Seriously, you are awesome, because I keep thinking about that scene, and I'd really, really, really love to read some more.