Whenever I’m struggling to write stories or even sentences, when the creative process or the world outside my window or both are in such a state of crisis that it feels impossible to articulate what stories are for or why anyone bothers with them, I turn to my folklore and mythology shelf.
I’m a member of the Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark generation, and a D’Aulaires’ Book of Greek Myths kid. The old stories, the ones scary or funny or weird enough to keep coming back, to spread from person to person spawning variants – these were my first loves.
When I was trying to get back to writing regularly after becoming a parent and spiraling my way through a pandemic and an insurrection, I turned again to my favorite shelf. I needed something sturdy, because the world was not and I was not.
One of the sturdiest images offered up by my old pals the D’Aulaires came back to me: the interlocking rooms and winding corridors of the Labyrinth. I began to see the Minotaur stalking along a riverbank. Sentences grew into scenes, chapters, and then into my first book, Daedalus is Dead.
Finishing a book had eluded me, even in the salad days of 2019, when I slept better and was only afraid of men some of the time. But the old tools I picked up moved of their own accord, the old stones practically stacked and mortared themselves.
I wonder sometimes if humans are most important as carriers, and certain stories, the ones that outlive and outgrow us and move through us at will, are really in charge.
Here are some of the titles that have, of late, called me back to my favorite shelf. Maybe some of them will call to you.
Continue reading “Nine Extremely Nerdy Books of Folklore and Mythology by Seamus Sullivan”