Inspiration: I’m drawn to mythological stories about women who protect other women and how they are portrayed, which is often as monsters. I’m also fascinated by the complexities of mother/daughter and other female relationships, and that’s the starting point for much of my fiction. The seeds of this story were sown when I considered how a harpy or fury-like creature might react if both the perpetrator and the victim were female.
Workshop to Publication: I revisited and rewrote the story several times over about a twelve month time frame, which is my usual process for stories that are longer than flash. The Twisted Book of Shadows was the first time I submitted it and, almost a year later, it was accepted for publication. A panel of editors read all submissions blind.
BONUS MATERIAL
Here are a few resources on Matriarchal Monsters and First Females from the module for those of you interested in trying your own hand on the subject:
RESOURCES
- “Mothers Who Consume” by Kristi DeMeester
- “Mother Killed Me: Father Ate Me” (folktales of Aarne-Thompson-Uther type 720) by L. Ashliman
- “The Stepmother or the Saint: How Fairy Tales Depict the Different Facets of Motherhood” by Cat Fricke
- “Fairy-Tale Files: Sacrificial Mothers” by Margaret Chapman
- “Baby’s Cells Can Manipulate Mom’s Body for Decades” by Viviane Callier
- “An Overview of Filicide” by Sara G. West, MD
- “Selling the Myth of the Ideal Mother” by Elizabeth Weiss
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
