Medusa

[miriam_e]

I have made a few small corrections to my Medusa story and added a quick illustration. I have to admit I rushed the drawing a bit and should make the time to fix it soon -- it has a few problems that bug me every time I look at it.
http://werple.net.au/~miriam/Medusa.html

The story, with picture, is in issue 16 of Diverse Universe. Geoff and I worked till late last night to finish the issue.

If anybody else feels like having stories, reviews, pictures, etc published in Diverse Universe, or our annual anthology, Solar Spectrum, then please give me a yell. Of course "we" are Spaced Out.

Comments

[ledestin.livejournal.com]

Love it even more than before, darling. And I wish I could draw/write like that. *hugs* Miss you...

[miriam-e.livejournal.com]

[blush] Thanks.

You write better than me in many ways. Certainly you have much greater potential than I ever had. I'll try to fix that pic later... there are plenty of artists who put me to shame. We are so lucky -- we're living in a renaissance!

How can you miss me, possum? I'm right here. :)

[loco-indahouse.livejournal.com]

That's a BAD drawing? Wow! Well it shouldn't be a suprise according to some of the stuff you've done!

[jrosestar.livejournal.com]

I really like the way you filled out your story.

I just love it when people place real history into their fiction.
Records would have been kept in the Great Library at Alexandria, until the Christians burned it all


I think this part was new too. It's interesting to think that they already knew of the rumors about themselves.
"No, sweetie. People often are scared of those who are different from themselves. In fact they think we are the monsters. I have heard that their people think we are really ugly... so ugly that we can kill with our look." The children are astonished. "And they think our hair," she smiled and fingered the long plaited tresses, tied with bright red, yellow, and white string, "is a nest of snakes."

This really brings the death home. You can feel the sadness and at the same time the trajedy of it.
The folk watched in anguish as the body of their beloved Medusa jerked and trembled and poured blood out in an enormous red pool on the flagstones of the greeting pavilion

I think your drawing is great. The braid do sort of resemble snakes.

Jean.

[jrosestar.livejournal.com]

The braid do sort of resemble snakes

Make that "braids." ^_^;

[miriam-e.livejournal.com]

:)
Thanks Jean. I don't think I write very well, but I wanted to get this out there. I have thought about the Medusa story for a long time -- more than a decade.

I am probably a little out in time for the library at Alexandria. It came very much later than Medusa's time. But there is still the great possibility that records going back hundreds of years might have been kept from surrounding lands, and Medusa's land was very close to the library. I included the library to give an additional locating point to fix it in position for people, and to remind the reader of how irrational and destructive hate can be.

As to Medusa telling the kids how they are seen by Greeks: I needed to explain the legends without a so-called expository lump in the story. I think I handled it a bit clumsily, but I couldn't come up with a better way. :)

The death scene: I needed to smack the reader between the eyes; make it short, quick, undignified, and ugly. I don't think I quite succeeded the way I wanted... I might have to go back and rewrite that part (and the rest of the whole damn story!) one day.

I curse the fact that I am more a technical writer than a writer of beautiful and affecting prose. I have no style. But at least I got it out there, and that is something -- it does no good at all locked away in this skull. :)

[jrosestar.livejournal.com]

You don't give yourself enough credit. You think you have no style, but you do. It's just different than what most fiction writers use. You write like a "story teller" of olden times.

For this particular story, I think the "story teller" style fits perfectly.