Percy Jackson's Got Nothing On Me

I told you I was going to rant about Percy Jackson and the Olympians and I totally am. The reason is, there seems to be a very prominent theme at the moment in movies and books that use Greek Mythology. Now, I don't know when this all started before it actually got popular, but that's just how it all tends to work. I mean, we've been on this stupid vampire kick for a while now. It is how it goes. We always have these trends in movies and books. We are all hoping this vampire thing ends soon.

Anyway, I was talking to my mom about my book and she was asking questions about it. She was wondering about my use of Greek Mythology and wondering if I was cutting it kind of close with all the myths that are going around right now. That's actually a very big concern. If I get in on the trend too late, I look like a knock off. If I come in on it too early, no one wants to read it because they don't have an interest. Then again, I'm taking on a genre that doesn't really get much attention. I'm hoping to change that.

Here's the benefit to using Greek Mythology as inspiration and not directly. I am taking the characters that i develop and linking them up with a myth or god or goddess. For me, this gives me something to compare it to. Greek Mythology created so many major themes in literature. You can't really escape them. There was love and revenge, there was adventure and tragedy. It took the conventional idea of god or gods being all-powerful, all-knowing and perfect beings and turned them into nearly human creations. They did the worst things. They fought with each other and betrayed each other. They fell in love and fell out of love. It was an amazing concept for an ancient culture to have developed. That is why I fell in love with it and that is why I chose it to use it as a base. I'm not taking stories directly from mythology, not completely. There are definitely parallels between my plot and characters and those found in mythology. However, there is nothing new under the sun, as they say. Everything will have come from that in the first place. So, I decided that seeking inspiration from mythology was a good way to make sure that I was hitting very human driven plots.

As for Percy Jackson, I must be the biggest nerd ever. I basically watched the movie and corrected the mythology the whole time. I understand that the author, Rick Riordan, gets creative license and I respect that. I felt like maybe there were things that could have been portrayed better. Unfortunately for me, I haven't read the books yet, but that is on my list of things to do because I'm dying to know how he approached most of mythology. Some of his ideas on the use of gods seemed a little off, but that still could have been the movie and not the actual books. We'll see. I was basically able to predict the entire thing because of the myths that were present and I could figure where it was going because of that. I felt super cool, even if it was super nerdy. It wasn't great, but that's what you get for making movies out of books. I would suggest you go see it if you like mythology. It seems to make more sense that way.

Cross my fingers that I get some work done tomorrow. I need to develop two more characters and I should be able to get writing. The first few captures should be easy enough, its going to be the rest of them when I need to know where Julian is going that I have to wait for my map to be finished. I'm so excited to get that finalized and looked at. Have a great night!

LL&P

The Legend of Benny the Hunter

I was going to write up a very narrative version of the legend, or legends, of Benny the Hunter. However, I think it would be better told by someone who knows all of the rumors that surround him. Why don't I just let you all peek in on Milo explain to Julian who he is.


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"Benny. Benny the Hunter?" Julian glared down his new companion.

"Yes, sir," Milo seemed much more excited about the situation than was called for.

"Benny is stupid name for a... a... what is he exactly?"

"You never 'eard of Benny tha Hunter!?" Milo slammed his hand down on the table and brought it back up to point in Julian's face, who went cross eyed trying to keep up. "Benny is tha fiercest pirate in all tha sky and sea--or skies and seas, since his legend span all o' 'em. Never you mind, boy. Listen 'ere, Benny is known for his ruthless ways. It's said that tha man has gutted a crew just for takin' too long tae hoist tha sails. He flew Tha Cartographer all on 'is own intae port, kidnapped tha first dozen kids he could find and made off wit' 'em. Then again, there are other legends."

Julian sighed and rested his head in his hand, elbow propped up on the table, "How long is this story going to go on?"

"It ain't a story! These are tha Legends o' Benny tha Hunter. This is a man that defies all understanding. He can track down anyone who betrays him. He's got perfect aim wit' a pistol and you don't even want tae know what he can do wit' a sword, boy. He got his name from hunting down ships. He rules his crew wit' an iron fist, he does. You know how many ships he's taken straight out o' tha skies?"

"No, but I'm sure you're going to tell me."

"I don't know how many! You want tae know why? Because I can't count that bloody high! The man has pillaged and plundered every city, village and port on tha [Kingdom] coast! He's makes tha devil look like a wee kitten, he does. And if he's after you, Julian... boy, you best be ready tae run," Milo huffed a final sigh and crossed his arms over his stomach as a last grand gesture.

"Have you ever seen this man?" Julian inquired, raising one disbelieving eyebrow. When he got no response out of him he shook his head, "Then I won't be worrying myself about legends."

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Well, I hope that was kind of fun to read. It gives you a little bit of the excitement from Milo and some of Julian's unimpressed behavior. You also now got to hear just a little about our darling Benny the Hunter, the hired gun out for Julian who is very much a real person.

Also, I need your questions!! Leave them in the comments. Ask about anything from this week's blogs or about anything else you can think of.

LL&P