MadelineMiller

Those chapters about Circe discovering her witchcraft in CIRCE were not intended to be a description of my writing process... but they kind of ended up that way. Lots of trial and error. Lots of writing and throwing away. Lots of trying things out, getting frustrated, and trying again. For me the breakthrough came when I got the first line of each novel. Then it was just a matter of following that thread. I had the anchor line.

A lot of it was instinct. As they say in theater, "follow the heat." If I am not interested in a story (like Circe turning Picus into a woodpecker), I can't make it interesting for the reader either. If I am obsessed with something, I trust that. I couldn't get the strange detail of Circe arming her son with a sting-ray tail spear out of my mind. That small detail turned into one of the most significant episodes in Circe's journey--a portal she has to go through. I had no idea why I needed that idea so much, or why it meant so much to me or where it would go--but when I got to the right moment, there it was.

Margaret Atwood says (I'm paraphrasing badly): If you realize you're lost, don't sit down in the middle of the road. Retrace your steps until you find where you have gone astray. I try to do that. I try to make sure that my characters are always acting like themselves.

My friends joke that I'm a "method writer"--that I put on my characters like an actor does. I think that's actually a pretty good way to describe it. All the hard part of this is up front--finding that voice, finding that character. Lots of times they surprise me. Patroclus was much more impulsive than I thought he would be. But I came to cherish that part of him. His impulses were always towards kindness and connection.

Oooh, great question! And thanks for working to give attention to overlooked voices! I don't know if Medusa counts as underrepresented, but I would love to see a really deep dive into her story. There is a lot of resonance there: anxiety about female power, plus blaming victims. In one story she is raped by Poseidon in Athena's temple, and Athena turns her into a Gorgon as punishment for defiling the temple. Poseidon of course is not punished.

Pandora, who is an Eve figure. A woman who gets blamed for all the troubles of the world because she is THINKING TOO MUCH (that's how I interpret being "too curious". I am working on a short story about her currently).

Hera. Yes, I know she get a lots of attention in many stories, but it's all such negative attention. She's always the shrew/harpy/nag/scold/fill-in-the-sexist-stereotype-here. I'd love to see a complicated and three-dimensional portrait of her.

Juturna from the Aeneid, who is sexually assaulted by Zeus then forced to take a pay off she doesn't want to stop talking about it.

I'm sorry all I can think of are depressing ones!

Basically not at all! But that is okay with me. I know nothing about the small screen, nothing about screenwriting. I spent a lot of time talking to the people I gave the book to, and a lot of time in the beginning speaking to the writers. They were so passionate about the book, and Circe's story, and were thinking so deeply about it. I felt like they "got" it. I can't wait to see how it comes out!

Thank you so much for the kind words! I have two things I'm working on: in the far distant future, a novel inspired by the Aeneid. I find Vergil the most personally moving of all the ancient poets, because of his deep humanism.

And currently, a novel based on my other love: Shakespeare. A story inspired by The Tempest has been bubbling away in my brain for about ten years. I’m focusing on Caliban and Miranda. And of course, there’s a nice Circe connection, since The Tempest is also about magic and witches and islands!

Yes! Emily Wilson's translation of the Odyssey is a must. Truly wonderful, and so smart. And the forward and introduction are both gems in their own right. And her twitter feed is amazing! She's working on the Iliad currently and posting her thought process as she composes. What a treat to see a brilliant scholar and artist at work.

I love Anne Carson's translation of Sappho, IF NOT, WINTER. While we're on the topic, Anne Carson's Autobiography of Red is one of my favorite myth adaptations.

Mary Beard is a wonderful place to dig in--she has lots of books, and also lots of TV segments.

Bettany Hughes' Helen of Troy.

www.theoi.com is a great online resource that cites all its sources.

I can tell I'm going to be editing this with more, but will stop there for now!