An otherworldly story about love, inclusion, diversity, androgyny, and other themes, including good versus evil – a blend of fantasy and truth, myth and reality – a tale regarding Medusa, who had deadly snakes for hair and eyes that could turn men into stone, beheaded for this curse, and what follows in the life for her descendant. Aster, born intersex, is the only offspring of Medusa, inheriting her powers, and is a kind person, except when not to those who lack kindness. This unique progeny represents an apotropaic character whose psychic abilities ward off offensive individuals – but whose tricks and mind games cause dangerous repercussions.
“We always try to put [what is] wild in a cage.” —John Fowles
Regarding my novel, this is apropos because it’s a story about the myth of Medusa who was depicted as a monster with snakes for hair and eyes that could turn men into stone. All novels start with this question: What if. The “what if” in this otherworldly fantasy is, what if the myth of Medusa was based on an actual person? A woman who had wild hair with coils, maybe dreadlocks, that resembled snakes and had eyes that could turn men into stone – not literally but figuratively – by using her unique power of hypnosis? Things feared – such as deadly spiders and snakes – are often perceived as ugly and threatening. And because her powers were considered a danger to society she was reputed to be a hideous monster and beheaded, thus fomenting the myth of Medusa. This novel is also a modern interpretation of the metaphoric significance behind the myth of Medusa for the reality of powerful women living within the norms of a patriarchal society.