I think many fiction writers would agree that we write what we write because it does not represent who we are and what we do in every day life. These are fantasies, our fantasies, dreams turned into stories to share with…well…with the world. Sometimes readers make the mistake of thinking they can know the author as a human being through reading that author’s works. Sure, you will get glimpses of the person behind the words–it’s the nature of our craft. But we are not our writing and our writing isn’t us. At least that’s my understanding.
Classical lore has been a love of mine since my parents played records of the great tales for me when I was a toddler. I wasn’t surprised that one of my first viable novel concepts would include some of the highlights. The trick was turning ancient stories into a story of my own, one that wove classical elements with original plot ideas. In a sense I created a new epic from ancient elements, which I didn’t realize I was doing until I was deep in the middle of the project. I would be very happy if Sex and Chaos inspired readers to investigate the ancient world for themselves. Granted, you won’t find Iphisia (more’s the pity, really), and while you won’t find an Amazonia as exists here, you will find that contemporary sources discussed the “Women of the Moon” and their homeland, today believed to have been somewhere in Asia Minor (Turkey).
Sex and Chaos as a title certainly doesn’t sum up my life, but it does underline two of the main themes of the Thermodon Trilogy. I’m not bogged down with all kinds of sexual rules and decorum, nor is chaos reigning at the center of my life. However, I like these concepts. I enjoy writing about them, and that’s what I’ve done. There are a set of themes that are the most germane to our experiences as humans, and if either sex or chaos isn’t among them, I can’t imagine what would make the cut.
Sooner or later someone is going to think I’m a nympho, or a sadist, or a man-hater, or Dog knows what else. Well, people will think what they think, and if they’re thinking at all, I say it’s a win. Additionally there’s a lot of sex in these books–not just the act, but thought, reflection, longing, and all the other jellybeans in the sex jar. When I step back a bit, I don’t see where things sexual are any more on the minds of my characters than they are on the minds of modern folks.
It is what it is. I hope that what it is provides much reading pleasure.
Enter The Ancient, Exotic, and Erotic World of the Thermodon Trilogy
The Cover of Book One
Saturday, December 20, 2014
Release Celebrations for Book 1--The Curse
Two countries made as one, two sister goddesses joined with mortals in love and loyalty…
A king ruling his nation with wisdom and compassion but unable to overcome his own heart…
A princess forbidden to all men but one chosen by her patron goddess…
Earth and Sky rebel at a chaotic whim and human blood is set as the price for salvation…
Sex and Chaos–The Curse is the first book of a trilogy nearly twenty years in the making. I began writing the first pieces of what would become this trilogy back in 1995, when I was a graduate student and needed a place to keep my thoughts apart from the rote routine of academia. The story has seen several versions and has given me many tales to share, stories from outside the narrative itself. How did any of this ever come to be, anyway?
Every time the circumstances seemed right to begin my assault of publishing houses, something new came hurling at me from out of nowhere, often in the form of a shorter and more timely project. But the Thermodon folks never left me. All of them let me know that they needed to be told. Someday, I knew, I would do right by them and share them with the world in the best possible manner. Originally I was planning on a very long, single volume. How the idea that the story could be broken up–and fairly naturally–into three separate books was a revolution in my own thinking. Once that idea took hold in my mind, creating a trilogy happened naturally, as if this was the way that would have worked best all along.
A king ruling his nation with wisdom and compassion but unable to overcome his own heart…
A princess forbidden to all men but one chosen by her patron goddess…
Earth and Sky rebel at a chaotic whim and human blood is set as the price for salvation…
Welcome to the Thermodon Nations!
Sex and Chaos–The Curse is the first book of a trilogy nearly twenty years in the making. I began writing the first pieces of what would become this trilogy back in 1995, when I was a graduate student and needed a place to keep my thoughts apart from the rote routine of academia. The story has seen several versions and has given me many tales to share, stories from outside the narrative itself. How did any of this ever come to be, anyway?
Every time the circumstances seemed right to begin my assault of publishing houses, something new came hurling at me from out of nowhere, often in the form of a shorter and more timely project. But the Thermodon folks never left me. All of them let me know that they needed to be told. Someday, I knew, I would do right by them and share them with the world in the best possible manner. Originally I was planning on a very long, single volume. How the idea that the story could be broken up–and fairly naturally–into three separate books was a revolution in my own thinking. Once that idea took hold in my mind, creating a trilogy happened naturally, as if this was the way that would have worked best all along.
Friday, December 19, 2014
Creating Dordei
Guilty as charged. The seeds for the Amazon princess Dordei are to be found in the original Wonder Woman comics, when Princess Diana fooled her mother Queen Hippolyta to take a stranded American pilot back to his world and go forth as a beacon of the Amazon ways. Wonder Woman hooked me as a young girl like nothing I’d ever seen, especially the secret Amazon civilization on Paradise Island that thrived away from the rest of the world. Armed withAmazon and Hippolyta, I went charging into the research stacks (this was the late 1970′s, remember). My obsession with the Amazons had begun.
Of course Wonder Woman wasn’t a complete echo of ancient legend, and of course we were in the maelstrom of the woman’s liberation movement. Whatever character would eventually come out of me wasn’t going to be a shrinking violet. She would stand for some immutable standards and values. But she would also not be either submissive or superior to her eventual mate. She would be the balance, and she would be equal.
Dordei is not Wonder Woman and her mother Hippolyta is not the kind and wise matriarch of Paradise Island. One of the first ideas I had for Dordei was that her mother the queen was busy breaking Amazon civilization while Dordei did her best to fix Hippolyta’s messes. As The Curse opens Dordei has been struggling to keep the Amazon monarchy functioning, but not even Dordei can continue to rescue Hippolyta from herself.
The reader meets Dordei and quickly comes to understand some important aspects. Of course Dordei is strong and of course she is well-versed in the civilization of her people. She also has studied and become the High Priestess of Artemis in the Amazon capital of Themiskyra–that is to say, Dordei is aware of a greater reality. While not yet a mother in the biological sense, Dordei is a mother to her people, her kind support and encouragement helping the Amazons through some pretty bleak days.
Dordei is not defined by Arion of Iphisia, but he is her complement and her balance. His gentle power interrupts the endless chaos of Amazonia.
Of course Wonder Woman wasn’t a complete echo of ancient legend, and of course we were in the maelstrom of the woman’s liberation movement. Whatever character would eventually come out of me wasn’t going to be a shrinking violet. She would stand for some immutable standards and values. But she would also not be either submissive or superior to her eventual mate. She would be the balance, and she would be equal.
Dordei is not Wonder Woman and her mother Hippolyta is not the kind and wise matriarch of Paradise Island. One of the first ideas I had for Dordei was that her mother the queen was busy breaking Amazon civilization while Dordei did her best to fix Hippolyta’s messes. As The Curse opens Dordei has been struggling to keep the Amazon monarchy functioning, but not even Dordei can continue to rescue Hippolyta from herself.
The reader meets Dordei and quickly comes to understand some important aspects. Of course Dordei is strong and of course she is well-versed in the civilization of her people. She also has studied and become the High Priestess of Artemis in the Amazon capital of Themiskyra–that is to say, Dordei is aware of a greater reality. While not yet a mother in the biological sense, Dordei is a mother to her people, her kind support and encouragement helping the Amazons through some pretty bleak days.
Dordei is not defined by Arion of Iphisia, but he is her complement and her balance. His gentle power interrupts the endless chaos of Amazonia.
Creating Arion
"Prince Charming ain’t in fashion..."
Skid Row, “Rattlesnake Shake”
Intelligent. Gentle. Elegant. Thoughtful. Compassionate. I set out to create Arion of Iphisia as almost the complete antithesis of the modern man–which is not to be an insult to modern man. I’m also not saying modern men are bereft of these qualities. Arion lives in his era and our current crop of fellows are living in this one. Neither could do as well in the other’s circumstances. Arion is a crafted character, but guys are guys. Am I in the clear yet?
Arion had to represent exquisite fantasy and at the same time be flawed. He’s handsome with a perfect body, but he’s stuck looking like a harlequin. He’s a king with a king’s power, but he’s also saddled with a king’s troubles and responsibility. He loves with his whole being, a state that for the most part causes more pain than pleasure. He’s intelligent and therefore able to understand the world around him, including suffering and madness on a grand scale. Basically, Arion has props and problems, and this is what hopefully makes him more accessible and more likable to the reader.
The three books of Sex and Chaos are Arion’s personal journey, which is happening at the same time he’s fighting to save Iphisia. He will finish as a new character. The transforming power will be love–most primarily his love for Dordei of Amazonia. That’s love, not lust. It doesn’t take reading too far intoThe Curse to see that physical pleasures are no issue in Iphisia. Love is the impetus, love is the motivation, love is the hope.
But is Arion of Iphisia my fantasy lover? Well no, not really. He embodies a lot of qualities I admire. He speaks the words I create and put in his mouth with conviction and eloquence. And in truth, I’m proud of him as a creation and as a character. The world could do for more Arions. That’s all, folks. Arion’s not my fantasy guy. He’s better on two points. He could possibly be someone’s fantasy guy, someone reading out there who can really get into Arion. Maybe Arion will lift someone’s spirits–as a writer, this is my favorite goal. The other point is simply while Arion has not been written as my fantasy, he’s still a character I can be proud of and celebrate.
Arion and I have been through a lot together, and now it’s time to share him with the world.
Aphrodite and Her Nation of Love and Beauty
Anyone with the most rudimentary understanding of classical mythology will recognize the goddess Aphrodite, she who was born of sea foam and reigns as queen of all things loving and beautiful. With all due respect to the goddess, Aphrodite has never been one of my favorite figures. I see her importance, of course, but when looking at the goddesses of the ancients, I’ve always been a more Athena (wisdom) kind of person. For whatever reason, I realized that the patroness of Iphis would have to be Aphrodite–and that I would need to get to know her better in order to construct the Iphisiad civilization.
What would be the most likely manner of propitiating Aphrodite? Ritual and sacred sex was not a new concept to me, nor would it have been strange to the ancient world. One example is the tradition of temple “harlots” (a common expression) in Sumeria. These women were actually in the role of priestesses to the divine, in this case to Inanna, the Sumerian version of Aphrodite. Lovemaking was a kind of thanksgiving–reveling in the great gifts of pleasure and fertility.
In considering the importance of sex, all puritanical fetters were tossed aside. Sex was communication and communion with Aphrodite and as such was the foundation of Iphisiad society. I took the expression “All acts of love and beauty are my rites” and applied it as Aphrodite speaking to her people.
Sex and love were not mutually exclusive, but Iphisiad love had become something far greater than the sex act. That is, an Iphisiad did not need to love in order to make love, but once an Iphisiad found love it was a love for life. No matter how many ladies an Iphisiad gentleman may have taken to bed, once he has found his love, they slip away as pleasant memories.
The path to absolute love began with the temple initiation, a coming of age rite between the people and the celebrants attending one of Aphrodite’s many temples. This may or may not have been the first sexual encounter for the young people involved, but it is the act that brings Aphrodite into their hearts (and wherever else).
What would be the most likely manner of propitiating Aphrodite? Ritual and sacred sex was not a new concept to me, nor would it have been strange to the ancient world. One example is the tradition of temple “harlots” (a common expression) in Sumeria. These women were actually in the role of priestesses to the divine, in this case to Inanna, the Sumerian version of Aphrodite. Lovemaking was a kind of thanksgiving–reveling in the great gifts of pleasure and fertility.
In considering the importance of sex, all puritanical fetters were tossed aside. Sex was communication and communion with Aphrodite and as such was the foundation of Iphisiad society. I took the expression “All acts of love and beauty are my rites” and applied it as Aphrodite speaking to her people.
Sex and love were not mutually exclusive, but Iphisiad love had become something far greater than the sex act. That is, an Iphisiad did not need to love in order to make love, but once an Iphisiad found love it was a love for life. No matter how many ladies an Iphisiad gentleman may have taken to bed, once he has found his love, they slip away as pleasant memories.
The path to absolute love began with the temple initiation, a coming of age rite between the people and the celebrants attending one of Aphrodite’s many temples. This may or may not have been the first sexual encounter for the young people involved, but it is the act that brings Aphrodite into their hearts (and wherever else).
A Tale of Ancient Hotties
All right, it’s the truth. The characters of Sex and Chaos are supposed to be remarkably beautiful human beings. Naturally, I in no way intend this as a reflection of the real world, nor do I think the fictional nature of people is better than our reality.
The ancient world put great store by physical comeliness. Without getting bogged down in the details, beauty was the visible mark of approval of the gods. It’s a sad fact but physical deformities were reviled. In Sex and Chaos, the Iphisiads have sometimes fallen prey to this kind of treatment because other people choose to view what the curse has left on their bodies as a terrible deformation.
If I’m making any kind of a point, it’s that no matter how well made we might be on the outside, we’re still subject to torment and tragedy and sadness and self-doubt. Life doesn’t stop sucking because we suddenly find ourselves physically beautiful. With what the cast of Sex and Chaos will have to endure, good looks will count for very little.
The ancient world put great store by physical comeliness. Without getting bogged down in the details, beauty was the visible mark of approval of the gods. It’s a sad fact but physical deformities were reviled. In Sex and Chaos, the Iphisiads have sometimes fallen prey to this kind of treatment because other people choose to view what the curse has left on their bodies as a terrible deformation.
If I’m making any kind of a point, it’s that no matter how well made we might be on the outside, we’re still subject to torment and tragedy and sadness and self-doubt. Life doesn’t stop sucking because we suddenly find ourselves physically beautiful. With what the cast of Sex and Chaos will have to endure, good looks will count for very little.
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