For the most part, I don’t re-read the selections of my work that I’ve been fortunate to have published by someone else. If I’m working on a story that takes place in a previously-established “universe,” I’ll revisit previous pieces to ensure certain details line up. But generally I prefer to spend my limited reading time with other people’s work, and by the time my own work makes it to print, I’ve likely moved on from it.

That said, I love to read a “behind the scenes” treatment of fiction, especially when it errs on the side of silly. Mostly I think a work speaks for itself, and its creator doesn’t need to explicate why that perspective was chosen or this setting was utilized. But what song would be playing over the credits if your book became a movie? Which of your undergrad professors that tavern-keeper was inspired by? Tell me!!

I’ve also been in the process of compiling a book-length collection of neo-myths for the past several years: myth because that’s what they are, neo because they aren’t retellings of existing world myths. Specifically, they’re constellation myths, the origin stories of constellations not found in our sky. In our world, “katasterism” is the process of a human being turned into stars; the myths of Orion and Callisto are examples of katasterism.

Two of these neo-myths have seen daylight, “The Curse of Apollo” in Luna Station Quarterly and “Cold Spells” in Arcana; two more have been fired off in various directions but not found homes. There are another few lurking as scattered titles and lines in my documents. Any time I feel like writing a new one, I revisit the older ones to make sure my gods are all in a row and I remember the narrator’s (rather ornate) voice. As I anticipate working on a new story in this vein shortly, I’m starting to flex this particular set of muscles.

“Cold Spells” has had a more winding path than other of my work. A skeletal version was written for a zine called Crystal Queer I used to run with some friends (hi Chace!). Then its final form arrived when an editor solicited a tarot-inspired story for the collection that became Arcana. I still love the story, although I recall some reviewers found it difficult; perhaps the types of writers are, in truth, authors’ writers, readers’ writers, and editors’ writers.

Here’s a short peek behind the scenes of “Cold Spells.”

I’ve heard from some readers that these neo-myths seem so much like “real” myths that they were fooled; other readers have found them opaque to the point of total confusion for audiences not already familiar with Greek myths. How do you feel about the notion of a fabricated myth? How does that differ from fantasy? How old does a story have to be before it passes into the realm of fairy tales?

Do you have a favorite myth? A favorite retelling?