Ask the Author: Jodi Baker
Answered Questions (1)
Jodi Baker
Hi Fernanda:
Great question!
It occurred to me when I was in high school that every book I was reading, every television show and movie I was watching was, when boiled down to its essence, a retelling of a myth! We change the circumstantial details, the time period, the names etc., but the plot of a hero’s journey always uses a similar structure. (There is actually a book that goes into great detail about that called The Hero’s Journey by Joseph Campbell - if you are interested). Story is how we humans pass on the lessons we’ve learned from each generation – and civilization - to the next. That’s one reason why we keep telling them. The other, of course, is that they are incredible action and romance packed epics that are really fun to read!
Interestingly enough, as an adult I was bothered by the lack of female hero journeys in mythology (There is another brilliant book that goes into detail about that called Jane Eyre’s Sisters by Jodi Gentian Bower - if you are interested). I wanted to read about how girls/women find their power, find themselves, and save the world… but finding those stories was was annoyingly and unnecessarily difficult.
I went on a hunt for female heroes in mythology: the kind that weren’t just loved for their looks or because they were someone’s girlfriend. I discovered a breathtaking heroine in a group of ancient Sumerian myths. She (whom I cannot yet name without serious spoilers for book 2) is the considered by scholars to be the most ambitious and powerful character every created. Sadly, very few modern day people have ever heard of her.
?!?!?!
I wanted to help re-introduce her story, thousands of years later, to a new generation and civilization of powerful women.
My Between Lions series is a modern retelling of that Sumerian Myth. The first two books cover the first myth archeologists found about her, and the next six books will continue to follow her journey using her mythological plot structure, but re-imagined and modernized by me!
I find mythological stories to be inspiring and completely relevant to my own life journey. It’s thrilling to think that the stories that were told around campfires thousands of years ago are now being read by lamplight, flashlight under the covers, or on the lit up screen of a kindle/Ipad. That connection through the ages is exciting to me. Especially when it’s the story of a girl who is discovering what she is capable of.
Hopefully you will find TRUST inspiring too!
Great question!
It occurred to me when I was in high school that every book I was reading, every television show and movie I was watching was, when boiled down to its essence, a retelling of a myth! We change the circumstantial details, the time period, the names etc., but the plot of a hero’s journey always uses a similar structure. (There is actually a book that goes into great detail about that called The Hero’s Journey by Joseph Campbell - if you are interested). Story is how we humans pass on the lessons we’ve learned from each generation – and civilization - to the next. That’s one reason why we keep telling them. The other, of course, is that they are incredible action and romance packed epics that are really fun to read!
Interestingly enough, as an adult I was bothered by the lack of female hero journeys in mythology (There is another brilliant book that goes into detail about that called Jane Eyre’s Sisters by Jodi Gentian Bower - if you are interested). I wanted to read about how girls/women find their power, find themselves, and save the world… but finding those stories was was annoyingly and unnecessarily difficult.
I went on a hunt for female heroes in mythology: the kind that weren’t just loved for their looks or because they were someone’s girlfriend. I discovered a breathtaking heroine in a group of ancient Sumerian myths. She (whom I cannot yet name without serious spoilers for book 2) is the considered by scholars to be the most ambitious and powerful character every created. Sadly, very few modern day people have ever heard of her.
?!?!?!
I wanted to help re-introduce her story, thousands of years later, to a new generation and civilization of powerful women.
My Between Lions series is a modern retelling of that Sumerian Myth. The first two books cover the first myth archeologists found about her, and the next six books will continue to follow her journey using her mythological plot structure, but re-imagined and modernized by me!
I find mythological stories to be inspiring and completely relevant to my own life journey. It’s thrilling to think that the stories that were told around campfires thousands of years ago are now being read by lamplight, flashlight under the covers, or on the lit up screen of a kindle/Ipad. That connection through the ages is exciting to me. Especially when it’s the story of a girl who is discovering what she is capable of.
Hopefully you will find TRUST inspiring too!
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