Today, I’m a writer, a marketeer (not to be confused with a musketeer, although that does sound fun), and I’m writing a sapphic retelling of Athena (the one from Greek mythology). Writing is my job (I’m a copywriter) as is marketing (I recently opened my own agency), but writing is also my passion. Many moons ago, in another life, before my brain farted so loudly it frightened itself into hiding for several years and didn’t really want to function, I was an archaeologist. 

A deep, abiding love of the character of Daniel Jackson from Stargate SG-1 and an insatiable curiosity where history was concerned led me to study archaeology at A-Level, followed by a BA in Ancient History and Archaeology, followed by an MA in Celtic Archaeology, followed by a PhD in Gender Dynamic in Iron Age Britain. It was during the latter that the aforementioned brain fart happened. I was diagnosed with Rapid Cycling Bipolar Disorder 1, and the world went to shit for a while.

As I recovered, I wrote my first novel, Chasing Azrael. Since then, I’ve been trying very hard to finish my second novel, Death Becomes Me. While I’ve made a lot of progress and almost have a complete draft I’m actually really proud of, I’ve found myself in a creative writing rut for the last few years.

Why I’m Writing A Sapphic Retelling Of Athena

Maybe it was moving in with my boyfriend, I don’t seem to have written anything fictional since. Or maybe it’s the fact my copywriting business is going great guns and i spend many hours a week writing for clients.

Maybe it was the fact my beloved dog, Dexter, got very ill and I got very preoccupied with looking after him and sort of stopped doing everything else for a while.

Maybe I had another brain fart. 

Who knows. But the upshot of my situation lately has been a conspicuous absence of scribing fiction. I kept thinking about writing, either DBM or a new idea I had about a character called Ruby who I couldn’t really get a grip on. But nothing ever actually got written. Not fictional, anyway. I wrote a whole non-fiction book, Divine Blogging, but fiction? Not so much.

That non-fiction book is actually what started this whole thing. This is going to seem like a huge tangent, but you’ll see the point in a couple of paragraphs.

Like I said, I’m in marketing, and over the years have developed a signature method of content marketing which, I decided, I really should share with other people. So, I wrote a book explaining how to do it. And a good chunk of that book is looking at the use of psychological archetypes in crafting content that speaks to your ideal client. 

Archetypes have been present in storytelling for as long as we’ve told stories. They’re universal concepts shared across space, time, and cultures. Personality blueprints, if you will, that we find instantly recognisable and relatable. To help readers understand these archetypes, I used a god and goddess from ancient myth to represent each. All that classical education came in handy.

One of the goddesses I used was Athena, the quintessential Sage, and in writing the chapter on Athena I had an idea for another book. A fiction book. 

A sapphic retelling of Athena.

How It Started…

That idea got scribbled down and promptly forgotten about. But as I was decluttering my office last month I happened upon it and realised something: it was nearly November. 

National Novel Writing Month.

And I thought….what if?

Actually, i posted a video on social media asking if i should write it, and enough people said yet that I thought, fuck it, I will.

@fantasygirlwrites Debating #nanowrimo after finding a story idea. What do we think? #retelling #sapphic #sapphicnovel #athena #greekmythology #writertok #booktok #nanowrimoprep ♬ original sound – Fantasy Girl Writes

And I did. November 1st rolled around and I started writing. I started posting on TikTok and Instagram again (something I hadn’t done since moving in with my OH and Dexter getting sick). We’re now a week into NaNo and I’m three full chapters into my new novel, tentatively titled Thea.

What’s Thea about? Well, like I said, it’s a sapphic retelling of Athena, goddess of wisdom and warfare, delving into the rich subtext of ancient tales. It revisits her profound childhood bond with Pallas, and the infamous rivalry with Poseidon over the patronage of Athens. 

This feminist narrative brings the women of Greek mythology to the forefront, spotlighting their motivations, intricacies, and quests. Thea aims to challenge the traditional depictions where female deities like Hera often appear merely as extensions of their male counterparts, reactive rather than proactive. Here, we dive into Athena’s psyche, imagining what it means to be born fully formed, immensely knowledgeable, yet still naïve—a divine being with the heart of a child, making her way in the world.

Basically I’ve combined my long education in mythology, ancient cultures, and gender, with my own personal imaginings and passion for fantasy (and, let’s be honest, women, beautiful, irreverent, exceptional beings that they are).

If any of this sounds like your cup of tea, do follow along. I’ll post updates when I can (i.e. when I’m not too busy writing the book), and you can keep updated on my progress on my TikTok, Instagram or Facebook (though in all honesty you’re best off on TikTok or Insta, I’ve very much fallen out of love with Facebook).

Wondering how it all starts? Here’s a sneaky peek at my opening line (it’s just a draft, so don’t hold me to any of these quotes!)

@fantasygirlwrites It’s been a productive day 1 for #NaNo this year, 3,042 words written so far of my new epic fantasy book, based on Athena. Everything has to start somewhere, what do we think of my opening line? #FantasyRetelling #SapphicNovel ♬ Troy – James Horner