New fiction in Domus Exsulis. Yes, it does continue the almost-jettisoned Camena Draconis story. (That’s the Volcano of Songs, if you’re an older reader).

Note: An illustration of the Flitterer may be found under her entry in The Spotter’s Guide.

Just a head’s up that I’ve deleted my poetry from The Mythogenetic Grove. I am going to be reissuing some of them in .pdf files in a `zine/pamphlet format. As for the rest, they will end up in the What the Woods Mean anthology if I’m not submitting them anywhere peer-reviewed/print.

Watch this space. Anthology of my poems soon (What The Woods Mean). Hopefully this year.

I’m still going to (definitely!) be writing and submitting to trad publishing mediums but, I can do this. I’ve got the publishing experience and what I don’t know, I can ask. And that was originally what mythopoetica.com was supposed to be for. I want my own imprint. I’m going to do this!

The layout for The Mythogenetic Grove, Growing Fins and Domus Exsulis is now finally synchronized. Which will make the next change in theme much, much easier.

Yes, I’ve changed the “mouthful” of Dreams of a Mythogenetic Tree to The Mythogenetic Grove. I may talk about this in a future post. Though I really do have articles/essays in my head that I should post here, now that my writerly inspiration seems to be running in that direction.

Oh, look! A new story-fragment for Domus Exsulis!

Chess for the Season, and All Things Unresolved

Consider it a holiday gift, no matter what you celebrate (or don’t). Told from the Caretaker’s point of view, but it is the next step in the progression of three story-threads: Yildie, Hrelgar and Ipede. Phew!

Happy Holidays, all!

Much Love,

The Ninny one, and all her word-goblins.

Jabberwocky 3, edited by Sean Wallace, is now available at either the Prime Books website or Amazon.com.

“Said the Tree to the Axe (Man)” is included in said anthology. I’ve received my (2) contributor copies today.

Now, somebody kick my butt so I can finish off more fiction and poetry to be submitted, prz? Two in a year ain’t too bad, I guess.

Many thanks go out to Erzebet Yellowboy - if she had not mentioned this on her livejournal, I wouldn’t have even thought of submitting any poetry at all. Wouldn’t have dared, as well!

(oh, who am I kidding, guess who went eeeeeeeeheeeheeeheeehee when she opened her mailbox this evening?)

Belated E.T.A.: A good year for being published, my first fiction sale!

It’s not quite the start of a new serial, more a teaser of what you can expect when the Domus Exsulis novel finally gets written.

Yildie’s Story

In slightly unrelated news, for those of you googling in looking for the soulmates/archetypes essay - I have taken it down to be re-written, with new material. Hang on to your hats or keep reading this blog (via RSS if you choose), and it shall be posted. Eventually.

(c) Nin Harris 2007-2008

There is an intrinsic tie-in between myth and narration. Perhaps, one may say that the very “orality” of the transmission of stories shape myth. In some ways, we try to capture this in the myriad ways of narration today, via media, visual or textual.

But what is the relevance? I think in the past few years we’ve seen more and more myth-themed elements entering “popular culture” via games, movies, series and yet in a certain way the meaning gets diluted. Pretty stories, a feeling of something “bigger” than you, but nothing much beyond. A need for escape? Perhaps. Perhaps for some these mythic pantheons are nothing more than stories of a fantastical otherworld - a benchmark that people “long ago”, needed.

But, let’s consider the delineation between the mythologies of established, occidental entities known as “countries” with those of newly emerging nations. We see in postcolonial and cultural theory a wholly diffferent set of baggage with regards to myth. These are very much tied into the immediate narration. We could look at older instances: creation myths, stories linked to rituals. Or we could consider the myths that revolve around nationhood, identity, displacement.

Read the rest of this entry »

This is a note to let readers of this blog know that there will be an impending transformation.

Most of the material on this blog has been, in my opinion, stale and rather static. The actual written content has consisted of re-posts of articles and poems, some of which were written well, if not completely a decade, almost close to one. Also, my views on mythopoesis, mimesis and myth itself has undergone transformation. This is only natural because if your views on something you’ve been studying remains static from your M.A. days right up to your days as a Ph.d. student, you’re in trouble.

There must be more content on this blog of a topical nature. Myth, and its relevance (or the lack of) today, but outside of the “monomyth” box. I say this because so often, when I look for relevant content on myth and culture, I find instead the same things, which hearken back to Campbell’s monomyth which hearkens back to older, canonical scholars. With all due respect to Propp, Jung and Campbell, whom I have much respect for - this has to change. Thoughts on myth on this blog will be linked to: literature, philosophy, psychoanalysis, ritual and cultural theory without an attempt to unify these items into a single grand theory. Instead, this blog will seek to understand the differences, the perspectives revolving around “myth”.

There will be a culling of content from this blog, and the insertion of new content, opinions, links, information etc, which will be more relevant and which will perhaps make a stronger statement than before.

Wildwood, Water and Exiles have transitioned towards v2.2 of Wordpress safely, albeit with several hiccups. I believe I have resolved the LJ crossposter issue. Everything’s okay on Growing Fins and Domus Exsulis as well. The template issues @ Domus Exsulis are not yet resolved and we have the f-ugly default there. I will address that when I’ve rested. have been resolved.

Some tips, if you’re using Dreamhost’s one-click install/upgrade feature, have the LJ-crosspost plugin, and need to upgrade from 2.13 to 2.2:

(1) Go to wp-includes > delete template-functions-links.php
(2) Go to wp-content > plugins > delete the OLD lj_crosspost.php and replace with the NEW lj_crosspost.php, if you have not upgraded that yet.
(3) Go to your dashboard and upgrade now.
(4) Fiddle around with your Options>Writing, Reading etc settings and your Plugins> Livejournal settings @ your dashboard. That should fix the LJ transport issues. Note, you really do not have to do anything specific. Even clicking “Update Options” fixes the problem. No idea why it does, but it does.

If you have any other tips for people making the transition, feel free to leave `em in comments.

E.T.A.: Hmm, it looks as if the “Adhesive” plugin does not work with Wordpress 2.2. It removes the “previous” and “next” links at the bottom of each page, which makes the blog navigationally unfriendly. Goodbye stickies. For now.