The Possibilities Are Limitless: A Guest Post from Katee Robert, Author of Wicked Beauty

Like many people, I became deeply obsessed with Greek mythology at a relatively young age. It was a natural extension of my love of fairy tales, but the teaching moments were a little more obscure and the drama was dialed up to an eleven. For all that they are — stories about gods and mystical creatures — the characters are so incredibly human, filled with love and bravery and jealousy and pettiness.  

I’m a person who loves character. Give me a character to root for — or against — and you’ll have my heart. Part of the reason I love Greek myths so much is that there’s no shortage of strong characters. I love to cheer for Persephone as much as I enjoy wishing Zeus would misfire one of his lightning bolts and give himself a shock.  The heroes — Theseus, Jason, Hercules — are often…not particularly heroic. The so-called villains — like Medusa — are often as much victims of the gods’ whims as their victims are. 

But my favorite thing about myths is that, like fairy tales, they started out as oral traditions. There’s something truly amazing about stories passed around orally long before they were ever written down. They’re fluid. They change and shift depending on the person telling them. There’s no true “original” version. 

This is part of the reason I think mythology and fairy tales lend so well to contemporary retellings in a variety of genres, from romance to horror and everything in between. Those core stories are intimately familiar to audiences, and each new storyteller brings a bit of themselves, their history, and something they want to say about their current society—much like the people who originally shared these stories. There’s always some new angle to examine the familiar story through, or a new perspective or point of view to tell it from. Truly, the possibilities are limitless! 

Book Recommendations from Katee Robert

With that in mind, I have three book recommendations that truly embody this.