Tag Archives: Scholastic

Ancient World Now:Change is Good

Hello Friends,  

Last week, my editor at Scholastic told me that my book will not be reprinted and will only be available as a download. I had been looking forward to making a few changes to a new edition.
I felt like a friend had died and was sad all day. Later, I began to see it as the natural unfolding of this new technology. Cuneiform on clay tablets, papyrus, vellum & parchment, movable type….

Thanks to my friend Austin, I saw my first iPad a couple of weeks ago: I am astounded at the possibilities. And I am one of the biggest bibliophiles around! So celebrate this new era with me and check out my new Scholastic e-book. Let’s just see where this takes us! It’s all good.

Thanks for staying with me!

Gwen

Ancient World Now: The Aeneid

Click here for direct link to audio Episode #11.

Click here for previous episodes.

This stamp depicts the famous Capitoline statue of Romulus and Remus and their wolf-mom. These twin baby boys were sons of Mars, the god of war, and Rhea Silvia.  Rhea’s uncle, for complicated reasons, threw the babies into the Tiber River and imprisoned their mother.

Another version of the legend has Rhea Silvia thrown into the river with her boys and she becomes the wife of the river god. In any case, the boys bob around in the water for a while, get tossed ashore, and are found by a she-wolf. The lady wolf raises the twins until the proverbial shepherd comes along and takes over the task. The boys grow up and start to build their own city, but sibling rivalry rears its ugly head! Romulus has his own ideas about the way things should go, quarrels with Remus and kills him. Romulus names his city Rome.

One version of this foundation myth has Romulus and Remus as sons of Mars and Ilia, who was the daughter of our very own Aeneas and his newly-acquired ladylove, Lavinia. Does anyone besides me prefer Turnus to our Trojan prince?

Here’s Hollywood’s take on the story! Eeekkk! These ancient tales! Divine parentage, abandonment, exposure, feral children!

Today’s podcast is the final installment of The Aeneid. Enjoy!

Remis Velisque!

Remis Velisque means “with oars and sails; with all one’s might” in Latin.Okay. I don’t know where this is taking me, but are you along for the ride?

The publishing world is in flux. Authors have been talking about it for a few years now, wondering how we all need to change to adapt to the new technology. This is historic, folks. We are in a revolution. Think cuneiform, papyrus, moveable type. Think awesome. And I am ready to jump.

I am ready to embrace the new reality and make it my friend. Jump into the infinite space and enjoy the free fall. I am not going to worry about where or if I land. I’ll just do it and see what happens.

My intention: to offer my writing for free to whomever is interested! My stories and novels will be available as free podcasts from itunes and podiobooks. Read on to find out why this is a solution for me.

After years of writing and pursuing my unique interests in the ancient world, I published my first book with Scholastic in 2007, Read Aloud Plays: The Iliad, The Odyssey, and The Aeneid. But with book publication comes the pressures of marketing, publicity, events, sales, networking, and positioning for the next work. All of these daily concerns are a severe drain to the body, mind, and spirit. Writers are held hostage by these demands that are so out-of-sync with their natural flow of research, reflection, and writing.

Jockeying for position has never been a part of my personality. In other words, I suck at schmoozing! I always feel the real insincerity of it so that what should be a great pleasure (meeting new people who love stories) is marred by the tense and uncomfortable reality of promotion. Very unnatural! With this new enterprise I hope to take back my power and put all my energy into my work. If you like it, hang with me and let’s enjoy the stories together!