In the spring of 2012, I began to write a story. I had intended it originally to be a short story, and had thought I would be fortunate were it to attain twenty pages in length. However, I seem to have too much Russian blood in me, and my first novel, MEDOUSA, is about 157,000 words in length.

MEDOUSA is a retelling of the mythological figure’s tale from her own point of view. It traces Medousa’s life, from her early childhood as a helot in the royal precincts of Sparta, through to her death at the hands of Perseus, as she struggles to retain her humanity and command her own fate.

If we remember Medousa at all, is it as an ophidian-haired monster who could turn men to stone at a single glance. Few readers remember her backstory, or the circumstances that led to Medousa’s transformation from one of the world’s most beautiful women to one of the world’s most loathsome monsters. And even fewer remember the girl she once was, or the woman she strove to be, even while under Athena’s curse. Medousa was more than a villain who stood in the way of Perseus’ quest; MEDOUSA is a Mythic Fantasy that focuses on the journey of the woman herself.

When I had finished the novel, I took great pains and expense to have it properly critiqued and edited, and then began the process of searching for a literary agent. This, I was unable to do. I was extremely reluctant to self-publish, because my thought was that if my book were good enough to publish, it would be picked up by an agent or a publisher. Alas, that goal proved elusive.

I then promised myself that when I had collected one hundred rejections, then I would consider self-publishing. And in fact, I did hit that milestone not long ago. There were easily forty written rejections, and at least as many silent rejections, wherein I was rejected by failing to garner any response at all from the queried agent.

I find I must now swallow my former arrogance regarding self publishing, if I want to see my book in print at all. My book is now being prepared at Create Space, and should be ready for sale in both physical and e-book editions in January of 2016.