Issue #2

Welcome to the Halls of Olympus! We are the Muses- goddesses of the arts and proclaimers of heroes! (Just kidding! We are a misfit of writers who love Greek Mythology and supporting other writers.) You have found the Muse Magazine, home of the celebration of the beautiful art of literature. Join us and hear our tale...

History tells us what people do; historical fiction helps us imagine how they felt. - Guy Vanderhaeghe

*WondaGal has several stories that hit read milestones:
Blood of Darkness (Eternal Bonds: Book 1): 8.56K
Inflexible (Fated Four: Book 1): 1.17K
Crepuscule (Gates of the Underworld: Book 1): 870
Voice of Desire (Sirens: Book 1): 508
(Her series collections are amazing!- Sclark71517 )
*StephanieAnnMcNutt 's book Valley Song has hit 300 reads and has a growing fanbase. Congrats!
*granite-soul 's story To Seduce A Siren has reached 5k reads!
*SarahSchott 's story Dark Country is quickly gaining traction, becoming a fan favorite!
*WolfUnderTheMoon89 was spotlighted in the Aspire Magazine for April 2020
*House Clio's own Jinx4Life 's Tears of Kai Yuan has reached 51k reads!

April was a big month for the Olympus Family! Let's make May even better!

The Spotlight Muse this month is: skyesabove143
Muse of House Clio

What inspired you to start writing?
All the stories in my head. I have an active imagination and I wanted to share those with others besides family.

How do you handle Writer's Block?
When I have writers block I either write something else, put brackets of what I want to happen and then continue on, or I write scenes I want to happen.

What genre(s) do you write and why?
Genres I write are fantasy, romance, action, supernatural and the occasional historical fiction. I don't like real world restrictions. The only time I'll willingly write real world is historical fiction and even with that you have some freedom

Title: Defenders of Aterial

Cover:

Blurb:
Cora's the typical teenage girl who hopes to spend the summer before college relaxing and hanging out with her friends but it seems fate has another plan for her.

Cora St. James gets introduced to the magical and dangerous world of Aterial, the world that is her history. She doesn't remember this magical world or her past but she was just a baby when she left.

Dmitri Petrov is someone that everyone either wants to be or wants. He doesn't have money or status but his family was best friends with the royal family. When he learns that the lost princess was found all he wanted was to go bring her back.

The hunters ruined the royal family once and they can do it again. All they want is to take down everyone who isn't human.

Will Cora bow down until she breaks or will she rise up and become the person that is needed to save them all?

What role will Dmitri have in her life or in the kingdom?

If the hunters get rid of all things magic what effect will it have on the world? Will all magic fall or will they manage to keep the world from crumbling?

Link: https://www.wattpad.com/story/215589866-defenders-of-wolfspire

Small Review:
While Skye is currently in the middle of a rewrite, this new book is the same beloved character with a new wonderous world. One of my favorites.- Sclark71517

Tips on Writing Historical Fiction:

1. Small details matter more than large ones. Meaning you don't need to know how an ink press works but you do need to know the sounds it makes.

2. Period characters require more than period clothes -Good historical stories promise to not only transport readers to a historical setting but to reveal the interior life (the mind, heart and aspirations) of a character. -How did men and women in the 1940s think about romance? How were their professional desires different than for artists today? What language might they use in their thought life? -To get experience into someone else's head read their diaries. No I'm not telling you to read your sister's. I'm saying go to your local university and see if they have any diary entries or personal letters that were given to them for their archives. (Or look on the internet. Use google scholar)

3. Use common names, not technical one -in other words use insider terms. —The Ink & Paint Department. The Ink & Paint Department would have been called the Nunnery since it was mainly women in there. —The screening room would have been called a sweatbox as that's where they sweated; they sweated when their work was being viewed.

4. Immerse yourself in the culture -watch and read everything that was written and made DURING that time period. NOT ABOUT that time period

5. Find experts -find the people that either lived in your time period or find the people that your time period is their passion. The one thing they love the most and that they know everything about. -sit down and ask questions. They will be overjoyed and you'll have a fountain of information

6. Balance details and drama Know what details to add. If you feel like it'll slow down your reader then leave it out. If it drags you right into that world, then include it!

7. Historical facts are not the storyline. Believe it or not those facts aren't going to make your story. Knowing how to slip those little facts definitely help but they should be the story. The story is the drama your character has to go through. If you make them live a history book with just facts and no drama then people aren't gonna wanna read it HISTORICAL FACTS ARE JUST THE BACKDROP

8. Don't let research overwhelm the story. The research is important but it's not the story! Don't let yourself be cause so much in making it historical perfect that you forget that your character is there. It's HISTORICAL FICTION. You're allowed to make certain things up. Let it flow. Add enough facts that it traps your reader but also make it yours. Don't go so far as make your character experience a flood during the Great Depression but maybe let them experience getting an amazing opportunity that makes them a lot of money for their family

This Month's Spotlights are:

Spotlight Author: MissBelleVincent

What inspired you to start writing?
The reason I started writing was because I needed to escape real life. I hated reading as a child but I was always daydreaming.
I got heartbroken at an early age because I jumped into a relationship that I wasn't quite ready for (I was only seeking validation) and I fell hard for a lying cheater. Writing about my ideal person had helped me recover and move on from it because it showed me I deserved to be treated better! And from there, when something upsets me in my life, I turn to writing and make my own fictionalized ending for the people I based my characters on and for the situations I longed to escape from

How do you handle Writer's Block?
When experiencing writer's block, I tend to go for music and movies as inspiration. I'm doing 2 books right now and they wave widely different themes. For Teasing Your Wicked Heart, since it's a regency romance, I would listen to classical music as the notes help me visualize the era and what might happen next. For dialogue and mannerisms (and deeper understanding of characters), I watch regency-centered movies like Pride and Prejudice, Sense and Sensibility, and others!
Usually, I'd reflect on my own experiences and on the experiences of others to get ideas on how a person would proceed given the situation of the character I'm stuck on. That also usually does the trick ❤️

What genre(s) do you write and why?
I write Historical Romance because I find many similarities between its era and the conservative culture I grew up in. I'm Asian, and my parents were very strict with rules and etiquette, and relatives were always watching if you do a faux pas or stumble or just simply not live up to expectation. It's also still very gendered and sexist and oftentimes I feel suffocated by it. So writing in this era allows me to suppose myself in a dashing heroine's shoes as she fights for love and identity. The romantic era is ripe for these kinds of emancipation, and I crave it!
My modern books are usually partly social commentary hidden in humor and a little juicy mystery. I like to write about this because it's cathartic and I find that reading something light hearted just generally makes people feel good! I want people to feel good :)

Title: Teasing Your Wicked Heart

Cover:

Blurb: [Currently at # 3 on Regency!]
Lady Sarah Jane Riverton continued to live in desperation long since after her father, Lord Rosenberg, fell off a horse and succumbed to a deadly fever. After his death, the vibrant Lady Sarah Jane was continuously transported to be the ward of many aging Lord Rosenbergs. Fortunately and unfortunately, the inheriting cousins and uncles had dwindled to none, and the title is to be relinquished to the crown. She feared for her life as she had nowhere to go in a society that placed prime importance in men.

However, an old document that spoke of an uncommon arrangement between her father and the late Lord Killsworth had been unearthed; and Sarah Jane found herself trapped in the capable arms and mercy of a handsome unmarried gentleman, who was to be her savior, her protector, and her guardian.

Lord Killsworth had kept to himself in his country estate when he stumbled upon a sizable inheritance that came at the price of an atrociously mannered savage of a ward. But when his ward demands for a Season, he soon realizes that obliging her would become the ultimate salve to his broken wicked heart.

#TheWinnerAwards2020 #AestheteCertified #StoriesUndiscovered

Link: https://www.wattpad.com/story/209669228-teasing-your-wicked-heart

Small Review:
In a time when women had basically no rights the character does all she can to survive. She gets shoved into a situation that she has no control over when her father dies. It's a time period that is easy to make the female lead into a weak female but the author doesn't. The book is very well written. I definitely recommend you read it.- skyesabove143

Spotlight Author: Spruce_Goose

What inspired you to start writing?
I always loved reading growing up and the idea of telling a story that interests people and can help someone through a difficult time. I didn't start writing seriously until 2016, though.

How do you handle Writer's Block?
I try and push through it as best I can, if that doesn't work I will take a step back and do something else before coming back and seeing if there is anything to be done. Also, having several projects on the run can help as well, if I struggle with one project, I move on to the other. Tends to help fight the block.

What genre(s) do you write and why?
Historical Fiction all the way! I've always loved History, social history more than political so I like to write stories that focus on various elements of social history and the dynamic between classes in that time period.

Title: The Factory Girl

Cover:

Blurb:
-Wattpad Pick: Editors Choice-

Rosie Grey was only seven years old when she arrived at Mr Thompson's cotton factory. Now fourteen, she has become accustomed to the treatment of the workers and the harsh conditions under which they are forced to work.

After an accident in the storeroom leads to her dismissal, Rosie must try to make her own way in the real world, away from the life she had grown used to.

But despite being seemingly free from her life at the factory, Rosie struggles with the dark past that holds her captive, and she doesn't know if she will ever be able to escape the life she tries so hard to forget.

Link: https://www.wattpad.com/story/152828828-the-factory-girl-book-1-in-the-rosie-grey-series

Small Review:
The author has a talent for drawing you into the story but also the time period. She does the research needed to make the story real for the reader and as a historical fiction lover I couldn't appreciate anything more then that.- skyesabove143

Honorable Mention Spotlight Author: jemx_wttp

What inspired you to start writing?
I've always liked writing. When I was younger I used to write short stories but push them aside  I read a lot and sometimes while reading I think of things I would want to read and then put them into writing. Writing is like a therapy for me

How do you handle Writer's Block?
I listen to some music, go over what I've written previously or sleep.

What genre(s) do you write and why?
It really depends on how I feel but I could say romance, mystery/thriller. Love So Wrong is my first try at Historical Fiction.

Title: Love So Wrong

Cover:

Blurb:
"If only our love was not so wrong" Ruth sighed. "We formed a love that cannot survive."
Adler answered. "We will make it. I promise."
What happens when two young people find themselves in a love that is bound to end in death?
•°•°•°•°•     
In the Auschwitz concentration camp during the second World War, a prisoner meets and falls in love with the camp commandant's son Adler. A Jewish girl and a German boy, their love is something that shouldn't exist. The two fight against sickness, death and their families in the name of love. What does the future hold for these young lovers in the midst of disaster?
Find out in this story......

(Warning : Violence, attempted rape)

Link: https://www.wattpad.com/story/219200146-love-so-wrong

Small Review:
My heart broke for the characters more and more as I got to learn their story. The author paints a story of something so pure in a very heartbreaking time in the past that could have used some good for everyone.- skyesabove143

What is the Olympus Writing Group?
"It's a Writing Community with a unique twist on it. We create a positive environment in our Community and allow our members to be mentored by their Muses (House Leaders) in nine houses inspired by the Nine Muses of Greek Mythology. Writing is a journey and we recognize that. But just because you're taking a journey, doesn't mean you have to take it alone or that you can't ask for help. That's why we're here. Take your writing journey with us. Experience the mentorship of our experiences Muses (House Leaders). Be a part of a positive environment. Meet people who will support you on your journey. And above all, know that you do not walk this path alone."

The Houses are:
Clio (Historical Fiction)
Euterpe (Non-Fiction, (General Fiction: New Adult, Young Adult, Adult))
Thalia (Humour, Short Story, Poetry)
Melpomene (Thriller, Mystery/Suspense, Horror)
Terpsichore (Sci-fi)
Erato (Romance)
Polymnia (Fan Fiction, Teen Fiction)
Ourania (Paranormal, Vampire, Werewolf, Urban Fantasy, Magical Realism)
Calliope (High Fantasy, all other forms of fantasy aside from Magical Realism and Urban Fantasy, Adventure, Action)

If you are interested in joining the Olympus Writing Group, apply in the link below:
https://www.wattpad.com/story/220998019-olympus-writing-group-open-for-new-members-and