Hello, everyone! Today we have another mythical and amazing author, StorytellingCarina, who is sharing her story and discussing about her work with us.

About the Author: Carina is a young queer author from the country side of Denmark. She writes a variety of different genres, from mythology stories to a thriller, although mostly fantasy in some shape or form. Through the lenses of her characters she explores the harder questions of life, like death, authority, love, and social responsibility. She has been praised for her unusual style, her authenticity when writing Norse Mythology stories, and her knack for detailed research. 

She believes in the accessibility of art and a livable wage for artists, and strives to make those two concepts work together so both readers and authors can benefit.

About 'Sigyn's Revenge': Her Norse Mythology story, Sigyn's Revenge, features Loki's too often forgotten wife Sigyn, who is fed up with Odin and his sense of "justice". After a thousand years in a dank cave with Loki tied up, Sigyn has had enough, and with the help of two humans sets out to set the record straight and give Odin a piece of her mind.

The story features such characters as Loki, Sigyn, Hel, Fenrir, Odin, Freya, Baldur, Thor, Siff, and many more of the old gods, but also the original characters Ian and Max, the honeymooning gay couple who somehow find themselves on the journey of their lives.

The follow up Christmas story, 12 Days of Yule Mischief, features the whole family: Loki, Sigyn, Jorumgandr, Hel, Fenrir, Sleipnir, Vali, Nari, and the newly acquired uncles Ian and Max, and centers around a mixture of old Norse traditions and the more modern concepts.  

1. What made you start writing on Wattpad? What has been your favorite moment so far on the orange app?

I started writing on WattPad cause it, unlike book publishing, allows for instant and personal interaction with the readers. I love seeing the as-you-read commentary, I especially love when people have an idea of what might happen, like they are just on the verge of figuring out the next plot point, but they aren't quite sure yet. To me as a writer, seeing that means I did a good job with the foreshadowing, or that my world building is believable. I guess in essence, my favorite thing about WattPad is how I create something, but once posted it belongs to everyone interacting with it. That is what story telling should be in my opinion. 

2.Which mythology and/or legends influenced your story? Why did you choose those?

Sigyn's Revenge is based on Norse Mythology, and especially the Loki centric myths. The easy answer as to why I chose those would be that I grew up with them. I am from Denmark, Thursday here is called Thor's Day, our national song describes our nature as "Freya's ballroom", the movie theatre in my town is located on Thor's Hill, and McDonalds is on Odin's Street. Norse Mythology is all around me, every day. Not to mention that my 2nd grade math teacher would read us Erik Son of Man in class, or that my first time going to the movies without adult supervision was to see The Golden Horns. Norse Mythology is my heritage, and frankly, I love it. 

As to why it had to be Loki centric, well, I wasn't a jock, or popular, or anything stereotypically "good" when I was a kid. I wasn't bullied or anything, but I definitely wasn't with the in crowd. Loki was the first example I ever experienced of a brainy character being able to outdo the jock/ popular guy/ "good guy". Loki was like a childhood hero to me, cause he taught me that brains can beat biceps - and four eyed little me with my nose stuck in whatever book I could get my hands on loved that. It gave me hope.

Okay, maybe that was not as "easy" an answer as I had anticipated. Short answer I suppose is that I was mad at the Marvel presentation of Loki and Thor. In the myths Thor is dumb as a door, and Loki works in the shadows, and I wanted to bring more attention to that kind of representation. Give the odd kids a taste of the hope I had when growing up. 

3.Tell us about the main character of one of your stories. What inspired their creation?

Well, the only characters in Sigyn's Revenge that are original are Max and Ian, the two humans, so I guess we'll take those. At the core I suppose they were inspired by homophobia in a way. Why add two gay guys, what do they bring to the story? Well, why not? I added two guys cause they provide a human aspect, and some much needed perspective for the gods, and I made them gay cause, surprise, sometimes people are just gay. 

I didn't really create Sigyn, but she is the main character, so I guess she fits under this question too. In Norse Mythology, a lot of the time, Thor, Odin, Freya, etc are presented as the heroes in a way. Or at least the ones in power. I chose Sigyn specifically as the main character for this story cause, in my opinion, she's more than any of those guys. Holding that bowl up for centuries to protect her husband makes her stronger than Thor. And her big heart makes her more beautiful than Freya. From what little we know about Sigyn in the myths, she was either naive and stupid when she married Loki, or she married him knowing and loving him for who he was. If we assume the first, then yeah, I suppose even Odin (who is frankly not that wise, whatever he may call himself) is smarter than her - but if we assume the second, that she knew who Loki was when marrying him, then she is smarter than all the Asgardians put together. Arguably the Venir too. And I for one love the Loki-Sigyn power couple idea. 

4.What were some challenges you experienced while writing the story?

Haha, okay, confession time: I wrote this story as a challenge to myself, so the whole thing. I wanted to see if I could write a complete story in one go, no breaks other than the bathroom kind. I completed my challenge too, I was very proud of that. The story did grow to twice it's size when editing, and I don't think there's more than a few scraps of the original draft in there anymore, but you've gotta get the story on paper before you can start fixing it, so I'd say my little challenge paid off. 

5.Do you have a song playlist for writing? Can you share one with us?

Eh, no. Not really. Due to issues with sound I can't listen to playlists, it hurts. At most, I can listen to one artist/ group at a time, and will legit have them on repeat for months on end. On bad days, it's one song and one song only. On really bad days it's nothing at all, or I'll go crazy.

So I can't give you a playlist, I don't have any. But some of my favorite artists to listen to include Home Free, Chester See, and Janet Devlin. Even my messed up brain can handle those three, and even enjoy them. 

6.What is your favorite myth or legend? Why?

Thor's wedding, hands down. It has all my favorite things: Thor being his usual idiotic self and his anger management issues (or complete lack of management) getting everyone in trouble. Loki having to come up with clever little lies to save the day. Thor losing not just one but several contests (three if I remember correctly). Just generally Thor making a fool of himself and Loki saving the day. Oh, and of course Loki and Thor in dresses.

(Pro tip: try googling "Thors Brudefærd Loke" for some excellent illustrations of this myth from an old Danish comic called Valhalla. Let me tell you, you haven't lived until you've seen Loki in a tight dress with thigh high slits and platform heels. The leg hair alone makes it magnificent) 

7.What is your favorite mythical creature? Why?

I'm not sure actually. I don't think I've ever picked one. I like personalities I guess, not just species. We need more creatures with actual personalities, not just general characteristics associated with their kind. (Or maybe my brain is doing that *going blank* thing that happens when you're asked to pick a favorite, and instead of admitting that I'm making up random excuses. You'll never know.) 

8.If you could have the same powers as a creature and/or deity from mythology or legends, what would it be? Why?

Uhh, that's a hard one. Hmm... I would love to be able to fly, see the world from above - but I guess I could just steal Freya's wings for that. Or go travel, see the world and not worry - but I could just steal Sleipnir for that, or Tanngrisnir and Tanngnjóstr, or Skidbladnir. Some day youth might be tempting again, when I'm old and my bones ache - but I could just steal Idun's apples for that. So I guess the power I would most like to have is Loki's ability to just steal whatever he wants. That would probably get me dead pretty quick though, as I don't have his sharp wit and spunk. 

9.What is your advice other writers who want to use mythology in their story?

Pick the myths you love, and remember that the source material, while important, is in no way complete or 100% accurate. Have fun with it, make it your own. If something isn't specifically stated in the available source material, make up your own. Please be respectful of the cultures though, and be respectful of the people who might still believe/ practice today. 

That's it for the month, it was fun getting to know about StorytellingCarina. You can check her stories featured in our reading list as well as her other works.

Until next time!