By Elizabeth Andrews (Guest Blogger)
As some of you may have guessed from
that title, I am a big Princess Bride fan. Okay, that may be
an understatement. I saw the movie in the theater when it was
originally released eons ago, and I cannot even begin to guess how
many times I have seen it in the years since. So many times that my
children refuse to watch it with me, because they hate when I recite
lines with the characters. (Of course, my children feel the same way
when I recite lines with Harry Potter and his friends, or when I'm
watching any LOTR films, or Dirty Dancing... Now that
I think about it, my sons may have a point and I might have a
problem.)
Anyway, one of the best parts of the
movie, aside from the romance and the humor, is Inigo Montoya and his
quest to avenge his father's death. He's been on this mission nearly
all of his life, and he hasn't thought past his search for the
six-fingered man. I suppose, having been on that hunt for so long,
he may have given up hope of succeeding, which would account for not
thinking about what he might do after he's killed the six-fingered
man. After all, he's failed for so long, success must seem
unattainable. Then, when he finally reaches his goal, well, what's
next? He's survived and now he has an unplanned future staring him
in the face. Now what?
While I was thinking about Inigo, I
realized he isn't the only character I enjoy who's got revenge on his
mind. Westley gets his own revenge on Prince Humperdinck for killing
him and trying to marry Buttercup, though his is less final, more
'haha, I won, you lost'. I just sat through Wyatt Earp again
last week, and there's all sorts of vengeance-seeking in that one,
old West-style, on both sides. A really terrific revenge story arc
takes place over the course of the most recent Batman movie
trilogy, with events in the first movie setting the stage for the
daughter of Ra's Al Ghul to get some payback on Bruce Wayne in the
third installment for killing her father.
Another of my favorites is Troy,
though Agammemnon shamelessly uses his brother Menelaus's quest for
revenge on Paris for the theft of his wife as a really good excuse to
take over another country. But Achilles does seek and get revenge on
Hector for his accidental killing of Achilles's cousin. I must
admit, though, that all the revenge is not my favorite part of this
movie--it's the Greek mythology (okay, and Sean Bean, if I'm being
totally honest; that man is mine! Mine, I tell you! Ahem.)
If you're a fan of Greek myths, as I am, there are plenty of great
stories there filled with quests for revenge, not to mention romance!
The gods and goddesses aren't above getting their own vengeance
either, taking many opportunities to show one another up or smack
down a fellow deity for a slight. Aphrodite's unlovely husband
Hephaestus gets a little revenge on his unfaithful wife when she
strays with Ares. Even Zeus's wife Hera seeks revenge more than once
on the objects of her husband's affections, or on the offspring his
extra-marital affairs produce. Poor Hercules. She really puts that
guy through the wringer before grudgingly allowing him to take his
place on Olympus.
A Greek myth I've always found
fascinating has to do with Perseus and Medusa. Medusa, depending on
the version of her story that you read, has either been extremely
foolish and bragged about her hair being more beautiful than
Athena's, or been raped by Poseidon in Athena's temple, and then
turned into a monster. Either way, I feel bad for her.
Perseus, however, is on a quest to
rescue his mother from the clutches of a lech. Perseus hasn't had it
easy--his grandfather locked his mother Danae away in a tower after
being warned her son would one day kill him. Pretty girl locked in a
tower = no son, right? That's what Acrisius thinks, but he's
forgotten about Zeus and his proclivity for shapeshifting to get his
women. Fast-forward a few months, and Acrisius locks his daughter
and infant grandson into a trunk and dumps them in the sea. Except a
fisherman rescues them.
Eventually, the king Polydectes sets
his sights on Danae, who has no interest in being his queen. The
king is persistent, and wily. He pretends he's chosen a new bride
and each of his subjects must give him a gift; Perseus must bring him
the head of Medusa. Eventually, after a series of adventures and
misadventures, he does just that, wielding it to turn Polydectes to
stone and get a bit of revenge for his treatment of Perseus and
Danae.
In my paranormal romance, Hunting
Medusa, I've taken Medusa and Perseus's story and twisted it
a little. My hero Kallan Tassos is a descendant of Perseus, and he's
still bent on killing Medusa, getting revenge for her escaping his
family for millenia and some glory for himself. Only the Medusa
isn't the monster he's been taught about all his life. And there go
all his plans for revenge.
I want to offer enormous thanks to
Lisabet for offering to host me on her blog. This has been so much
fun for me, and hopefully for you, too! I would love to hear about
some of your favorite stories of revenge, whether movie, book, or
mythology. For everyone who tells me about those revenge stories
within seven days of this blog post, I'll enter you into a drawing
for my ebook!
~ Elizabeth Andrews
Hunting Medusa
The Medusa Trilogy,
Book 1
When Kallan Tassos tracks
down the current Medusa, he expects to find a monster. Instead he
finds a wary, beautiful woman, shielded by a complicated web of
spells that foils his plans for a quick kill and retrieval of her
protective amulet.
Andrea Rosakis expects the handsome
Harvester to go for the kill. Instead, his attempt to take the amulet
imprinted on her skin without harming her takes her completely by
surprise. And ends with the two of them in a magical bind—together.
But Kallan isn’t the only Harvester on Andi’s trail…
Excerpt
It
was one of those days when having the Medusa’s fabled power to turn
people to stone would really come in handy.
Andrea
Rosakis did not, however, have that ability, not this week, anyway.
Even though she was the reigning Medusa.
She
glared at the man on her back porch, wondering if he could ever
understand how lucky he was she wasn’t suffering from PMS this
week. And why wouldn’t he stop talking? Her fingers itched to slam
the door.
“…if
you just have five minutes, ma’am,” he concluded.
She
narrowed her gaze on the vacuum beside him. “No, thank you.” And
how the hell had he found her all the way out here? No one ever
bothered to follow her rough, muddy driveway all the way to the top,
even if they did ignore the “No Trespassing” signs posted at the
foot of it. Not to mention the protective warding she had set at the
boundaries of the entire property. Sure, it wasn’t the heavy
artillery of protection spells, but no one else had ever gotten past
it. This man however, had not only ignored the signs and the subtle
“go away” protections, but managed the entire bumpy, muddy track
into the woods and halfway up the mountain. Just to hear her say,
“No.”
And
he didn’t look discouraged. At all.
Andi
almost wished she were PMSing
this week, though it would be a real pain in the ass to have to get
rid of a life-sized stone statue of a vacuum salesman.
Or
maybe she could keep it. He was very pretty, even if he annoyed her.
He was tall and broad, his inky black hair was a tad too long, and
his bright green eyes held her attention. At least as stone, he’d
be silent and still pretty. She gave herself a mental shake. “I’m
sorry, but I don’t have time for this—”
“When
would be a better time?”
“Never.”
He
did blink at that, but his smile never disappeared. “I’ll have to
check my calendar.”
She
snorted, then clapped her free hand over her mouth. Laughing would
not discourage the man. “Look, I’m sure it’s a great vacuum,
but I don’t need it. I don’t want to see how it works, and I’d
like you to get off my property.”
His
smile did fade a little bit. “Well, I suppose, if that’s what you
really want.”
She
quirked an eyebrow, trying not to smile again. He had the faintest
hint of an accent, but she couldn’t place it. Not without hearing
him talk some more, and she didn’t want to encourage that either,
or he’d just keep trying to sell her an expensive vacuum she didn’t
need.
“Maybe
I could talk you into meeting me for coffee sometime then,” he
said.
Her
jaw dropped. The cute salesman was hitting on her. For half a second,
she indulged the fantasy of a date with the hunk. A real date, maybe
ending with a real kiss. Her pulse quickened. Then she remembered one
good date led to more, and eventually, it led to guys running away
from her, gibbering like idiots when PMS struck. She shut her mouth
and ignored the regret burning in her middle. “Sorry, but no.”
“You’re
a hard woman,” he said lightly, his bright gaze sliding down to her
mouth. “I’ll leave my card in case you change your mind. About
the coffee, that is.” He forced a small card into her hand and
picked up his vacuum.
Andi
stared after him as he strode off her porch. The bulky vacuum looked
like it weighed nothing in his hand, swinging at his side on his way
to the shiny, new truck parked behind her car.
When
he took one hand from the steering wheel to wave at her, she stopped
herself from lifting her hand in response. He turned the truck around
and vanished down the drive into the trees. Frowning, she went back
inside and shut the door, then locked it and re armed the alarm. He’d
tossed the vacuum into the bed of the truck. A very strong salesman.
Who
didn’t seem to care the impending rain was going to damage his
expensive vacuum.
She
turned back to the door and stared out the narrow window beside it,
her heart beating faster now with alarm. Maybe he didn’t realize.
Or maybe he really hadn’t come here to sell her a vacuum.
She
swallowed hard.
Aunt
Celosia had always told the cousins stories of the Harvesters, the
men who still hunted for the Medusa. Somehow, Andi had always thought
they’d be more frightening. More obvious. Ugly men intent on
murder.
If
this vacuum salesman was a Harvester, he was sneaky. Of course, if he
was a Harvester, he would be sneaky, as Perseus had been when he
killed the first Medusa.
She
was in a lot of trouble.
Hunting
Medusa is available now from Samhain Publishing:
About the Author
Elizabeth
Andrews has been a book lover since she was old enough to read.
She read her copies of Little Women and the Little House
series so many times, the books fell apart. As an adult, her
book habit continues. She has a room overflowing with her
literary collection right now, and still more spreading into other
rooms. Almost as long as she’s been reading great stories, she’s
been attempting to write her own. Thanks to a fifth grade
teacher who started the class on creative writing, Elizabeth went
from writing creative sentences to short stories and eventually
full-length novels. Her father saved her poor, callused fingers
from permanent damage when he brought home a used typewriter for her.
Elizabeth
found her mother’s stash of romance novels as a teenager,
and-though she loves horror- romance became her very favorite genre,
making writing romances a natural progression. There are more
than just a few manuscripts, however, tucked away in a filing cabinet
that will never see the light of day.
Along
with her enormous book stash, Elizabeth lives with her husband of
twenty years and two teenage sons, though no one else in the house
reads nearly as much as she does. When she’s not at work or
buried in books or writing, there is a garden outside full of herbs,
flowers and vegetables that requires occasional attention.
Twitter:
@elizwrite
