In a recent blog, I delivered something of a tirade on misogyny in Greek mythology and Grimm’s tales. Since then, several best-selling novels on Greek mythology have reached our bookshops. And yes, I’ve read them and they’re (mostly) great! Mythology is definitely ‘in’. My contribution isn’t there yet, although my manuscript is almost complete.
At the same time, I worked on The Argonaut Queen, its title giving a nod to the Greeks. My children’s story introducing this elusive sea creature found a friendly publisher in Australia and hard-covered author copies arrived on my doorstep recently.
A picture book is a writing challenge. With a great illustrator – and Marlo is the best – very few words are needed to tell the tale. Finding those words is the fun part.
Many people know the argonaut as a paper nautilus, mostly referring to her shell. Not everyone know that the exquisitely fragile creation is made by a cute little pink-spotted ocean-going octopus. It is in fact her egg case, housing up to a quarter-million offspring at a time. Although intact shells rarely wash up on New Zealand beaches, as a twelve-year old I found a whole one at Tūhua (Mayor Island), now a wildlife refuge off the coast of Tauranga – and I still have it.
Madame Jeanne Villepreux-Power, 19th century marine biologist, inventor of the aquarium and the premier argonaut authority of her era features in my story. I’m delighted that she’ll re-visit Europe next year when Starfish Bay Publishing takes The Argonaut Queen to the Frankfurt Book Fair.
The Argonaut Queen will be released into New Zealand bookshops early next year. Anyone wanting a copy before Christmas is welcome to order through this website – and pay only the pre-release price. You’ll also find out why she’s called an argonaut.
Go to The Argonaut Queen page.