For a long time (too long), I got caught up in genre snobbery and thought this type of fiction was somehow “less than.” Reading Ursula Le Guin’s opinions on the topic really opened my eyes (and I wrote about this journey in a piece for Fantasy Cafe). Since then, I have embraced genre with my whole being!
Speculative and SFF share a lot in terms of craft. They both allow the author to embrace their creativity, their madness, and their freedom to imagine. Both require exact, precise world building. Sometimes I think these genres, because they destabilize what we believe to be “real,” allow us to make more compelling statements about society in general – the past, present, and potential future.
Thanks for the link! Le Guin and Atwood are two of my favorite authors.
Have you considered writing in this - or any other - genre?
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Greek/Roman myth are full of female characters. How did you choose these particular protagonists for your books?
And have you ever thought about exploring other cultures’ myths similarly? (I personally have always been attracted to Norse mythology. Similar story - intro to it in grade school that snagged my imagination.)
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Is there a scene in Aphrodite in Pieces you’re particularly proud of? How about one you found especially challenging to write?
Yes! I would love to do horror or a western. 
Oh, I adored A Witch’s Heart by Genevieve Gornichec! I also love the Silvia Moreno-Garcia books that incorporate Mesoamerican mythology.
I chose my characters specifically for the roles they play in their myths: the sister, the mother, the lover. I like to explore the roles women take in relationships.
Please tell us ten random facts about Aphrodite in Pieces.
(And for the record, I totally stole this one from JeanBookNerd because I found Lauren’s answers about Mother of Rome so entertaining. You can check those out here!).
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I have to imagine writing your first book, Medusa’s Sisters, was an enormous undertaking. Were you still teaching at the time? I know you had three very young children when the book was published. How did you manage to set aside time to complete a book?
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I loved your sculptor and the surprise at the end! What led you to make him such a prominent part of Aphrodite’s story?
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I think art is this fabulous intersection of love and beauty, so the Venus de Milo was the perfect motif to pull all of Aphrodite’s stories together. And then, as I created a character for Alexandros of Antioch, I began to fall in love with him myself! And his part in the frame narrative became bigger and bigger.
I quit teaching to focus on the first draft of Medusa’s Sisters. The plan was to take one year off, but in that year I got pregnant with my third child AND Covid hit, which meant my older two no longer had preschool to attend. I wrote most of that book by hand while I took care of my kids. At night, when they were asleep, I would type up what I’d gotten done, adjusting and embellishing as necessary. In a way, this was my first round of editing.
Handwriting has become my preferred method for drafting. I like that I can take my pen and legal pad anywhere. I like how the words come a bit more slowly but with more thought. And I still write at the dining room table in the chaos of my family! I cannot separate my art from my life. They need to coexist. 
If I only wrote under ideal circumstances, I would never get a word down. To be a present mom, I’ve had to bring my two worlds together.
How did you get your first novel published? Did you work with an agent or contact publishers directly? Were the second & third novels any easier to sell?
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How involved do you get with the audiobook versions of your books?
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What was the editing process like for your books? Did it change from the first book to the third, or was it fairly consistent? Were there any interesting facts or people you were forced to cut from any of your novels?
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I’ve been so incredibly fortunate to work with Zura Johnson on all three of my novels – she is such a mega talent and I always request her! Before they begin, the audiobook producers like to have a sense of the narrator’s personality/description and then there is usually a looooooong list of words that need pronunciation clarification. This is the most difficult part for me because many of these works I didn’t create or choose on my own – they are from the primary source material and I don’t know how to pronounce them either, lol! I spend A LOT of time in online dictionaries.
There are different narrators for the Titan Books/UK version, and I’m always in love with the way their accents interpret my material.
I adore my editor, Anne Sowards. She has worked with me on all my novels – she knows my writing and my process so well now; she is my work wife! I had the hardest time revising and editing Mother of Rome. I had a whole plotline where Rhea ended up in Sicily that I had to cut. (It was the correct choice.) My favorite thing in the world is when I get Anne to comment “lol” or “<3.” It gives me the greatest feeling of satisfaction!
I had no connections whatsoever. I found my agent, Jane Dystel, the old-fashioned way: a query letter and sample pages! I always tell friends who aspire to write, if i can do it, you can do it, too.
I forgot about that interview – so fun!
Ok, here I go:
- Aphrodite’s first kiss with Nerites was inspired by the beach kiss in From Here to Eternity.
- “Cuddle my whole body!” is something my youngest is famous for saying. I gave that line to Eros.
- In Medusa’s Sisters, I gave Poseidon a pronounced canine tooth. I kept that detail for Aphrodite in Pieces.
- Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor were my primary influence for Ares and Aphrodite’s love affair.
- Aphrodite losing Harmonia was the hardest part for me to write.
- I put Aphrodite in Mother of Rome (with Leandros at war) as an Easter egg. It wasn’t officially announced, but I knew this would be my next novel.
- My kids and their friends tried to convince me to name the book, Aphrodite Got Rizz. They even made fake book covers with the new name.
- Aphrodite flying Pegasus into war is nowhere in the mythological record. I thought of it after watching Glinda take Fiyero’s horse to try and save Elphaba in Wicked II.
- Ares grows peonies because they are my favorite flower.
- Brigitte wears Celine sunglasses in the final section of the novel because of the Joan Didion ad.
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Had you already finished your manuscript for Medusa’s Sisters when you started looking for an agent, or had you just written parts and were selling the idea for it?
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It seems so daunting to me to go from having an idea for a book to something resembling a finished product. At what point do you have others read what you’ve written? Is there anyone who reads your work in progress?
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