Q&A With Myron Edwards 

Mickey Mikkelson the publicist to New York Times Bestselling author Tosca Lee, connected me with many authors to do a Q&A with. One of these authors is Myron Edwards. Myron is the author of Mistress of the Rock, Scylla the Revenge, & Julies Odyssey Alpha & Omega. 

Q: I have to say I enjoy myths, legends, fairytales, and folklore. How did you produce the concept of writing these stories blending Greek mythology with the modern day? 

A: The best way to explain it is purely by chance, before we were married my wife-to-be and I visited Cyprus. To a place called Petra Tou Romiou the legendary birthplace of the goddess Aphrodite. It was here that the legend says she came from sea foam, the literal translation of Aphrodite. It is one of the major tourist attractions in Cyprus, so naturally, we went to visit. I was of course skeptical of the legend, with no evidence to substantiate any part of the legend, and the only solid evidence of the story is the rocks themselves. But as we sat eating lunch, I noticed that the restaurant had several pictures of the goddess adorning the place. One image stood out for me, it was an aerial shot of the rocks, and below in the water was a figure of a woman, this was my epiphany moment. I realised that this is why it is called Aphrodite’s rock and the site of her birthplace because this image was in the right place where the legend emanated from. I could not get the image and the thought out of my mind, but I could not do anything about it as I had to research and would not be able to do this until we moved the whole family out to Cyprus some years later. At that point, I decided to write a screenplay just to get the ideas that were swirling around in my head out. I showed the screenplay to some people who said I should turn the story into a book. I did that and gave one single copy to my wife Niki for Christmas. Shortly after others read it and I was recommended to try to get it published. I contacted a local publisher in Nicosia, who requested the manuscript. A week or so later the book was published in English and Greek. All this was happening at a time when the finances of the world were under intense pressure and though I had the offer to make a movie of the book, all ended abruptly, when the financial crisis hit Greece and then Cyprus, and all plans were cancelled, and my publisher went under. But having completed one book, I wondered if there was more to the story, and over the course of the next few years waiting for my contract to expire, I started book 2. It seemed a natural progression as though the story could have ended with book 1,  but there was more to it and to the legend. Book 2 was almost complete when I started looking for a new publisher, I contacted Rockhill Publishing, James Hill was the owner and he invited me to send both books to him. Shortly after we signed a contract for Print on Demand, which at the time seemed like a promising idea. But in hindsight was very restricting, particularly as living in Cyprus does not give me easy access to books from the US. Although online sites do carry the books like Amazon, Barnes, and Noble, and in the UK and Europe WH Smiths, Waterstones, and several other major booksellers. Once book 2 was out I thought I cannot end it here I need to finish the story, so I started book 3 this would bring everything to a conclusion. Greek myths are perfect stages for stories and blending them into a contemporary world seemed to fit well, but my one underlying fact in all these books is although the story is fantasy fiction the catalyst that runs through the entire plot namely the image in the sea is a fact. It is a matter of faith whether you believe it or not, but the image is there, you just have to see it. There is also one other surprising element to the story, which again lends itself to the stories of the ancients. Zeus needed to protect Aphrodite to keep her safe, he asked his brother Poseidon to do just that, as God of the sea Poseidon complied and at the very same location where Aphrodite’s image is under the water, an image of Poseidon can also be seen, if you believe!   

Q: What advice do you give to aspiring authors on writing great fiction? 

Fiction is easier to write than factual books, as you have a blank page on which to develop your plot, characters, and action, and depending upon the storyline you have carte blanche if the story has no links to reality. In fiction writing you can create whole new worlds and make them real, that is the beauty of fiction, you do not need to research you have your imagination to pen what is the plot of your story. This is a great advantage as you do not need to reference anything, however, if you do write a story that mixes fiction with fact you need to be sure that what you write is accurate. A brilliant exponent of this is George Macdonald Fraser who wrote the Flashman series. If you want to see how fiction mixes with fact, I recommend his books. How he researched what he did and then integrated it into his stories is a work of pure genius. If, however, your stories are like Harry Potter using limited references to the real world, but creating whole new worlds, your imagination is the only limiting factor. The beauty of fiction is that there are no restrictions, you are not constrained in your ability to tell the story. What, however, is crucial is that you keep the rhythm of the story moving forward, and you plan each chapter, so you know where it is going.  

Q: If you’re writing a new novel now, can you reveal any details? 

Currently, I am not working on a new novel, but I have recently completed two kids’ books, which I am looking for a publisher to publish. Rockhill does not publish children’s books and he already has a complete list of books he wants to do. So, I am interested in finding a new publisher who specialises in children’s books. My children’s books are so different from any previous books I have done, as they require a different approach, though they are for kids, writing for children is a whole new ball game, because you need to be aware of their sensibilities, but above all, you must treat them as adults in their reading capacity. Words need to flow into a story, that is why it is essential that I try to treat them with respect and make the stories as dynamic and thought-provoking as any novel of mine.  

Q: If you were to write in another genre, which genre would it be and why? 

Before I wrote the Mistress of the Rock series, I dabbled in an all-action superhero type story, involving an elite band of skilled experts whose skills created a powerful intelligence community called” INK” short for Intelligence Network Keepers. It was a complete change from anything I had done before or since it has never been published but it was a fun genre to write in. In complete contrast I have had some ideas for a horror book, it is one of those thoughts that niggles in my mind, but so far, I have not been tempted to write it. Horror writing is one of the most challenging writing genres because it requires an ability to frighten the reader but at the same time encourage them to keep turning the pages. There are so many brilliant writers who can do this, Stephen King is probably one of the best, so trying to compete in this world is almost impossible unless your story sells.        

Q: Does Hollywood have any interests or rights to your novels? Hollywood is long overdue for originality, so they could use a lot of terrific books for ideas.  

This has been my dream to make the movie of Mistress of the Rock, If it had not been for the financial crisis it could have already been made, but finding the right people to do that is not easy and as for Hollywood, only one film I know of has been made exclusively in Cyprus and that was Ju Jitsu, but the film was made for its great location, not for its history or culture. Mistress on the other hand would reflect Cyprus in a formidable way as it would feature and focus on its creed and culture and of course its ancient history and myths. I have put a new script together and am working on character arcs vital to any production. A company in Nicosia has expressed an interest in the project so I will pursue this avenue and do my best to make it happen.