Tags
childhood, diana hauer, echidna, Echidna's Cave, fantasy, fecund, folklore, god, Going Deep, heroes, inspiration, interpretaion, interview, legends, lust, Mini-Author Interviews, monster, myth, ocean, Oregon Coast, Pacific Northwest, paranormal, personification, romance, sex, storm, storm surge, thrust, touching the unknowable, Typhon, typhoon, Underwater, underwater sex, writing
Mini-Author Interviews for UNDERWATER:
Diana Hauer
What inspired your story?
I have loved mythology since I was young. I started thinking about what might have happened to inspire the myths and stories surrounding Echidna and Typhon. If there were beings that had inspired our ancestors to weave such stories, what would they be like now, and what if modern humans encountered them?
Echidna is the mother of monsters, a fecund creature. Typhon is her mate, and the father of most of them (depending on your source). I think my train of thought was, “Ocean, storm, typhoon, underwater sex, how would a human have sex with a god?”
Did you have to do any research? If so, what kind? What did you learn?
I looked up where the scholars think that Echidna’s Cave actually was, because I wanted to have a nod and a wink for people who would know such things. There are a couple of those that I hope fans of old myths will notice and appreciate in my story.
Can you tell me more about Echidna and Typhon?
I left what they are open to reader interpretation in a lot of ways, like so many myths.
What struck me about the old stories is how many children they had. Depending on which versions you read, they had anywhere between three and twelve kids. So to me, it made sense that they would have a passionate, lusty relationship. From there, I just followed the logical path and wound up with what might be going through Echidna’s mind if someone encountered her today. What form might that encounter take?
Typhon and Echidna could be seen as real, physical entities. Monstrous creatures in truth, as they were written. Or if one takes a more symbolic bent, then Echidna (in my story, anyway) is the personification of ocean-land while Typhon is the personification of ocean-sky. When land and sky meet, then storms (monster children) are born.
Legends are born from the deeds of heroes and monsters. Erotic fiction is born when we start thinking about what happens when the monsters meet in passionate embrace. In ancient times, Typhon visited his lover and she rose to meet him as he thrust down into her channel. Whether you read that as a woman rising to meet a man or the ocean rising in response to a storm, it still works.
…I just realized that could give a whole new meaning to the term “storm surge.”
What would you like readers to know about “Going Deep”?
I would like them to imagine that it could be true. The swimmer in the cave could be you; it could be me. We are only ever seconds away from touching the unknowable, if we but open our eyes and allow them to look upon the world with a sense of wonder.
I would also like them to know that there is no correct interpretation of this story. Whatever you get out of it, that is what is right for you.
Diana Fey Hauer lives and works in the Pacific Northwest. While she loves the Oregon Coast, she also finds time to write, knit, create, and explore in other biomes and mediums.
You can follow her on facebook.
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