Getting Started... AMA

In this episode, we read a snippet from “The Runaway Princess and Other Stories”, and had an AMA in which we talked about my (chaotic) writing process, the art and the artists, the power of storytelling to uproot harmful stereotypes, future plans and more!The funniest thing about this episode is that when we recorded it on September 30th 2022, I’d written only four of the twenty stories and poems in the book. The Kickstarter campaign was still ongoing and I was working with the illustrators (who you will hear from next week) on some of the art. Thankfully, the campaign was funded at the end of October 2022. I decided I didn’t want the backers to wait too long to receive their copies of the book so I determined to write the remaining stories for NaNoWriMo 2022, edit in December 2022, and publish in January 2023 (…in time for my birthday, yay!)Let’s just say that I, sweet summer child that I was back then, had no idea what I was setting myself up for!Long story short, I did it. But…I don’t recommend. Phew… I’m just starting to feel like I’m fully recovered from that experience. I’ll speak more about it all in the “Lessons Learned” essay I plan to share in the near future. You can read about some of it here though!In upcoming episodes, we’ll meet the illustrators, talk about my research process, review some themes in the book and explore the “Other Stories”.Meanwhile, you can visit the project page for more information and ways to buy the book. It’s e-book only for now but print copies are coming soon! Get full access to Mythological Africans at mythologicalafricans.substack.com/subscribe