Nathan Bransford - The Forums

MattLarkin wrote:I'm real big on mythology, but I'm can't commit to being at the Workshop yet. I just don't know how things are going to be looking for getting my wife's visa at that time.

We can always put you down as a 'maybe' and then hope really, really hard you can come and help Cookie out.

dios4vida wrote:

MattLarkin wrote:I'm real big on mythology, but I'm can't commit to being at the Workshop yet. I just don't know how things are going to be looking for getting my wife's visa at that time.

We can always put you down as a 'maybe' and then hope really, really hard you can come and help Cookie out.

Fair enough.

Hey, who else do we need to harass into coming to the BransforumsFest?

I'm real big on mythology, but I'm can't commit to being at the Workshop yet. I just don't know how things are going to be looking for getting my wife's visa at that time.

Yay! And good luck!

dios4vida wrote:Hey, who else do we need to harass into coming to the BransforumsFest?

I got some people I'm working on.

Just now catching up. Sorry for jumping in late!

I can't believe I'm going to say this, but I *might* be able to help Cookie with mythology, but ONLY IF I get a better idea of what exactly people want to know. I'm a classics girl at heart and have read most of the Greek/Roman mythology stories (the big ones, at least), but my knowledge on mythology related to other cultures is sorely lacking. Do people want to know about mythology, or books that incorporate mythology (Percy Jackson jumps to my mind...)?

Also, my own two cents worth...
If I'm taking almost a week off of work and putting all this money into making it out there, I'd rather attend discussions/workshops than hang out by the pool, drink, or gamble. I've been to Vegas twice so the glittery atmosphere has somewhat worn off. Instead, I would rater learn, listen, chime in when I can, meet you all in person, and write. The location and all it provides is secondary to me.

trixie wrote:Just now catching up. Sorry for jumping in late!

No worries.

trixie wrote:I can't believe I'm going to say this, but I *might* be able to help Cookie with mythology, but ONLY IF I get a better idea of what exactly people want to know. I'm a classics girl at heart and have read most of the Greek/Roman mythology stories (the big ones, at least), but my knowledge on mythology related to other cultures is sorely lacking. Do people want to know about mythology, or books that incorporate mythology (Percy Jackson jumps to my mind...)?

My humble opinion is that I'd like to learn about mythology, books that have done it well, and how we can successfully incorporate it into our writing. Any and all cultures, too.

trixie wrote:If I'm taking almost a week off of work and putting all this money into making it out there, I'd rather attend discussions/workshops than hang out by the pool, drink, or gamble. I've been to Vegas twice so the glittery atmosphere has somewhat worn off. Instead, I would rater learn, listen, chime in when I can, meet you all in person, and write. The location and all it provides is secondary to me.

For the most part, I think this is the general consensus. We'll have plenty of time to play around and stuff, but I think we're looking at around four hours of workshops daily, plus whatever critique groups/spontaneous discussions/private writing time happens in the "off" hours. The entertainment committee is coming up with stuff for nights and afternoons off, but of course it'll be optional. If a few people want to hang back, talk about stuff, workshop together, or find a comfy spot by the pool and write, more power to ya!

trixie wrote:Just now catching up. Sorry for jumping in late!

I can't believe I'm going to say this, but I *might* be able to help Cookie with mythology, but ONLY IF I get a better idea of what exactly people want to know. I'm a classics girl at heart and have read most of the Greek/Roman mythology stories (the big ones, at least), but my knowledge on mythology related to other cultures is sorely lacking. Do people want to know about mythology, or books that incorporate mythology (Percy Jackson jumps to my mind...)?

Also, my own two cents worth...
If I'm taking almost a week off of work and putting all this money into making it out there, I'd rather attend discussions/workshops than hang out by the pool, drink, or gamble. I've been to Vegas twice so the glittery atmosphere has somewhat worn off. Instead, I would rater learn, listen, chime in when I can, meet you all in person, and write. The location and all it provides is secondary to me.

A helper!

Thanks for asking that question. I was actually wondering the same thing in regards to what people want to know. I'm also big on Greek/Roman mythology, but I do know a fair amount of info on Celtic, Norse, Japanese, Indian, Egyptian, and Mesopotamian myths. Plus, there is always plenty of time to catch up!

In addition to Trixie's questions, what aspects of mythology do people want to know about? I.e., the deities, the creatures, or the stories?

Cookie wrote:In addition to Trixie's questions, what aspects of mythology do people want to know about? I.e., the deities, the creatures, or the stories?

Is it entirely unhelpful if I say all three? I'm a little bit familiar with a variety of myths at a very basic level. I'd love to 1) learn about those tales and origins more deeply and 2) discover new aspects of mythology (i.e.: sources of inspiration).

I'm with Nicole here. While I am familiar with some basic mythology, my actual knowledge of it is ridiculously limited. It's a constant fantasy-writer shame.

Ok. I will start working out a plan. I have some ideas floating around in the back of my head. I got Fenris to help out too if he's able to go (he's big on Norse mythology). If not, we could probably conference him in.

Cookie wrote:Ok. I will start working out a plan. I have some ideas floating around in the back of my head. I got Fenris to help out too if he's able to go (he's big on Norse mythology). If not, we could probably conference him in.

Cool!! Norse mythos absolutely fascinates me. YAY FENRIS!! (And Cookie! Can't forget YAY COOKIE!!)

Ummm, I hate to say this, but as someone who has been studying different kinds of mythology for a looong time, I have doubts someone could cover *one* kind of mythology in 30-50 minutes, let alone multiple. I'm concerned this gives the impression that mythology is something you can learn over a couple of hours (leading to a future pattern of poor scholarship and cheap cultural appropriation).

Perhaps it would be better to focus on ways to integrate mythology into a story? The culture and context issues of using mythology? And perhaps people who have done a lot of research into certain kinds of mythology could bring a short list of the sources they found particularly helpful?

Margo wrote:Ummm, I hate to say this, but as someone who has been studying different kinds of mythology for a looong time, I have doubts someone could cover *one* kind of mythology in 30-50 minutes, let alone multiple. I'm concerned this gives the impression that mythology is something you can learn over a couple of hours (leading to a future pattern of poor scholarship and cheap cultural appropriation).

Perhaps it would be better to focus on ways to integrate mythology into a story? The culture and context issues of using mythology? And perhaps people who have done a lot of research into certain kinds of mythology could bring a short list of the sources they found particularly helpful?

This.

It's lovely to hear about certain types of mythology, or even one type for 30-50 minutes, but whenever I hear a cool and inspiring myth and want to know more about it, I find myself wondering where to go next. The library has some sources, true, but not as much as I'd like.

Something on how to research mythology, where to look for answers and what are the pitfalls of using it as inspiration would be awesome. It'd give us some background and tools to go forward and do our own research.

Margo wrote:Ummm, I hate to say this, but as someone who has been studying different kinds of mythology for a looong time, I have doubts someone could cover *one* kind of mythology in 30-50 minutes, let alone multiple. I'm concerned this gives the impression that mythology is something you can learn over a couple of hours (leading to a future pattern of poor scholarship and cheap cultural appropriation).

Perhaps it would be better to focus on ways to integrate mythology into a story? The culture and context issues of using mythology? And perhaps people who have done a lot of research into certain kinds of mythology could bring a short list of the sources they found particularly helpful?

I couldn't agree with you more. I was biting my nails trying to figure out how I was going to pull off covering multiple myths in one panel. Mini freak-out averted.

Cookie wrote: Mini freak-out averted.

Excellent!