LP: The myths of Classical Rome and Greece number in their thousands, so of all the possibilities, why did you feel that the story of Jason and the Argonauts needed to be retold to the audience of today? When choosing to write about Jason, were there any other myths on the table for retelling? MK: You are right, of course, and retellings of Greek myth are being published in unprecedented numbers, particularly those from a feminist perspective. When I started writing ARGO, however, in late 2018, Madeline Miller’s CIRCE had only just been released and, whilst it was an immediate success, I don’t think anyone could have imagined the flood of interest in Greek mythology that followed. I didn’t read it until the following year and was only vaguely aware of the author when my agent encouraged me to build upon the first 9000 or so words I had sent to him. So, it wasn’t a case of choosing from the myriad myths to try to identify an under-represented one. A story set on an ancient boat had always appealed since I rowed on the reconstructed ancient Athenian warship ‘Olympias’ in sea trials in and around the Greek island of Poros in 1994. I’d actually got 20,000 words or so into a Roman novel set in the Punic Wars a some years earlier but then saw a book in my local Sainsburys called ‘Ship of Rome’ by John Stack that covered EXACTLY the same ground, which left my project dead in the water. Also, as a little boy, I’d really loved watching the 1963 film, especially the fantastic stop-motion animation of Ray Harryhausen, so I suppose a story about Jason was inevitable.Also, I must say, I think the version of Jason’s life that survives today is pretty unfortunate. We only really remember Euripides’ depiction of him in the harrowing play ‘Medea’, in which Medea kills their two young boys because he has decided to abandon her for another woman. As powerful as that play is, it was created to win a major Athenian competition. It was also quite possibly aimed at holding up the mirror to cold-hearted, imperialistic Athenian politics that so dominated the 5th century BC. Jason himself, if there is any truth to the myth whatsoever, would have been a Bronze Age adventurer who lived at least 800 years before that play was written, and it may well be that this phase of his life after the mission to retrieve the Golden Fleece wasn’t even part of his original story.
LP: Many writers start out recreationally. At what point in the process of writing Jason, did you decide this was something you felt should be published? MK: Having had a taste of traditional publishing before with my first novel ‘The Consul’s Daughter’, I was aware of the amount of work that is involved before a novel is released. The research, writing and securing of an agent is only half of it! If a submission is subsequently taken on by a publisher – and that’s a big ‘if’, of course – there will usually be at least two major follow-up edits (structural and proofing), ancillary bits and pieces like the acknowledgements, historical notes, blurbs etc., not to mention the onus of marketing and promotion. I once asked a very similar question to an established writer twenty or so years ago and he laughed at me when I asked if he ever started out ‘for fun’! ‘There’s nothing fun about it!’ he said.Whilst I wouldn’t quite agree with that, and plenty of people do indeed write for relaxation and enjoyment, I think I need to have a clear goal to aim for to keep me motivated. Once you are under contract, you do have to treat it like a full-time job, and that does inevitably take some of the relaxation out of it, if not the pleasure. All that being said, it is definitely worth it for the sense of achievement.LP: Has your writing process changed and evolved through your time as an author? MK: It probably should have… I’m sure I should be more organised in planning and plotting but I find it quite difficult to stick to rigid frameworks, and I know I’m not the only one. Stories should be allowed the freedom to change and develop just like people, and I guarantee that even in lots of really successful books, how protagonists were initially conceived barely resembles how they look and behave in print.
LP: Clearly, both writing and teaching eat into quite a chunk of your time. How have you found balancing your time between your responsibilities as a teacher whilst writing? MK: Hats off to writers who are also single parents! When I wrote my first book, I was a police officer in London with no children. As demanding as that job was, I rarely ever took work home with me. My flatmate for a few years was an English teacher in Barking and he never seemed to stop working, even after he got home. It has been, I must say, very difficult but I’m blessed with a very understanding wife. Priorities must always be family (particularly with two young children), teaching and then writing, in that order. Holidays are invaluable but it’s a myth that teachers don’t work after term finishes and this is also when you have to be present for family and friends. I never expected to get a three-book deal and so, when the contract arrived and I saw I was initially expected to complete them all in a little over two years, I had to speak to my agent to see what could be done about extending the deadlines. In fairness, my editors at Head of Zeus have been very understanding and I couldn’t ask for better support but, even so, it’s always gone right down to the wire. In short, I’ve just had to get up early and work late for a few years. There’s no other way. It’s only for a limited time so I can’t complain, and in any event, what kind of idiot tries to get published and then complains that he has to do some extra work?!
LP: I think it’s fair to say, the environment of internet reviews can be a toxic one. Would you say you’ve managed to deal with criticism in a healthy way? MK: Yes, indeed it can. I always thought I’d developed a pretty tough skin after a decade of policing but it doesn’t matter who you are: the first negative reviews will always sting a bit. However, to quote the famous Theodore Roosevelt speech, it’s not the critic who counts, and there’s no doubt that some reviews tell you more about the reviewer than the book, particularly those that begin ‘I consider myself an expert in…’ Many of them have never entered the arena, after all.
Nevertheless, whether it’s sport or writing or teaching, it would be a mistake not to take some points from constructive criticism, even if one should never try to keep everybody happy. Ultimately, it’s part-and-parcel of life. I would say it’s never a good idea to try to engage with criticism on social media or industry platforms, however, and I do think some people feel they thrive on toxicity. Such people are best left to play by themselves.
LP: Why do you think retellings of Classical myths have become so popular with today’s audience?
MK: The market for myth-based retellings is booming but, at some point, it will saturate, like all fashions do. I suppose it’s actually been bubbling away for a while. The Percy Jackson series of books is enduringly popular, of course, and the appetite for escapism in books is one of the primary reasons why people read fiction. As I mentioned before, though, Madeline Miller’s beautifully lyrical ‘Circe’ has undoubtedly had a big influence in galvanising popularity. You’ll sometimes hear people talk of successful storytelling as taking a concept, elevating it and giving it a twist. Madeline Miller achieved that by taking a minor goddess, a marginalised nymph, and looking at the world through her eyes, not the eyes of Odysseus or other men. It’s a really clever conceit. You only have to see how many feminist retellings it’s spawned to see how she has captured the zeitgeist of feminist empowerment.
LP: Many modern retellings of Classical myths focus upon the voices of the underrepresented, however in order to tell such stories often some of accuracy of the myth is lost. Would you say that the chance to portray Classics in a much more inclusive light is worth the cost of historical inaccuracy?
MK: This is a great question. Nobody has a divine right to determine what can and can’t be done with myths: after all, the Greeks were apparently happy to accept several versions of the same story. And that is all they are, at the end of the day: stories. When critics get so hung up on historical inaccuracy, it’s a bit of a non-starter.
I have seen novels that are trying to tap into some of the popularity of Greek myths in the strangest of ways, including a book with Hades reimagined as a bartender. Anything that gets people interest in Classical myths is a win, really, especially if it prompts discussion about modern values and morality. For example, when Cassandra is cursed by Apollo because she tried to refuse his unwelcome advances, the god cursed her to foretell the truth but never be believed. When Calypso bitterly complains that she is forced to give up Odysseus because the gods have ordered her to, she asks why it is that male deities are allowed to do as they please. We may think these issues are relatively modern, especially in light of the #MeToo movement, but the Greeks were contemplating them thousands of years before us!
These are just two examples of how Classical myths resonate down the ages but illustrate that they have plenty to teach us still.