After feverishly editing for about an hour, I have finished the first story in The Constellations collection. Only eighty-seven more to go!
You can read “Andromeda” here.
It’s about Andy, her dog Percy, and the surprising utility of a frozen rutabaga.
Also, by drop party, I mean me toasting myself with a bottle of rum. Bloody pandemic.
My story is loosely inspired by the ancient Greek myth about Andromeda, after whom the constellation is named. I’ll summarize the myth here; you might enjoy reading Euripedes’ play Andromeda, or, more likely, you might enjoy reading Ovid’s account of the myth in his excellent book of yarns, Metamorphoses.
Anyways, Cepheus and Cassiopeia rule an ancient coastal kingdom in Africa. Cassiopeia appears to have been a dumb vain twat, since she declares herself more drop dead gorgeous than the Nereids (sea nymphs, Poseidon’s groupies). Puffed up mortals never seem to fare too well in these myths. Poseidon gets his panties in a twist about the whole business and sends the terrible sea monster Cetus to harass the kingdom. Since the answer to any problem is a virgin sacrifice (the oracle says so), Cepheus and Cassiopeia decide to feed their daughter Andromeda to the monster to appease it. They chain her to a rock in the sea, much like plating a tasty morsel as a snack for your frenemy.
Right. So here comes the hero Perseus (he’s an ancient Greek hero; thus, by modern standards he’s really more of a “hero”), fresh off butchering a Gorgon named Medusa. He flies in, kills the monster with his sword, and flies off with Andromeda. There’s some business about uncle-niece incest and Perseus turning someone to stone with Medusa’s severed head and arranged marriages, but honestly I think I got distracted by something shiny around that point.
A number of these characters, not just Andromeda, have constellations named after them (which just goes to show, they’ll name a constellation after anyone).