Gods of Pestilence, and
Other Happy Subjects
J.L. Bryan
Hello, Strange Candy readers! Jo-Anne
suggested I write about the mythology behind the main characters in
my novel Jenny Pox, in which
each of three main characters has a unique paranormal ability (or
curse, depending on your perspective). So I'll ramble about that for
a minute, and I promise I'll try to avoid any spoilers—no
guarantees! Please feel free to ask any questions in the comments
form below.
Jenny Pox
occurs in a world nearly identical to our own. Readers categorize
the book as “paranormal,” but you won't find any fae, werewolves,
supernatural detective agencies, angelic orders or secret vampire
societies. The paranormal elements in this story are restricted to
the supernatural abilities of the main character Jenny, her nemesis
Ashleigh, and Seth, the boy they both like. Beyond that, the story
might take place in any regular small town in America. As with a
tightly controlled scientific experiment, I wanted as few variables
as possible. In Jenny Pox,
those variables happen to be paranormal.
Jenny spreads a
deadly supernatural plague to anyone she touches, animal or human.
She can't turn off her power, so she spends her life avoiding people
as much as possible, because she doesn't want to hurt anyone. This
makes her existence very lonely and painful—then she discovers a
boy in her town, Seth, has the opposite power. He can heal with his
touch. This means their powers cancel out, and Jenny can safely
touch him.
Things aren't that
simple, though. Seth already has a girlfriend, who is Jenny's
opposite in many ways—popular and influential where Jenny is a
complete loner, strikingly pretty where Jenny is small and pale and
invisible, ruthless about using her power where Jenny completely
restrains herself from ever using her own. Ashleigh's touch makes
people feel love, and she uses it relentlessly to manipulate and
control others.
I love ancient
mythology of all kinds, but these powers weren't based specifically
on any one set of myths. In any polytheistic system, you will find
a god or goddess associated with pestilence, healing and love, so I
drew on a rich variety of sources to enhance the story. The Egyptian
goddess Sekhmet, for example, was a perfect parallel to Jenny, and
some of Jenny's character was drawn from research into that goddess,
who was extremely important in early Egypt but little remembered
today, even among people who like ancient mythology.
The
myths I considered most heavily aren't ancient and aren't mentioned
directly in Jenny Pox.
I'm a fan of H.P. Lovecraft, like most people with an interest in
supernatural stories. In Lovecraft, the background is that old,
wicked gods once ruled the universe, but were banished with the
arrival of order and light. The old gods are waiting in the darkest
depths of the universe to return, destroy life and reassert their
rule. Some humans want to help them do this.
[possible spoilers ahead!]
Drawing on Lovecraft, I imagined what might have if such primordial
spirits found their way into the human reincarnation system (there is
reincarnation in the world of Jenny Pox).
They bring with them powers that didn't actually have any
meaningful physical expression before they took on physical forms.
And then—what if, through hundreds of incarnations, some of these
spirits began to learn compassion and, in general, how to be human?
Assuming humans reincarnate for the purpose of learning and growing,
maybe some of these very old and evil spirits begin to learn the
lessons that human souls are meant to learn by incarnating. And some
of them aren't quite so evil anymore—they're turning good, so to
speak. But not all of them are! Some keep to their original evil
and destructive nature, and treat human beings like playthings.
In the story, the
characters don't know their own backgrounds, in this larger sense.
They consider themselves human beings with odd, inexplicable
abilities. They learn more about their deeper background in the
course of the story.
That's
a quick look at the mythology involved in Jenny Pox.
I'm open to questions, if you have any!
J.L.
Bryan
studied English literature at the University of Georgia and at
Oxford, and then studied screenwriting at UCLA. He is the author of
Jenny
Pox and
three other novels. His Haunted
E-Book International Blog Tour
will begin in January, with great giveaways like an Amazon Kindle and
The Haunted Library ebook collection.
Want to win a copy of Jenny Pox? Then leave a comment on this post with your email address.
Giveaway ends Saturday 11th December.
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On another note, I'll have the winners from the Jennifer Rardin tribute up hopefully by tomorrow.
