VBT: Song of the Oceanides by J.G. Zymbalist

Song of the Oceanides

by J.G. Zymbalist

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GENRE:  YA Fantasy

BLURB:

Song of the Oceanides is a highly-experimental triple narrative transgenre fantasy that combines elements of historical fiction, YA, myth and fairy tale, science fiction, paranormal romance, and more.  For ages 10-110.

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Excerpt One:

Blue Hill, Maine.

3 August, 1903.

From the moment Emmylou heard the song of the Oceanides, she recognized something godly in the tune.  As it resounded all across the desolate shoreline of Blue Hill Bay, she recalled the terrible chorus mysticus ringing all throughout that extinct Martian volcano the day her father went missing down in the magma chamber.

Aunt Belphœbe followed along, guiding Maygene through the sands.  “Why don’t you go play in that shipwreck over there?”  Aunt Belphœbe pointed toward a fishing schooner run aground some fifty yards to the south.

When Maygene raced off, Emmylou refused to follow.  By now the chorus of song tormented her so much that an ache had awoken all throughout her clubfoot.  Before long she dropped her walking stick and fell to the earth.  Closing her eyes, she dug both her hands into the sands and lost herself in memories of the volcano.  How could Father be gone?  Though he had often alluded to the perils of Martian vulcanology, she never imagined that someone so good and so wise could go missing.

The song of the Oceanides grew a little bit louder and increasingly dissonant.

Opening her eyes, Emmylou listened very closely.  The song sounded like the stuff of incantation, witchcraft.  And even though she could not comprehend every word, nevertheless she felt certain that the Oceanides meant to cast a spell upon some unfortunate soul.

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AUTHOR Bio and Links:

J.G. Źymbalist began writing Song of the Oceanides as a child when his family summered in Castine, Maine where they rented out Robert Lowell’s house.

The author returned to the piece while working for the Martha’s Vineyard Historical Society, May-September, 2005.  He completed the full draft in Ellsworth, Maine later that year.

For more information, please see http://jgzymbalist.com

NOTE:  The book is for now.

LINKS:

http://www.amazon.com/JG-Zymbalist/e/B01B1ZLE2A/ref=dp_byline_cont_ebooks_1

https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/14930590.JG_Zymbalist

http://www.amazon.com/Song-Oceanides-JG-Zymbalist-ebook/dp/B01AM2I8MC

Interview with J G Zymbalist

Do you ever wish you were someone else? Who?

I wish I were a fisherman who lived peaceably on the ocean and had no compulsion to write whatsoever; for once I would have true peace of mind.  Even if I didn’t have a wife, I’d at least have a cat and lots of cat toys strewn about the otherwise empty house.  It would also be nice to have coffee every morning out on the beach.  Hopefully there would be a conveniently-sized piece of driftwood in lieu of a country chair.

What did you do on your last birthday?

Nothing special.  I work pretty much every day; I’m always in the page.  Time ceases to have meaning; therefore my own process of growing old ceases to have meaning.

What part of the writing process do you dread?

The redrafting.  Anyone can write a rough draft, but to redraft over and over is the stuff of proper writing.  At the same time, one must work with a professional editor and truly think about all of his or her suggestions and edits.  Some of the time, it’s difficult to understand the comment.  At that point, I find myself playing email tag with the editor trying to figure out what this or that cryptic reference means.   That can be mildly stressful.

Do you ever suffer from writer’s block?

No!  All my life, I’ve been the opposite.  I hear a word, and it instantaneously triggers some sort of idea for a bit of dialogue or an extra detail pertaining to something in a setting for this or that work in progress.  It’s a little bit like the problem the composer Robert Schumann had.  He would hear things in nature and immediately get an idea for a melody.  In the end, he could not bear it any longer and had to drown himself in the Rhine to put himself out of his misery.  At least that’s how the legend goes.   

Tell us about your latest release.

Here’s the spiel I usually tell people:  Song of the Oceanides is a quirky but poignant coming-of-age tale about children, Martians, freaky Martian hummingbird moths, and alluring sea nymphs.  

    The first thread relates the suspenseful tale of a Martian girl, Emmylou, stranded in Maine where she is relentlessly pursued by the Pinkerton Detective Agency’s Extraterrestrial-Enigma Service.  The second thread concerns her favorite Earthling comic-book artist, Giacomo Venable, and all his misadventures and failed romances.  The final thread deals with a tragic young lad, Rory Slocum, who, like Emmylou, loves Giacomo’s comic books and sees them as a refuge from the sea nymphs or Oceanides incessantly taunting and tormenting him.

    After that basic spiel, I usually end this way:  As much as anything, the triple narrative serves to show how art may bring together disparate pariahs and misfits—and give them a fulcrum for friendship and sense of communal belonging in a cruel world.

    By now that preceding blurb is pretty much etched into my brain.  I don’t even have to copy/paste it into an email or whatever; I can type the blurb at will and pretty much not make any mistakes other than a typo here or there.

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