I’m starting something new this year: I’ll be sitting down with an author every month to talk about the stories behind their books, their process, and the themes that stay with us long after we finish reading.

And I was so excited that one of my favorite authors, Lauren J.A. Bear (Medusa’s Sisters, Mother of Rome, Aphrodite in Pieces), agreed to help me kick off this series.

This conversation stayed with me long after we logged off.

We talked about what it means to rewrite the women at the center of mythology; not as symbols or side characters, but as fully human. Complicated. Misunderstood. Sometimes judged unfairly.

Aphrodite, especially, was one I didn’t realize I had such a fixed perception of. I think a lot of us do. She’s been reduced to beauty, desire, surface-level interpretations… and this book completely challenges that.

One of the biggest takeaways for me was how much of her story is tied to how others see her and how rarely we stop to ask who she is outside of that. Which, honestly, feels bigger than mythology.

We also talked about Rhea Silvia in Mother of Rome, and how often women in history are remembered for what they gave (or produced), rather than who they were.

If you love myth retellings that dig into identity, perception, and the complexity of women’s stories, this is absolutely a conversation worth watching.

I’ll be sharing clips throughout the month of April on Instagram, but the full interview is up now on YouTube.

💬 Question for you:
Which mythological woman do you think we’ve completely misunderstood?