{Blog Tour + Giveaway} Guest post from George O'Connor!

Hi, readers of Sare-endipity! My name is George O’Connor, and I’ll be your guest blogger today as part of my ongoing blogcrawl.  I’m celebrating the release of my new book, Aphrodite: Goddess of Love, the sixth volume of my graphic novel series Olympians, which retells classic Greek myth in a graphic novel format. The eponymous Sarah has graciously (and bravely) allowed me to park myself here and write about anything I’d like.

So I admit it. I have an ongoing Google vanity alert that sends me notifications whenever some soul out there on the interwebs mentions a combination of the words ‘George’, ‘O’Connor’ and ‘Olympians’, I get a little email sent to me with a link to the aforementioned mention. Recently I received a link to this very site, a little article entitled “The Olympians (The First 6 Books)”.

Hey cool, thunk I, this is about me.

It was one of those reviews that anyone who has ever had anything they’ve worked on been reviewed loves to read. This reviewer just got my books. She understood them and dug them and said oh so many nice things about them. And at the end of the review, a promise of a special post on Olympians in a couple of weeks! Cool! It’s only then I realized that the special post she was referring to would be this very one you’re reading now, written by me.

Meta.

I’m being a little silly here, and more than a little longwinded, but what I wanted to talk about today was the act of putting yourself out there in a creative endeavor, and the joys and perils of reading what other people think about your work. A cartoonist friend of mine was recently lamenting the horror of reading his entry on Goodreads, and in truth it can be a dispiriting endeavor. I feel I’ve been pretty lucky so far in the review game. I definitely feel I get more positive reviews than negative. I tend to be a real 4 star type guy on Goodreads—judging from my reviews, a lot of people like my stuff, but it’s a more select few who love it. Critically speaking, I’m like a solid ballplayer, a strong performer with a good on-base percentage, but one who seldom makes it to the all-star game. 

I guess this is why I was so excited by Sarah’s Olympians review on this very site. I create Olympians for an all-ages audience—I want everyone from six to six hundred to read them and enjoy them—but, truthfully, the audience I create this series for is myself. Olympians is the series that I wanted to read when I was growing up, Olympians is the series I want to read now. I am so lucky to be able to be creating these books for myself and everyone else, and I’m glad that most people who read them like them. And when I encounter that review that really just gets what I’m doing, who seems to just love it—It’s amazing. It’s meeting a new friend, or a kindred spirit.

I’ve always wanted to write a piece about reviews and awards, but I’ve never figured out a way to do it without sounding like I was wallowing in sour grapes. I’d love it if Olympians won a big award, some sort of Caldecottian Newburyish affair, the sort that drives new readers to discover my little series, but I’m also just so happy to occupy my comfortable little ecological niche. A series enjoyed by many, but beloved by a comparatively select few, a select few whom I am truly proud to call my audience.

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HUGE thanks to George for stopping by on his blogcrawl :)  You can read my review of Olympians here.

I'm also super excited to be able to offer a Giveaway!  To win a copy of Aphrodite, just leave a comment with your  favorite character in Greek Mythology and why.

This Giveaway will run until 2/28/14.  Winner will be notified soon after. 

The Olympians (The First 6 Books)

By the Beard of Zeus!  George O'Connor's Olympians series is...amazing.

http://abcreads.blogspot.com/2013/07/george-oconnors-olympians.html

And the newest in the series:

I don't know why it took me so long to read these- no lie, they've been on my desk for almost 3 months.  I am FLOORED by how well-done this series is!

I was a Classical Studies minor, spent a summer in Greece when I was in high school, memorized Edith Hamilton's Mythology, and in my younger years wore out a Mickey Mouse mythology book.  The picture of Medusa with her snakey hair and dripping, body-less neck have stuck with me. I tried to find a picture to post here, but it seems it's been a long time defunct :-(  If anyone can help a girl out- it had a white cover, Mickey, Myths...(oh the irony of the librarian giving that description).

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Update: Oh my goodness, I found it! Thank goodness for eBay! Now to convince my husband our house needs more books...

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I won't go book-by-book, because I have a feeling it would be a lot of repetition of how much I love Olympians. So, I will do a general overview.

O'Connor uses beautiful language- his narrative reads like an epic poem, but is more approachable to younger (or reluctant) readers.  I would recommend starting with Zeus, but the books don't have to be read in order.  I just think Zeus and the whole creation story are a great kick-off (plus, there's an amazing illustration of the Titans that is haunting and powerful.)  

The bold colors and illustrations sweep you up, and before you know it, you're halfway (or all the way) through the book.  Actually, I had a stack of these in front of me at work for this review.  As I was reading one, one of our regular boys (a bit of a reluctant reader) came and sat across from me.  I told him he could look at them if he wanted.  He sat there for an hour, and read three of the books.  He said he loved the stories and the illustrations, and I was excited to tell him that there are more coming!

Each book focuses on an Olympian, but also on those involved with their stories.  For example, we learn about Hera, but also Heracles/Hercules.  We learn about Athena, but also Arachne and Medusa.  We learn about Poseidon, but also Odysseus and Minos.  

The books also include notes about the writing process, a glossary with translations, information on characters, discussion questions (like, "Zeus's dad tries to eat him.  Has your dad ever tried to eat you?")  As well as a bibliography and recommended reading for different age groups.

I especially enjoyed O'Connor's takes on certain situations, and even more enjoyed that he is trying to tell the women's stories, too.  "For when the men of ancient Greece wrote down their stories, they did not think to ask the women theirs." (Hera, p. 65)  This, of course, gives a deeper appreciation and understanding of the goddesses, and other female characters.  There are things I had overlooked or never thought of before, in my mythology reading/classes, and I love that this is a medium for a new take, a new perspective on such ancient stories.  Bravo, George.  Bravo.

Honestly, if the next six books are anything like the first- I will be getting the entire collection for my department, and for my home.  

I would recommend this series to all ages.  Anyone interested in mythology or folklore, Greek history/culture, superheroes (cuz really, these are the first superheroes), comic books...just...so much awesome!  Annnd...stay tuned for a special post in a couple of weeks!  In the meantime, you can follow the Blog Tour for Aphrodite here.

The Olympians series is published by :01 First Second. Copies provided by my awesome Public Library System/Consortium.