I am very pleased to share that my short story, “Heart of Stone” has been published in the online literary journal Crow & Cross Keys! You can read it over on the CCK website – and be sure to check out the other amazing work they’ve published while you’re at it!
This story is a modern re-imagining of the myth of Pomona and Vertumnus, so if you like mythology and/or stories where women get revenge, then this is definitely for you. I hope you enjoy it!
If you’re interested in reading more about the backstory behind this piece, keep reading below.
In the spring of 2020, I was finishing my last semester of undergrad and taking mostly electives. One of the courses I chose was titled “Ancient Epic,” where we spent the semester reading the Iliad and Odyssey, followed by the Aeneid. Our final book for the class was Ovid’s Metamorphoses, which is a narrative poem that collects over 250 myths (thanks, Wikipedia), some of which may be more familiar than others.
One of the stories towards the end of the Metamorphoses is that of Pomona and Vertumnus, which tells the tale of a nymph named Pomona who spends her days working in her orchard. She forbids men from entering, though several have tried and failed to gain her attention. I won’t summarize the entire story here, but you can read an English translation online if you’re interested (you will have to turn to the next page to complete the story).
When I read this story for the first time, I felt rather let down by the ending. I thought Pomona seemed perfectly content in her solitude, and yet the story concludes with her marrying someone. So, when our professor gave us the option to rewrite one of the myths in the Metamorphoses as our final assignment for the course, I knew exactly what I wanted to do.
As a result, “Heart of Stone” – or at least an early version of it – was born. It wasn’t until two years later that I returned to the story and decided to revise it for publication. The process took many months, but I’m so thankful that “Heart of Stone” has found a home in Crow & Cross Keys. It’s a very important story to me, and I’m excited to be able to share it with the world!
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