Stone-Cold Heart

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• How Did Our Real-World Mythology Inspire Stone-Cold Heart's Story?
• How Does Stone-Cold Heart tie in to the Mythos World?
• Have a Question about Mythos or Stone-Cold Heart?

How Did Our Real-World Mythology Inspire Stone-Cold Heart's Story?

(Warning: Potential Spoilers Below...)

Real-World Mythology

Our gargoyle mythology grew out of the use of gargoyles (water spouts) and grotesques (decorative-only) on buildings, starting with designs found in ancient Egypt, Greece, and Rome. The practical purpose of gargoyles is to act as gutters and downspouts, keeping rain water from running down the sides of buildings and eroding the mortar. From a mythology perspective, these architectural elements were believed to protect the building or area from evil spirits, acting like a sacred stone scarecrow.

The idea that these statues might come to life is far more recent — and these brought-to-life beings are more likely to have negative connotations in their stories than their non-living brethren due to the various explanatory myths for how they came to life. Some stories say the statues were brought to life (or created) through magic (often by an evil wizard), while others blamed demon possession.

In comparison, stories of good living gargoyles are even more recent. The stone architectural gargoyles were sometimes thought to come to life at night to fight any lurking evil spirits, and then revert to stone during the day (as they obviously weren't moving then). Depending on the specific legend, gargoyles may or may not be conscious during their daytime stone hours, as some were able to watch over places even through their stone exterior. 

The original legend of gargoyles also involves dragons, as the story says the body of a defeated dragon (named La Gargouille) was burned, but after its fire-breathing head survived the flames, it was mounted onto the local church as a warning to others. Magical abilities commonly associated with gargoyles include immortality, shapeshifting into human form, winged flight, and invulnerability in their living form, while sunlight is a common weakness.

Stone circles are rings of standing stones, such as Stonehenge. Archeologists have theorized the purposes and uses of these ancient structures, but much remains a mystery, especially as they've been found all over the world, with the oldest ones in Egypt and India. In general, stone circles would have required significant effort and skills from these ancient cultures to build, so the theories behind their construction—such as astronomical observations—still feel lacking to many. 

They're often considered sacred spaces even today, as they're thought to previously be places for ceremonies, funerals, burials, or worship. Myths and superstitions cling to many of the circles, with warnings to avoid them, to watch out for curses, or to go with only certain intentions. Others are believed to be petrified giants, or used for human sacrifice rituals.

The Story within Stone-Cold Heart

The stories of the Mythos Legacy series take our real-world mythology and explore how they would apply to the beings if they really existed—but were hidden among us. In addition, these Mythos beings have their own storytelling legends, such as to explain their questions about the world (Do gargoyles have a soul?).

Many of the ideas mentioned above, from how (and why) gargoyles were created to the purpose of a stone circle, are explored in Stone-Cold Heart. The story reveals that gargoyles were created to be soldiers in a war, and all the limitations and weaknesses in their abilities—from what they need to do to avoid their stone form to restrictions on children—are due to their creators attempting to keep them from becoming too powerful.

The magical abilities listed above all apply, but sunlight isn't always a weakness for these gargoyles. However, their stone form is a time a real vulnerability for them, and the differences between their forms is a major part of the story. The stone circle in the story is special in acting as a portal to Mythos, and the hero suspects the human-made stone circles we know were just copycats of the gargoyle version. The heroine teases him about being a grotesque rather than a gargoyle—according to the "official" definition anyway—but she admits she doesn't find him gross at all. *snicker*

And check out this inspiration of an abandoned offshore oil drilling platform...

Want more “Behind the Scenes" for Stone-Cold Heart?
Check out Jami's writing-focused blog posts tagged with “Stone-Cold Heart"

Some readers may wonder whether Raquel’s military experience—serving on the front lines of combat alongside a special operations team—is realistic. After all, until recent policy changes, the United States military didn’t allow servicewomen into combat situations.

However, female soldiers with special combat training were attached to those special operations units, skirting the letter of the law. From 2011 through 2014, approximately 200 female soldiers completed the rigorous Cultural Support Team training and embedded with U.S. special operation forces.

These women served, risked their lives, and—yes, in some cases—died. Yet even most in the U.S. Army have never heard of the CST program, so to learn more, here are some of my research sources:

Women in Combat, in Their Own Words