Item #1: According to Editorial Anonymous (a blog of a children’s book editor):
Trend Watch: Persephone Is the New Zombies/Vampires
Well, I certainly wouldn’t have predicted this one. We’re seeing a lot of YA Persephone retellings. Maybe this is in part due to the greek myth renaissance effected by Mr. Riordan? I don’t know. Maybe it’s the appeal of the underworld? I just hope it’s not some nasty subconscious preference for kidnapping/rape stories. Whatever it is, between the undead, the walking dead, and the actually dead, there’s a hell of a lot of dead going around. Makes me a little wistful for the wizards and pirates.
(hat tip to Amøs Türnür)
Item #2: The theme for the first-ever New Orleans’ Witches Ball?
(hat tip to Bartlett Meeks)
For some… this time of year is the time of the descent into the underworld… a time of meditaion… and preparation for rebirth and renewal…. Persephone’s Descent seems apt.