Over at Fictionmania there’s a story category called ‘Cultural Change’ and perhaps it’s an interesting one because it sees a character having to cope with more than just the changes that have been wrought upon their own body. (Since we’re talking Fictionmania, for ‘character’ you might often want to read ‘victim’…)
In Egyptology, I wanted to show a protagonist who didn’t admire her new, feminine body and declare “these are fun to play with,” happily settling into a new role where she has a vastly magnified sex life because (as the prevailing logic of transvestite fiction teaches us) she’s a woman and women are sexy.
As a reincarnation of Professor Grant Summers, Aisha Burnside acknowledges that she’s received quite possibly the most fantastic gift ever. Who wouldn’t want to live again? Even so, while she’s got his knowledge to call upon, she’s also got some new disadvantages: she encounters discrimination because she’s young, she’s female, she’s disabled and she isn’t white. While the action all happens in Egypt and she’s Egyptian-born, she doesn’t fit well within the structure and traditions of an American university department.
I wanted to explore what it was like for her to encounter the frustrations of having to “start again” while dealing with the (usually unconscious) biases of the people around her. That she is also newly certain that the gods of Egypt are real and still involved in the lives of people just adds an additional level of complexity.
As I wrote the story I grew to love that troubled, frustrated girl. You might find that hard to believe, given some of the trials that I visited upon her, but don’t worry: she’s resourceful!
I think, even from the freebie portion that you can view at Amazon, you’ll see that I managed a new mode of magical transformation. I hope you’ll choose to read on, after that, to see how she gets on.
Egyptology is available via Amazon from July 21st, 2021.
Sugar and Spiiice 
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