Legends and Myths

The second manuscript I wrote centered around the myth of cardinals. Specifically, the saying goes "when cardinals appear, angels are near." The whole idea of the story is basically that the main character keeps seeing cardinals before important events in her life, and eventually realizes the visits are her mother, trying to guide her to the correct path.

I love this concept, and I'd really love to write future books about myths and legends. I'm not opposed to some famous myths, such as from the Greeks or other cultures, but the one thing I liked about the way the cardinal story came about was that the myth was woven into the story. It wasn't the main focus or a retelling, which I think would happen with a lot of the more famous myths and legends. I'm looking for more local folklore that I can weave into a broader story. For instance, in the town where I spent my first year of college, there are two trees that have grown within each other, called the "love tree." The legend says if you kiss someone under the tree, they will remain a part of your life forever. I could see incorporating that into a larger romance novel.

The problem I've found is that most of the legends I know about, particularly locally, are more appropriate for horror. Not far from my hometown, there's the legend of Moll Dyer, an accused witch who was chased out of the town and was found the next day frozen to death on a rock. The rock is said to be haunted or cursed. I mean, I might be able to turn that around into a romance or have a twist similar to the one in the Netflix Fear Street series (no spoilers, I promise) to give a slightly happier ending. My husband suggested I could have something like the ending to Wicked (this one has been out for a while, so if you haven't seen it, stop reading) where Elphaba doesn't actually "melt" at the end, everyone just thinks she does.

There is also the option to just create a myth in my story for the fictional town I create, and I have ideas for that as well, but what I loved about the cardinal story was that it was a fairly well known myth. I've seen various merchandise (pillows, blankets, art, ornaments, etc.) featuring cardinals with the quote above. I've love to find more myths like this one that I could incorporate into a story.