How did “Philoctetes in Kabul” originate? What inspirations did you draw on?

There was an anthology call for stories that took inspiration from Greek and Roman mythology, but that used them for unexpected voices. Around the time of the anthology call, the US withdrew from Afghanistan. While many supported that decision, a great many soldiers were left feeling that they’d betrayed those to whom they’d made promises over there, and that they’d left a job undone. My dad was a veteran of both Korea and Vietnam, so I have a lifelong sympathy for our veterans, their struggles to deal with a civilian world that doesn’t understand them or their service. So when I re-read the myths about Philoctetes, and how he was abandoned by his fellows for being wounded and generally inconvenient to them, and couldn’t make connections to the inhabitants of the island on which he was abandoned because he was foreign to them, and as a soldier, threatening to them, my mind immediately leaped into parallels with soldiers today. What someone would have to say to convince someone to come back and serve again—even betrayed by his fellows once, it might have looked better than stagnating in retirement, right? Admittance back into the close bonds of brotherhood, right? It all swirled around in my head, and became this story.

Where are you in this story?

Well, I have a diagnosis of PTSD, which hits me at the oddest times, and I deal with it with a mix of medications and self-awareness. It took me a long time to admit that I had it, because it seemed ludicrous that I of all people would have it. But it doesn’t take a war-zone to create the condition, unfortunately. I have deep sympathy for others who suffer from it—the more so when they’ve been through so much more than I have to cause it. I also have a chronic, “invisible” condition, and know a lot of people with far worse ones. I talked to one acquaintance with ME/CFS, and asked a migraineur to read through the story before I started submitting it, to make sure I was capturing the frustrations of chronic illness appropriately and sympathetically.

Is there anything you want to make sure readers noticed?

You can read more about Philoctetes in both the Iliad and in a play by Sophocles! (The play is on my “to be read” pile. It’s a tall pile, and a broad one.)

Other than writing, do you have any other creative pursuits? What do you do to relax?

I play roleplaying games and video games; I embroider, and I crochet. I like listening to Critical Role podcasts when I have the time, and, of course, I like to read. I also have a fourteen-year-old son, who keeps me on my toes.

What are you working on lately? Where else can fans look for your work?

I work on so many different projects, it’s really slightly ridiculous. I have a new poetry chapbook out this year from Aqueduct Press, called From Voyages Unreturning. I’ve been working on a TTRPG called Tinytown, which I’m hoping to have news about soon. I have a novel that I’m hoping to be able to announce information about soon as well. Really, the best place to keep up with me is on Facebook (facebook.com/deborah.davitt.3), or at my website, edda-earth.com.