On April 2, 2026, I wrote the final sentence of Atalanta of the Wild , my third novel. It is the product of six months at my desk and years of intermittent travel through Greece in search of the landscapes that first gave these myths their hold upon me.
This novel arose from my return to Atalanta’s tale in Ovid’s Metamorphoses , where her transformation into a lion is told in but a handful of lines. In that brevity, I found the question that shaped my book: what manner of woman is so briefly dismissed by myth, and what sorrow lies in what is left unsaid?
Atalanta of the Wild follows her from her abandonment on Mount Parthenion, through her service to Artemis, the Calydonian boar hunt, the footraces, her marriage to Hippomenes, and the divine punishment that transforms them both into lions. At its heart is her friendship with Néos, her closest companion, who will not forsake her even when the gods have changed her beyond human reckoning.
I have written it in archaically inspired English—the language of fifteenth- and sixteenth-century chronicles—so readers may feel some sense of temporal distance: not as imitation, but as atmosphere. I have also grounded it in the archaeology and geography of Bronze Age Greece, all of which I have walked myself: the plains of Tegea, ancient Corinth, the slopes of Mount Helikon, and the roads that bind Arcadia to Boeotia.
If you enjoy the prose traditions of Mary Renault, Dorothy Dunnett, Hilary Mantel, Umberto Eco, or Patrick O’Brian, this novel is written for you.
The novel is currently in production for print and ebook editions, with publication expected in mid-to-late May 2026 (likely May 28, subject to final adjustments.)
The dedication is to my parents, Luzia and José, written in iambic pentameter verse. My acknowledgments are to Yolis, my confidante, who inspired Atalanta’s character and whose patience and support are a constant presence in my creative endeavors.
Atalanta of the Wild is a standalone novel. If you have read my earlier works, you will recognize the same interest in myth as tragedy, and in landscape as lived experience. If you have not, this book will stand on its own.
I will share an update when the publication is finalized. Until then, I return to the final stage of preparation: ensuring the physical form of the book reflects the care with which it was written.
Rio de Janeiro, the xxvii day of Aprille, MMXXVI