I haven't heard of the Hero's Journey, but it sounds as if the literary basis for it is Odysseus. The Greek writer Nikos Kazantzakis said that there are only four archetypes in Western Literature, Odysseus, Faust, Don Quixote and Hamlet.

I tried writing a noir musical with a weak protagonist and it just didn't work. Audiences could'

t grasp it. He was destroyed in the end because of his inattention. They wanted struggle and some kind of triumph in the end but it was all blues music and based on the blues, so the real theme was 'Goin' Down Slow'. A great song by the way, written by St. Louis Jimmy Oden and covered by such great artists as Champion Jack Dupree, Lightning Hopkins, Suunyland Slim, Howlin' Wolf, Eric Clapton and Duane Allman.

Shameless plug - Please look out for my next noir blues musical, 'Deadly in Silk' complete with musical links in Serial Stories starting on March 2nd.