Review: "Beyond the Glass Slipper" & Writing Contest with Cash Prizes!

Lesser known fairy tales from The Olive Fairy Book by Kate Baylay

I just wrote a review on Amazon for Beyond the Glass Slipper: Ten Neglected Tales To Fall In Love With by Kate Wolford and wanted to share it for two reasons:

1) It's a wonderful book and I highly recommend it
2) There's a writing contest in celebration of the book's release with a $200 cash prize for 1st place and four runner-up prizes of $50 each! (NO FEE TO ENTER.)

You don't need to purchase the book - just be inspired by the tales within (you can easily find the texts online). You have just over a month till the deadline (August 15, 2013 at 11:59pm EST).

However:

I do recommend investing your $10 because this book will get the ideas bubbling very quickly and keep the creative juices flowing (not to mention keep you smiling with Kate's witty commentary and behind-the-tale insights!) and whether you win or not, you won't find this a bad purchase in any way.

To the review!

✒ ✒ ✒ ✒ ✒ (click the "Read more" link below this line) ✒ ✒ ✒ ✒ ✒ 

More please!, July 8, 2013 By Gypsy Thornton "InkGypsy" (USA) This review is from: Beyond the Glass Slipper: Ten Neglected Fairy Tales To Fall In Love With (Paperback)  I have lost count of the books I've read presenting a collection of fairy tales but I can guarantee I've rarely enjoyed reading any collection like I did Beyond the Glass Slipper.  Why?  The tales are lesser known, somewhat off-beat and are specifically NOT the standard fairy tale formula you've read a thousand times. This is a very cool and unique thing and earns a star just for that, but it's not the main reason I enjoyed the read.  The tales are introduced like dear but kooky relatives in informal (but very informative) ways. They're also annotated (often with a nudge and a wink) so you're not just left with a wad of dry, archaic wordage that a tired brain might have trouble following. Again, though that's also worth a star - possibly two - it's not the main reason I loved the book either.    Lesser known fairy tales from The Olive Fairy Book by Kate Baylay I loved the book because it felt like Kate was right there sitting next to me, chatting about the tales, commenting via witty and humorous introductions, to piping up through the texts with many quip-like annotations; (like "how weird is that?!" and "think of beards as manhood and if you shave them... well you get the idea.."). She poses questions, points out motifs, gives us insider-information and is so down-to-earth I found myself literally scribbling down replies here and there, fully intending to email her as if she had asked me personally (until I got to the end and realized that filling her inbox with random replies might just come off as the most bizarre spam ever).  If you're a writer looking to retell a tale or try writing one of your own, watch out: you will be brimming with story ideas after just a tale or two! I suggest you keep a notebook handy...  Lesser known fairy tales from The Olive Fairy Book by Kate Baylay Even the online/on-page bibliography is interesting, being one of the most "conversational" I've ever read, all laid out like shining pebbles to easily follow to your next fairy tale fix!  The only thing that was missing from this book was a bunch of people to read it with so you could converse in real time - because that's what this book makes you want to do - to explore the tales, to discuss them, to think of other ways the tales could go or to tell whole new ones. Luckily Kate provides a place for online interaction through Enchanted Conversation so we're not left desperately full of ideas with no one to talk to about them!  While the book is not meant to be scholarly, I can see a lot of readers being launched into further study of fairy tales, simply because this is clearly both fascinating and entertaining stuff in Kate Wolford's adept hands. Beyond theGlass Slipper is a wonderful introduction to fairy tales overall and perfect prep for deeper academic explorations too. In fact, next time I put together a packet of books for fairy tale lovers and/or students, I'll be squeezing this one in there as well.  I only have one request: more please Professor Wolford!  Gypsy Thornton  -*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*  Lesser known fairy tales from The Olive Fairy Book by Kate Baylay The tales in the book are: The Nixy (The Yellow Fairy Book, Andrew Lang 1894) The Soldier and the Vampire (Russian Folk-Tales, W. R. S. Ralston 1873) The Three Pennies (Danish Fairy and Folk Tales, J. Christian Bay 1899) Fairy Gifts (The Green Fairy Book, Andrew Lang 1892) The Loving Pair (Hans Christian Andersen's Fairy Tales edited by J. H. Stickney 1916) The Dirty Shepherdess (The Green Fairy Book, Andrew Lang 1892) Gifts of the Little People (Grimm's Fairy Tales, edited by Edna Henry Lee Turpin 1903) The Blue Light (Fairy Tales By The Brothers Grimm, by Edgar Taylor and Marian Edwardes 1876) King Pig (The Nights of Straparola, translated by W. G. Waters 1894) Kisa the Cat (The Brown Fairy Book, Andrew Lang 1904) Here's a quick summary of the contest details: BEYOND THE GLASS SLIPPER WRITING CONTEST (No submission fee)  Grand Prize: $200 ~ Four Honorable Mention Prizes: $50 each  Deadline: August 15, 2013, at 11:59 p.m., EST.*  The (above) NOT-YOUR-USUAL tales should serve as inspiration for stories or poems you submit. They, are, of course, in the book, and you can find them online as well. But the contest is designed to celebrate the book.  ***Open to all 18+***Spread the word!*** Write & Win $!***Details at link***  Full details can be found HERE.  Yes - it's open to EVERYONE! (18yrs+). Have fun and write a fairy tale! You never know - you just might win.