Article: 'Fairy Tales for Resistance #RRR' by Gypsy Thornton

"We are all Red" (unofficial title) by Cuban artist ARES

Our Fairy Tale News Hound has a special article up on Enchanted Conversation today. It's all about the importance of fairy tales when it comes to resistance.

Here's the opening paragraph:

In fairy tales, wolves show their insides are the same as their outsides (despite their silver tongues), beanstalks prove to their climbers that greed is the true giant (though other big troubles may appear on the way) and flowers speak up to protest their plucking (even as they sink in their thorns). When impossible things happen, you begin to question reality. It's one of the reasons fairy tales are so very needed. Sometimes that Wonder, that impossibility, is the very thing that wakes us up and invites us to challenge the norm.

You can keep reading at Enchanted Conversation HERE.

We hope you will be inspired to keep use, telling and retelling fairy tales, and find solidarity with many others as you do. The hashtag/label, #RRR, that we're using on our Once Upon A Blog website, is searchable and by clicking it, you can find lots of inspiring reading, viewing and more. New posts are being tagged regularly and the recommendations are growing all the time.

While you're over at Enchanted Conversation, don't forget that:

• You can sign up for the Fairy Tale Round Up Newsletter (which OUABlog and Timeless Tales contribute to). The first newsletter went out some time ago and the next will very shortly (within the week). You can find the sign-up in the side bar HERE or learn more about it before signing up HERE.

• Enchanted Conversation is about to release their Donkeyskin issue, and Kate Wolford has just announced the writers for it HERE. The recent Diamonds and Toads issue was superb and we're really looking forward to this one too.

Lots of Treasures in Enchanted Conversation's Diamonds & Toads Issue

Toads & Diamonds Ex Libris Etching
by Ukraine artist Konstantin Kalinovich

Enchanted Conversation, Fairy Tale Magazine, has just released their Diamonds and Toads Issue - and it's wonderful!

New contributing editor, Amanda Bergloff, has created some unique digital art for each of the stories and poems in this issue, making the chosen entries even more fun to read.

Although Kate Wolford, always curates wonderful writing, we've particularly enjoyed this issue's creative short stories and evocative poems. While we acknowledge that we might be influenced due to this fairy tale being one of our favorites, and that we got uninterrupted time to read the whole issue in one lovely sitting with some fabulous tea to go with it, we maintain it's a great issue with lots of lovely writing, well worth your time to peruse.

You can find the 'entry' and Table Of Contents to this current issue HERE.

And, if you're interested, Gypsy wrote a personal entry, reflecting on retellings of this fairy tale, at Fairy Tale Footnotes HERE.

Merry Krampusnacht! We Are Reading 'He Sees You When He's Creepin': Tales of Krampus'

Tonight, December 5th, is Krampus Night or Krampusnacht - the night before the feast of Saint Nicholas (December 6th). Krampus has had a bit of a revival in recent years, becoming a better known figure in pop culture, but not just as "the horror story of Christmastime" but with respect to him being Santa's partner - his bouncer if you will. Krampus' scary appearance and tools of chains and "switches" are especially for taking the wicked - the Devil through to very bad children - to task.

I have to say, if I was in Saint Nicholas' business, I'd want a formidable counterpart to help me out too! And that's exactly what Krampus traditionally does.

That doesn't mean that's the whole story though.

Kate Wolford - fairy godmother, mentor and cheering leader to fairy tale writers everywhere - has produced a second Krampus anthology, He Sees You When He's Creepin': Tales of Krampus, just in time for the season, and the range of stories are wonderful.

Kate introduces the twelve short stories with one of her brilliant, informative and accessible mini-essays, explaining the basics of Krampus for newbies but also putting some great meat in there for those more familiar with this old holiday character. (We are big fans of all of Kate's intros!)

The previous Krampus anthology released in 2014, Krampusnacht: Twelve Nights of Krampus, also helmed by Kate and produced by World Weaver Press, was a big hit, and hit the pop culture pulse in conjunction with the horror-light movie Krampus hitting the big screens the following year. (We keep hearing praise for that movie from very different sources, so while that's not our usual fare, we think it's time we had a viewing for our newsroom.)

In the meantime, we have been fortunate to have just received a copy of the second anthology and have been visiting Krampus stories right through the weekend, with much enjoyment and relish! Somehow these short stories manage to bring the season into focus, even while Krampus - and the darker side of folk - are in the spotlight, and that's quite an achievement. For example, the opening story, in which Krampus meets a less than saintly Cinderella (and ends up doing some very non-traditional fairy godmother work) was a wonderful surprise. There was much more to this story than at first met the eye and we were thrilled to find other folklore at home in fairyland, woven in as well. We wish we could say more to tease you in, but we don't want to spoil the twists and surprises... just grab yourself a copy and then we can chat. ;)

We may be teasing you more in the coming days up to the Winter solstice, so keep an eye out!

And for digital readers, finishing today - December 5th, aka Krampusnacht, you can get Kate's new second Krampus anthology for $3.99 as an ebook. We would suggest it's a lovely early present to send to someone who could use a dose of the season with a twist - or as a reward to yourself for surviving 2016.

Reminder & Update: Submissions Call for "Frozen Fairy Tales" Anthology

A special note from Kate Wolford of Enchanted Conversation. 

World Weaver Press and I are working on taking submissions for an upcoming fairy tale anthology set in winter. I can't emphasize enough that the field is wide open. 

We're super interested in holiday-related stories, but as long as a story is set in winter, it has a chance. A sense of winter and its perils and possibilities must be part your story.

Please familiarize yourself with  the kind of tales I've published on EC in the past. You can do that by looking at tales that have been published on EC. Just go to  fairytalemagazine.com and look under the banner for relevant details. 

Please note, it's new fairy tales we're looking for. No other kind of story. 

Also, don't make them too short. We've got a book to fill and a limited budget. By the same token, super-long ones have a lesser chance as well.

Full submission details for this anthology can be found HERE.

My book, Beyond the Glass Slipper, gives a lot of perspective on how I see fairy tales and how to make them new.

Also, there will be a giveaway for fabulous fairy-tale art by Paula Richey soon, so keep visiting the site. 

Kate Wolford

Creator & Editor - Enchanted Conversation

If you love fairy tales and have been looking to add to your paid published resume, or want to be published but haven't yet, this is an opportunity for you! 

PS: You have just SIX WEEKS till the deadline!

Submissions Call: Frozen Fairy Tales Anthology (from Enchanted Conversation)

(Reposted from Enchanted Conversation, in full, with permission. The original post is HERE. This is a paid writing opportunity.)

In the bleak midwinter, the call of fairy tales can be especially irresistible. After all, fairy tales both take us out of our humdrum world and into the possibilities of what can be--or maybe even is. A fairy tale read in winter can help us dream through the the cold days and nights.

Yet, surprisingly few fairy tales are specifically set in winter. With Frozen Fairy Tales, we're hoping to remedy that.

In a joint venture between World Weaver Press and Enchanted Conversation: A Fairy Tale Magazine, we're opening up to submissions for a fairy tale collection set in winter. Details are below.

The Winter by Vladimir Kireev

1) You must be 18 or older to submit.

2) Submissions must be in English, but submissions from all over the world are most welcome.

3) No stories connected to the movie Frozen will be considered. It's a great movie, but this anthology is not at all about that film.

4) Stories centered on winter holidays are most welcome, but stories do not need to be holiday focused. Krampus-themed stories will be considered, but please do not resubmit stories that were previously submitted for the Krampusnatch collection.

5) A sense of winter and its perils and possibilities must be part your story.

6) This is a fairy tale collection, which means the sensibility of the stories should evoke classic fairy tales. You do not need to retell famous fairy tales reset in winter, but you may. 

Nonetheless, the classics have been retold a lot lately, so fresher takes with more originality stand a better chance of being selected, as do retellings of obscure fairy tales. But think winter!

7) Please, no erotica, hard-core horror or sci-fi.

8) Open submission period: March 6-May 15, 2015.

9) Length: Under 10,000 words.

10) Submission method: Email cover letter and story to enchantedconversation [at] gmail [dot] com with the subject line “Frozen Fairy Tales Anthology – story title.” Cover letter should contain your name, contact info, story’s title, and approximate word count; no need to summarize the story, let it speak for itself. Then paste the full story into the body of the email following your letter. Please make it very clear where paragraphs break — this means if your email doesn’t let you indent paragraphs, you’ll need to put an extra space between each paragraph for submission purposes. Do not send unrequested attachments.

Simultaneous submissions = okay. Multiple submissions = no.

11) Rights and compensation: Payment: $20. All contributors will receive a paperback copy of the anthology.

We are seeking first world rights in English and exclusive rights to publish in print and electronic format for twelve months after publication date after which publisher retains nonexclusive right to continue to publish for a term. No reprints will be considered. That means only previously unpublished works will be considered.

 

Fairy Tale News New Year's Bumper Edition: Fairy tale journals/magazines/online 'zines

• ** NEWLY ADDED AT 2:30PM ** Cabinet Des Fées Issue 9 is live! (Cabinet Des Fées in an online magazine offering new fairy tale fiction and poetry three times a year. The 'zine is known for it's excellence and scholarship and provides many wonderful fairy tale resources. You can see the wonderful range of tales and treatments just by glancing at their main page, which has enticing 'snapshots' [mini previews] of the contents.)

• Goblin Fruit's Winter 2010 Issue is live! (Goblin Fruit is a fairy tale/mythic poetry 'zine that now includes an audio component. This issue features an 'Editor exchange' with Mythic Delirium so 'diabolical guest Editor' Mike Allen is in charge of the offerings at Goblin Fruit while our talented GF Editors are reeking havoc - I mean, taking the reins - at Mythic Delirium. The topics for the Issue are darkly delicious...)

• Enchanted Conversation continues to draw readers and interesting comments on the subject of Sleeping Beauty, and don't forget a thoughtful comment of a couple of paragraphs enters you into a contest too!

• Fairy Tale Review 2009 Aquamarine Issue is available for purchase. (Fiction, non-fiction and poetry on fairy tales and their continuing influence today, helmed by the amazing Kate Bernheimer who has edited some of the best essay collections on fairy tales to date.)

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BACK TO: CONTENTS

The Enchanted Conversation Begins... Tomorrow!

* STOP THE PRESSES * STOP THE PRESSES * STOP THE PRESSES *

2010 promises to be a great year for fairy tales in more ways than one.
Our year starts off with the premier issue of a brand new fairy tale 'blogazine', right on January 1st - tomorrow!

Happy New Year indeed!

Enchanted Conversation is an online 'zine with new stories and retellings, poems, articles, book reviews, new and classic/golden age art and even contests! It's a fantastic and very welcome addition to our fairy tale reading, writing and research, helmed by an awesome woman, Kate Wolford,* who really knows what she's doing.

Sleeping Beauty
by Sir Edward Burne-Jones

The first issue's theme is Sleeping Beauty and there's lots to explore (see Kate's Introduction for a quick overview of what's in the issue HERE).

What are you waiting for? Go join the conversation!

Click HERE to get started.

*Kate Wolford is a university lecturer and teaches both creative writing and a course on fairy tales at IUSB (Indiana University South Bend). She kindly makes her fairy tale teaching and resource blog "Diamonds and Toads" available to anyone who's interested in the study and reading of fairy tales - a topic which is clearly dear to her heart. I consider it a great privilege to call her a friend of Once Upon A Blog. Kate is committed to furthering the interest and study of fairy tales for all (think fun with substance!) and her magazine employs this principle along with a high standard of excellence in writing and research, so expect great things in this issue and in the ones to come.