"Stardust" To Air Via BBC Radio (& Gaiman's Many Other Projects!)

One of a number of covers for Vertigo comics by Charles Vess for Neil Gaiman's Stardust

Neil Gaiman is one busy and prolific creator, there is no doubt, but even while he is busy promoting no less than two new books and six re-releases with new artwork, (all of which you can see below and will be of great interest to fairy tale folk), as well as giving his stamp of approval to the upcoming American Gods TV series (airing in 2017 for Starz), he always seems to have other projects bubbling away in the background.

See an amazing preview of the Troll Bridge graphic novel HERE.

We are guessing the hammer will not spin as the book sits on your shelf...

This is a re-release with Chris Riddell's illustrations
(who was critically praised and awarded for his work on Gaiman's The Sleeper and the Spindle)

One of these that we'll be treated to in the Winter/Yule/Christmas Season, is a new, adapted, dramatized, audio performance of his story "Stardust".

The just-released new cover, painted by Robert E McGinnis.
While we're always happy to see more unicorns, Charles Vess' Yvaine and flowing ink lines
will always be iconic for us

Stardust is Gaiman's work du jour it would seem! There is a new release of the novel with a new cover by  - along with new covers for three other books of Gaiman's, (see below) and you did see Lisa Stock's lovely photo story posted a few days ago with Gaiman's blessing, correct?

Also painted by Robert E McGinnis

There's also a contest for those in the UK, to create some artwork to be featured as the front cover.

Charles Vess

The two competition winners will have their work featured as the episode image for the drama, as well as receiving a script signed by the cast. You’ll also get a beautiful print donated by Neil with a personal note. One winner will be selected from each of the following categories: entrants aged 13 - 16; entrants over 17.

Entries will be considered by four judges. They are:

• - Artist Chris Riddell - UK Children’s Laureate, political cartoonist for The Observer and illustrator for a number of Neil Gaiman stories

• - Actor Sophie Rundle - As the female lead Yvaine in Stardust, Sophie is close to the spirit of the Stardust story

• - Artist Sean Phillips - Sean has been a professional illustrator for over twenty-five years, mostly drawing comic books. He was the main artist on Radio 4’s Good Omens and has also worked for DC, Marvel, Vertigo and 2000AD

• Jeremy Howe, commissioning editor for Drama at Radio 4

You can find those details HERE.

Here's the cast list:

We hope BBC will see fit to broadcast this online so BBC - and Stardust - fans around the world will have the opportunity to hear it.

From the 2007 movie adaptation of Stardust, starring Claire Daines

"Goblin Market": An Art Book by Omar Rayyan

One of my favorite artists and illustrators, Omar Rayyan, is working on wrangling his many private art pieces, created in his personal time over the last decade and inspired by Christina Rosetti's 19th century poem Goblin Market, into a truly stunning book.

(You may know his name from the Folio edition of Andrew Lang's The Brown Fairy Book, among others.)

As Rayyan mentions, the narrative poem is rich with imagery, yet it's difficult to find many illustrations based on it. I, for one, don't understand why, but I feel the poem would be better known if we had more visual basis to share it, especially in this digital image-driven age. This book will go a long way to remedying that, and possibly inspire more works that cross the world from our known world to that of Faerie, as Marina Warner describes the "land" in which fairy tales exist (from Once Upon A Time: A Short History of Fairy Tale).

Omar Rayyan:

"This project of doing an illustrated version of "Goblin Market" came about while chatting with a few fellow artists at a dinner. Illustrator Ruth Sanderson planted the idea in my head at a time when I was searching for a personal project to work on outside of my regular commercial work, as a chance to flex my artistic muscles. I used it as an opportunity to explore the imagery found in Rossetti's poem, unfettered by conventional publishing concerns. Free from the vision of an outside party such as an art director, I made this a highly personal project.

The product of many years work, squeezing painting time in between my regular commercial obligations, I slowly amassed a large collection of images. The time finally arrived to assemble these images into a coherent presentation to share with the world. I am very excited to see this project come to fruition."

Rayyan is creating the book independently and has set up a Kickstarter to help make it happen.

Here's his Kickstarter video, which showcases a beautiful variety of pieces, and his multi-faceted approach to the material:

Unsurprisingly, the funding goal was reached on the first day but there's still plenty of time (14 days, ending September 23rd, 2016) to add support and secure a pre-order of the volume (possibly signed and with a print or with other bonuses, depending on the amount you contribute). Considering the price the book, and extras, would cost commercially, it could be considered a limited time offer bargain.

"Over one hundred drawings and watercolor paintings packed into an 88 page full color book. 10x12 inches, hardcover with a printed dust jacket and an introduction written by the one and only Charles Vess."

Rayyan has released Goblin Market pieces via social media here and there through the years, (his Facebook page is a delight to follow and his sense of humor is always evident) but most of these are yet to be viewed by the public. (All artwork in this post was created by Rayyan for Goblin Market.)

I'm really looking forward to seeing the layout and pieces chosen alongside Rosetti's words.

On the left are the sample pages he's currently share. (Look at all the sketchy-goodness and hand written text!)

Like most people, many of the supporter levels are out of my reach, but I'm always interested to see the creative ways in which artists reward their backers. 

I'm particularly tickled by the $10,000 reward. I'm not really sure he's expecting anyone will pay this, but you never know..

THE GOBLIN KING VISITS YOU 

A gift basket of fresh fruit, hand-delivered to your door by Omar himself! You get to spend one-on-one time with the artist, in your very own home. He will also deliver a signed special collector's limited edition of "Goblin Market" with sketch inside, and all sorts of other goodies. Date of delivery to be arranged. 

Tell me you're not a little envious of whomever can splash out $10,000 for goblin fruit!

Shaun Tan's "The Singing Bones" Is Coming!

If you've been following the blog for a while, you will know I am in awe of Australian artist Shaun Tan's work and one of his most recent artistic forays delved deep into the world of Grimm's fairy tales, producing beautiful and simple* sculptures for the new Phillip Pullman's translation of Household Tales - but only for the German edition. I bit the bullet and ordered a German copy to refer to while reading the English version I already had. It was money well spent!

I put a rather detailed and image-filled post about the book HERE and another HERE.
          
I was delighted at the time, to learn that Tan became so enamored of the tales that he continued creating 'tale sculptures' long after the Pullman book was finished.

And now, soon, we will be able to have them all together in a book! (Squee! #sorry #couldntbehelped)

It's due to be released in October in Australia and I have yet to find concrete details of overseas releases. Here is the official description:

The Singing Bones: Inspired by Grimms' Fairy Tales by Shaun Tan 

"Hauntingly beautiful visual vignettes in paper and clay."

In this beautifully presented volume, the essence of seventy-five fairy tales by the Brothers Grimm is wonderfully evoked by Shaun Tan's extraordinary sculptures. Nameless princes, wicked stepsisters, greedy kings, honourable peasants and ruthless witches, tales of love, betrayal, adventure and magical transformation: all inspiration for this stunning gallery of sculptural works.

Introduced by Grimm Tales author Philip Pullman and leading fairy tale scholar Jack Zipes, The Singing Bones breathes new life into some of the world's most beloved fairy tales.'These little figures of clay, with their simplified features, their single attributes, are perfect realisations of the strangeness of the characters they represent.' - Philip Pullman

                     
Don't you love that little fox? It's a musical instrument! Like an ocarina, and meant, I'm sure, to reflect music being played on the bones of one of the characters in the tale "The Singing Bone". (I love that tale and it's related sister fairy tale ballad "The Twa Sisters"!)

I have to admit I went through a phase quite a few years ago (counting back it was perhaps fifteen or more years ago now!) in which I was tired of seeing versions of the Grimm's tales and various illustrations, even when it was the lesser known ones. On the plus side it sent me searching far beyond the range of tales I knew and into a bumbling use of translator programs (and, when I was lucky, people) to search non-English web sites to help me find different tales and discussions, and I was never bored. What I didn't expect though, was to find out more about how the Germans viewed these national (often to them) tales and, in context, about the life and work of the Grimms and the many people they worked with too. I came across a whole different range of artists, both East and West, who had fresh new takes on the Grimm's tales and it quickly revived my love of the Household Tales collection. The more I saw and learned, the more I realized the tales could function as a branching out point to discover many new and wonderful fairy tales, as well as be a touchstone for context while researching.
                            
In recent years I've felt almost spoiled with how much has come to light (and been published) with regard to the Grimm's process, collecting, editing and writing. When the internet took a giant leap into the visual communication age, including using memes and uploading images from obscure texts and out-of-print books being shared on the web, I suddenly felt I was collecting pieces of a story that wasn't so distant and isolated from my contemporary experience, but ongoing and still affecting the world today.** Almost*** every major tale collection around the world and through history either was influenced by the work of the Brothers Grimm or they themselves were influenced by it. The threads, though sometimes thin, are stronger than I first realized and I've found I can no longer be blasé about the Grimms' tales and work.

To top that, just in the last year or so, we've had Philip Pullman's fresh translation of the popular edition of Household Tales, Jack Zipe's wonderful translation of the Grimm's First Edition (with Andrea Dezso's gorgeous silhouettes, which you can see a post on HERE) and Kate Forsyth's The Wild Girl historical novel, which, though fiction, helps stitch together a lot of context and provides yet another fresh look at the tales themselves, both in a societal context and in a personal one (there will be more on this book very soon!).

Tan's sculptures are so very different from much of the work that's ever been done to represent and illustrate the Grimm's tales. In my linked posts, they details how uncomfortable Tan initially was in trying to illustrated the tales, and then he experimented with folk art-like sculpture. The interesting thing about simplicity is it's very hard to capture the essence of something so elegantly, yet despite being fairly new to the medium of clay and paper***, Tan has created a superb collection that clearly came out of the Grimm tales.


* Simple is so very difficult to do!
** In case you hadn't guessed, this was an inspiration to follow the threads of fairy tale news happening in our day-to-day, and ta-da! Once Upon A Blog.. daily fairy tale news was born.
*** While this isn't true of every collection available, it's astonishing to see how many have at least a thread connecting them to the Grimm's work in some way - either back in time or forward in influencing them.
**** Tan also used string, wax, shoe polish, sand, paint, wire, anything that would support his sculpture. His Hansel & Gretel piece even has cake decorations.

"Poor Unfortunate Soul: A Tale of A Sea Witch" by Serena Valentino Now Releasing 2015

If you've been a fan of fairy tales and comics in particular, you're probably aware of the name Serena Valentino. She's also a multi-published novel author and is currently under contract with Disney Press to do a series of novels telling the stories of classic Disney villains. (Apparently, her fairy tale comics, Nightmares & Fairy Tales, were a major factor in her getting the Disney contract, which is interesting since they're very far from what is usually considered the "Disney brand" style and subject material.) Her first, Fairest Of All: A Tale of the Wicked Queen, first published in August 2009 was impressive: lyrical, poetic, fresh and somehow still very true to the movie. I really loved it - both as an alternate look at Snow White and the character of the Queen and as a very different stand alone book. (We had an overview back in 2009 HERE.) To her credit, it didn't feel "Disney" as we usually think of either. I didn't expect it to stay on my "fairy tale retellings to keep in reach" bookcase, but it has a permanent place there.

Her second villain novel was The Beast Within: A Tale of Beauty's Prince published July 2014. (Don't jump on me for calling The Beast a villain - you need to read the book to see just whom it's about and why it's a villain's story.) It shared some aspects of the first novel, in particular three intriguing, yet bizarre characters - Odd Sisters - who are very much like The Fates. Personally I didn't enjoy it nearly as much as the first, although some of the pre-Belle's story scenes of The Beast trying to figure out relationships and friendships were wonderful.

We've known for a while now that she's been working on the third installment, based on Ursula from Disney's The Little Mermaid. (Yes, all of the books take the disney story as the starting point and develop from there, sometimes weaving back into classics, and Angela Carter, other times, moving somewhere altogether new.) While the title is yet to be confirmed, it looks like it will now be Poor Unfortunate Soul: A Tale of a Sea Witch, and that the release date will be moving up from sometime in 2016 to this year instead. Ms. Valentino is currently working on the first pass editor notes for the completed draft (which was very favorable, hence the hint at an earlier release), and just this past week shared little bits from the first chapter.

Here's a sneak peek at the first glimpse:

And here's what she shared with her Facebook friends this week:

As you can see above, so far the covers for the series all show the "classic villain" on the outer dust jacket and the hard cover of the book shows the "unseen" side. I'm curious to know what the inner one will be for Ursula...

Note: A fan put this pic of the dual cover for Fairest together - creepy cool:

You can follow Serena Valentino for all her fairy tale writing news via her Twitter HERE and see her journal updates on her website HERE.

Coming Soon: "The Beast's Garden" by Kate Forsyth

Here's an intriguing sounding book to keep an eye out for: a new retelling of Grimm's Beauty and the Beast, set in Nazi Germany, by fairy tale scholar and writer Kate Forsyth! (Author of The Wild Girl, Bitter Greens and many more.)

Here's the description from Random House publishing:

Linderhof castle, Bavaria, Germany

A retelling of the Grimm's Beauty and The Beast set in Nazi Germany. 

‘I fell in love the night the Nazis first showed their true nature to the world …'  

The Grimm Brothers published a beautiful version of the Beauty & the Beast tale called ‘The Singing, Springing Lark' in 1819. It combines the well-known story of a daughter who marries a beast in order to save her father with another key fairy tale motif, the search for the lost bridegroom. In ‘The Singing, Springing Lark,' the daughter grows to love her beast but unwittingly betrays him and he is turned into a dove. She follows the trail of blood and white feathers he leaves behind him for seven years, and, when she loses the trail, seeks help from the sun, the moon, and the four winds. Eventually she battles an evil enchantress and saves her husband, breaking the enchantment and turning him back into a man.  

Kate Forsyth retells this German fairy tale as an historical novel set in Berlin during the Third Reich. A young woman marries a Nazi officer in order to save her father, but fears her new husband and the regime for which he works. 

Soldier picking flowers

Ava becomes involved with an underground resistance movement in Berlin called the Red Orchestra, made up of artists, writers, diplomats and journalists, who pass on intelligence to the American embassy, distribute leaflets encouraging opposition to Hitler, and help people in danger from the Nazis to escape the country.  

Gradually Ava comes to realise that her husband Leo is part of a dangerous military conspiracy that plans to assassinate Hitler. As Berlin is bombed into ruins, and the Gestapo ruthlessly hunt down all resistance to Nazism, Ava unwittingly betrays Leo. When the Valkyrie plot fails, Leo is arrested and Ava must flee. Living hand-to-mouth in the rubble of Berlin, she must find some way to rescue her husband before he and his fellow conspirators are executed.  

The Beast's Garden is a compelling and beautiful love story, filled with drama, intrigue and heartbreak, taking place between 1938 and 1945 in Berlin, Germany. 

When will it appear? Release date in Australia is set for July 29th, 2015, according to the website, though Kate's blog cites an earlier date of "late April 2015".

International dates (including UK and US) are yet to be announced.

In the meantime, to further whet your appetite, may I suggest looking through the inspirational images Kate has pinned to her The Beast's Garden page on Pinterest. (Some of those inspirations are posted here.)

Lions Gate Tiergarten Berlin

As You Wished: "The Princess Bride" Heads To Broadway, Cary Elwes Is Writing A Princess Bride (Movie) Tales Memoir & More

Since we all fell in love with the 1987 film of The Princess Bride, no one has been able to top the production or add any (large) incarnation or adaptation to the "franchise", despite best efforts. First there was the novel, then the movie but then nothing Princess-Bride related has stuck past early development (beyond comic books, trading cards, new covers and various one-off art works and cosplay). Until now.

I've gone to write a post on this a couple of times but each time I do there's more Princess Bride news to add (must be Princess Bride season). I can't wait any longer - I must share!

Here's the (very happy and enthusiastic) announcement, care of broadway.com, with additional statements from Disney Theatricals Productions Producer, Tom Schumacher, and the original novel writer William Goldman:

Get out your swords, because Inigo Montoya, Westley, Buttercup and Vizzini could be heading to Broadway! Disney Theatrical Productions is readying a stage adaptation of the beloved 1973 novel and 1987 film, The Princess Bride. No casting, creative team, dates or theater have been announced, but we’ve got our fingers crossed (all six of them) that the show will premiere on the Great White Way soon. 

“The Princess Bride has proven to be an enduring delight and a beloved favorite to multiple generations,” said Thomas Schumacher, president and producer of Disney Theatrical Productions, in a statement. “What William Goldman created is first and foremost a celebration of storytelling; what better place to spin that tale than on the stage?” 

“I am thrilled that the next chapter in the life of The Princess Bride will unfold on the stage,” said author William Goldman. “With [Walt Disney Studios chairman] Alan Horn, Thomas Schumacher and his team at Disney Theatrical Productions leading the way, Buttercup, Westley and all of Florin are in the best of hands.”

No word yet on whether it will be a musical or a straight (but very funny) play, or who the creative team will be. From all I've read, it's looking less likely it will be a musical, though all the online media are busy speculating and wishing on a list of songs that "must" be included (please do NOT turn "My Name Is Inigo Montoya, You Killed My Father, Prepare To Die", into a song!). All we know is that a composer who has been working on a musical adaptation of Princess Bride on and off since 2005, recently announced he is no longer attached to any Princess Bride project, apparently due to creative differences with author William Goldman. (He did say, however, that he's keeping his work in a drawer for using in a some other fairy tale project, should that possibility ever raise its head)

Here's a video of the announcement, with some fun clips included - new and old - as well:

In a suitably timely manner, Houghton Mifflen Harcourt has released a very special, newly illustrated edition, with 50 beautiful images by artist Michael Manomivibul (see the cover at left and the illustration below). There are two (lovely and lengthy) introductions included in the book - one for the 30th edition and the one from the 25th edition, which give a lot of background on the development of the movie in particular and in this edition, Goldman's additional short story, Buttercup's Baby ,is also included. (You can read a lot of the introduction in the "look inside" preview at amazon.com).

And there's more news too: Cary Elwes is writing a memoir, all about his fond memories from his involvement in The Princess Bride movie. From StarTribune:

The actor has a deal with Touchstone, an imprint of Simon & Schuster, for a memoir about the beloved fairy tale. The book is called "As You Wish: Tales from the Princess Bride." Touchstone announced Friday that it has scheduled publication for the fall of 2014. 

Rob Reiner, who directed "The Princess Bride," is contributing a foreword. The book, to be co-written by Joe Layden, also will include interviews with Billy Crystal, Robin Wright and other cast members from the 1987 production.

I'm actually looking forward to Elwes' book. Since we never really got a real "movie book" for The Princess Bride, this should be a fun addition to the library (I really hope there are pictures!).

So: lots of Princess Bride news! With all this news, I expect to see an explosion of Princess Bride fan art in the immediate future as well (yes please!). Regarding PB's journey to Broadway in particular, you can sign up HERE to be notified of any official news as it develops.

"Cruel Beauty" Book Trailer & Behind-the-Pages with Author Rosamund Hodge

NOTE: The trailer AUTOPLAYS! Argh!

I really hate autoplay functions so apologize for this. I've been into the HTML but can't figure out what to change/delete so it doesn't do it. I'm going to leave it like this for a bit while I try to figure out something else. In the meantime it's very annoying (sorry!) but until they upload the trailer to YouTube we're stuck with this. Very sorry!

Now that I've finally read a little about the book from the author, I'm actually interested. I've seen so many variations on Beauty & the Beast be published for the YA demographic but rarely do they seem to have a unique take, so unless they are a favorite author of mine to start with or one of those poetic and edgy authors who handles words as well as Francesca Lia Block, my eyes to to glaze over quickly.

However.

Ms. Hodge not only finds a way to make Beauty more interesting (to me) but has found a way to blend the dichotomy of Beauty and the Beast and Bluebeard, into a single, smooth narrative. Color me intrigued.

The book keeps catching my eye because of the ridiculously stunning cover (genius really), so when I saw an author interview posted I quickly skimmed, then went back and read it properly when I realized what the premise actually was. I think it might be worth picking up when it's released in January 2014.

Here are some excerpts in which the author shares what drew her to a Beauty who was cruel:

Rosamund Hodge

I never thought I could retell Beauty and the Beast. I liked it. I read Robin McKinley's Beauty and watched the Disney movie, and I enjoyed them both. But the story felt finished. Complete. What drives me to write retellings is finding the holes, the mysteries that don't add up. Beauty learns to love somebody who looks like a monster and Beast learns to love despite the monstrous parts of himself. It's a moving story, but what's to retell? 

by Erik Dreyer

When I read (East of the Sun, West of the Moon), it was like lightning in my mind! Suddenly Beauty and the Beast wasn't a static and separate little unit; it was one thread in a tapestry of stories where brave young women travel to strange places and marry men who are really monsters, or monsters who are really men. 

And then I thought: Who says there is only one monster? 

What if the brave young woman is one, too? (a la Mean Girls) 

Loving a monster when you're beautiful and sweet and kind — that's a good story to read. Finding the courage to love a monster when you feel just as ugly yourself? That's the kind of story I want to tell...

You can read the rest of the (much longer) article HERE.

There's another interview post on Ms. Hodge's website HERE which asks a question fairy tale folk in particular should be interested to hear:

CRUEL BEAUTY is loosely based on the classic stories of BEAUTY AND THE BEAST and BLUEBEARD. Did you read a lot of fairy tales and fantasy growing up? How did they influence your writing? 

by Twinnovations

Sometimes I hardly read anything else! I also devoured a huge quantity of mythology, which has deeply influenced my writing. (In fact, Cruel Beauty is based almost as much on the myth of Cupid and Psyche as it is on Beauty and the Beast). 

What I love the most about myths and fairy tales is how you are never just reading a story. You are reading the hundredth iteration of a story that’s been told for thousands of years. And when stories are told and retold for that long, they acquire a life of their own. They follow a peculiar, dream-like logic that doesn’t always make sense, but feels like it would make sense if you could just peel back a few more versions of the story. You can feel the bones beneath the skin. You look at the story, and it looks back at you. 

And a good fairy tale retelling taps into that sense of story-behind-story. It feels inevitable. You read it and you think, Yes, obviously, this is what happened. This is what it means. Writing a fairy tale retelling feels like discovery, not invention. Why did I combine Beauty and the Beast with Bluebeard? Because I was thinking about those stories one day and I realized, Beauty married the Beast in order to kill him. She’s afraid she will die like his previous wives. That’s what happened. How else could it be?

A cruel Beauty reminds me a little of issues in Pride and Prejudice but this looks like it will be much edgier, what with the assassin training, Bluebeard references and all!

Take a look at the book trailer:

UPDATE AT 1PM ON FRIDAY:

I HAVE DELETED THE TRAILER AS I CAN'T GET IT TO STOP AUTO-PLAYING, WHICH IS BEYOND IRRITATING! To see it, please click the link below and scroll down to the end of the article to view it.

My apologies for any inconvenience regarding the auto-play function for the past half day and now the need to go see the trailer on another page. Hopefully one day I'll be able to update this and embed a trailer you can choose whether to view when you're ready to, or not.

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CLICK HERE TO GO TO ARTICLE WITH BOOK TRAILER

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 Rosamund Hodge will also be releasing a novella, Gilded Ashes, retelling of Cinderella in April (which you can see a glimpse of at the end of the trailer). To me, this is even more intriguing than the Beauty and the Beast blend. See what she says about it:

Tell us about GILDED ASHES, your digital novella set in the world of CRUEL BEAUTY. 

by Cindy Bean

It’s a retelling of Cinderella, which is a fairy tale that most people feel needs an explanation. Traditionally, Cinderella is sweet, obedient, and cheerful despite being relentlessly abused. Why doesn’t she rebel against her wicked stepmother? Why is she happy? 

I started thinking about the Brothers Grimm version of the story, where Cinderella doesn’t have a fairy godmother; instead, it’s the ghost of her dead mother who gives her the dress and sends her to the ball. I wondered, why would a mother haunt her daughter? To protect her, of course.  And suddenly it all became clear: Cinderella’s dead mother haunts the house and destroys anyone who makes her daughter cry. So no matter what her stepfamily does to her, Cinderella has to smile and be happy. Or all of them will die. 

But, of course, everything gets a lot more complicated when she falls in love.

See what I mean? I like the way this author thinks.

Even though I'm not a big YA reader, both of these are now officially on my to-be-read pile.