The Nutmeg Princess Now Lives Underwater in Grenada (& A Brief Discussion of 'Story Forensics')

You've likely seen some of the incredible sculptures from this underwater park in Grenada around the place. The statues have been designed to promote coral growth and are now ecosystems themselves, in fact it would be accurate to say the statues together are a living, artificial reef. (If you visit and dive to see them, please don't touch! Just pose and selfie. ;)

It should be noted that the diver and artist-sculptor who creates these eco-encouraging art pieces (and is doing amazing things to battle our rapidly disappearing coral reef systems around the world), is specifically attuned to both the historical and the folkloric aspects of "Spice Isle', in fact, he calls those topics a 'passion':

Known as Caribbean’s ‘Spice Isle’, Grenada has much to offer its visitors, especially seagoing tourists, from amazing forest reserves to picturesque waterfalls to a vast array of gorgeous white sandy beaches to name but a few. But what draws more and more visitors from every part of the globe year after year is the stunning-and-unique-of-its-kind Underwater Sculpture Park –the newest attraction of the island’s beautiful shallow waters, based on the original sculptures of the famous British sculptor and diver Jason De Caires Taylor, who has a special passion for creating fantastic pieces of work showcasing Grenada’s history and folklore. (Travelvivi)

I couldn't resist showcasing some examples. Click on the images to see them full size:

 

 

 

The newest sculpture was just, um, 'planted', less than a month ago and now that the dust, er, sand, has settled and the local sea life is becoming acclimated, these beautiful photos are starting to appear online.

Nutmeg Princess almost ready to be 'put to bed'

From Travel Weekly:

The Nutmeg Princess statue has been added to Grenada's Underwater Sculpture Park at Moliniere Bay, just north of the capital of St. George's on the southwest coast of the island.
The 11-foot-tall statue joins 100 sculptures at the park that opened in 2007 and serves as an artificial reef that forms a substrata for the growth of marine life.
...The Nutmeg Princess depicts Grenada’s first fairy tale princess emerging from a large nutmeg pod and reaching to the heavens with a handful of the spice Grenada is known for.

This is not from a traditional tale - well, not exactly anyway. The Nutmeg Princess is a 'well-loved classic' folktale written in 1992 (yes, very recently!).

The story goes like this:

The idea for the story was the result of a school visit where a little girl put up her hand and asked if (author, playwright and storyteller) Keens-Douglas knew a story about a black princess. At the time, he didn't, but it was all he needed to inspire him. 

You can go debate about whether it's possible to write a 'real' 'new fairy tale' or not, but for the record, I'm on the side of 'absolutely it's possible - rare, very rare, but possible'. Almost always the ones that stick are grown out of older stories, with the storytellers/writers well-rooted in folklore and tales, and while most 'new' tales are really just variations, I do believe that sometimes, there might just be a new one...

I don't know enough of the pattern markers to 'measure' how old a specific tale really might be (whether the writer knew that or not) and I don't have a 'story-forensics* & lexicology' database that casts a wide enough net to track it either in the multiple classification types, but there are 'tells'. For instance, at a quick read through, this tale feels like a repurposed myth, but I've also read a range of Caribbean tales and know the boundaries between myth and fairy tale are a little more blurry in this part of the world than we're used to.


Does that mean it's not new? Although unlikely, the answer really is 'No'. Because there's that sliver of possibility that it just might be. New-but-familiar is that extraordinarily elusive combination that many artists, from writers to musicians, strive for, with many never knowing whether or not their 'successes' are truly new or not!

What a brain stretcher. I'd like to hand this over to a PhD candidate please!

In the meantime, all those who would like to join me in cross-checking the story-forensics database, please put on your geek gear, ink your tattoos, bring your uber-hack skills and wear boots and your ATU credentials. I'll meet you in the lab, where the cool soundtrack is. (Note: We do accept tweed if you can 'bring it'.) Oh yes - and be prepared for lively debates... ;)

Note: I now have a yen to re-read Seanan McGuire's Indexing... man I wish that series had kept on going! Just adore the concept and have a feeling it was just a teensy bit ahead of its time.

*Yes - forensics: you can't tell me you haven't thought how people use and twist fairy tales can't be considered a crime from time to time! ;)

Fairy Tale Plot Machine

Something fun to start off the weekend for you, especially if you'd like a writing prompt. Do you like combining different fairy tale tropes, without ending up with the Red Riding Hood-meets-Goldilocks in the woods, scenario yet again? Direct from Cicada Magazine, meet the Fairy Tale Slot, er Plot Machine!

There's even a slot machine handle animation and spinning with sparkles, to encourage you to hold your breath and wish for just the right combination... so much fun!

Here are some jackpots I hit:
 

I wish I could embed it so you can try it straight away but the link HERE will take you straight there.

If you give it a go, why don't you share your jackpot sentences in the comments below? If you don't like what you were given, you can always play again. And again. And again... ;)

A note from Cicada Magazine for the on-the-go-tech people: (Tablet & smartphone pals: for a device-friendly version of the Fairy Tale Plot Machine, download the Cicada Magazine app at the Google Play or iTunes store.)

Introducing "Tiny Donkey" and the Brief Fairy Tale Essay

A donkey prince learns to play the flute and find happiness in “The Little Donkey.” by the amazing Andrea Dezsö

There's a new fairy tale journal in town! Fairy Tale Review - the respected literary fairy tale journal that publishes yearly - is supporting the launch of this new undergraduate journal, which invites people from all over to contribute.

From Fairy Tale Review:

Tiny Donkey: Brief Essays from FairylandWe are thrilled to announce the launch of Tiny Donkey, an undergraduate journal of short-form fairy tale nonfiction. The journal is the result of collaboration between Fairy Tale Review editorial assistant Wren Awry,Fairy Tale Review founder Kate Bernheimer, and Fairy Tale ReviewManaging Editor Joel Hans. 

Tiny Donkey will publish short essays (up to 400 words in length) that explore fairy tales through scholarly, personal and cultural lenses. 

We are incredibly excited to give undergraduate writers the opportunity to explore their love of fairy tales in a unique form. Through Tiny Donkey, we hope foster the next generation of fairy-tale writers, scholars, and educators—the very same kinds of people who have made Fairy Tale Review what it is today, and will continue to manipulate the contemporary fairy tale into wildly innovative forms.

And from Tiny Donkey itself, there is this information:

Donkey Prince by Paul Hey

You can write Tiny Donkey essays from a lot of different angles (our first three posts include a piece that analyzes a film in relation to Bluebeard, one that ties in wolf re-introduction in New Mexico to wolf tropes in fairy tales, and a personal essay about hollow mountains, Jack Tales and the coal industry in Appalachia). You might come up with an entirely new idea, or turn a class paper in to a polished micro-essay. We’re open to challenging and unique form and content, just get in touch!

Sounds pretty wonderful, doesn't it? I look forward to seeing future fairy tale essay innovations.

And if you're asking "why Tiny Donkey?" I can tell you that Tiny Donkey is an official off-shoot of Fairy Tale Review, which may give well read fairy tale readers a clue... (The particular donkey I believe they are referring to is a prince who is yet to come into his own.)

No matter what "skin" you are currently in, this journal gives you the opportunity to see what's really inside.

If you're looking for inspiration, checking out the Fairy Tale Review's mini-blog feature, Fairy Tale Files, which bring eclectic fairy tale related ideas together on a theme. They're like the written version of mini mind maps and are great for getting your creative juices pumping.

Good luck fairy tale writers!

Note: Did you know Angela Carter wrote a version of Tiny Donkey for children? It's a little illustrated book (now out of print of course).

ABC's "Once Upon A Time" Just Made One Of Its Smartest Moves Ever Revealing "The Author"

So... refresher for those who haven't managed to keep up with OUAT and a primer for the next episode for those who have:

Note: apologies for the lateness with this but I've only just caught up! 

**SOME SPOILERS AHEAD**

Henry (Regina/Evil Queen's kid and Emma-the-Savior's biological kid) was given a book of fairy tales by his teacher (Snow White/Mary Margaret) to give him hope. This set off the whole "fairy tales are real" thing for Henry and the book has been key to many story lines over the series, whether directly or by clues and foreshadowing that fans search frame by frame for.

The big drive for this season part B? Regina/Evil Queen is working her way back to humanity and doing her best to shed the "E-word" off of her name, but she's been told the only way someone who has been evil can have a happy ending is for THE AUTHOR to rewrite it. (Oh yeah - and Evil Girl Gang - Maleficent, Cruella, Ursula - came to town to complicate things but whatevs. Apart from Maleficent's arc it's just a B-side distraction right now.)

So they've (all) been hunting for The Author.

Last Sunday's episode "Best Laid Plans" had better than average amount of good stuff - lots of magical 101 stuff that wasn't so ridiculously... ridiculous. Just your average unicorn, dragon, magic egg, eggnapping aka baby-snatching (with a heart-wrenching performance by Kristin Bauer who plays Maleficent) and a magical book...  and some good magic-and-consequences writing that felt more 'true fairy tale' for the show than usual. (Yay!)

(Oh wait - magical egg - "Best Laid Plans" - it's the pre-Easter episode - I see what you did there writers.)

Long story short: last Sunday they found him - or, more importantly, they found out whom The Author is: it's... a job title (not a specific person) for the one creating the stories with the magic quill - in the magic book - at that time.*

Click on image to go to many more logo-free screen caps

Pinocchio/August: “There have been many authors throughout time. It’s a job, not a person, and the one trapped in here was just the last tasked with the great responsibility. To record… to witness, the greatest stories of all time and record them for posterity. The job has gone back eons: From the man who watched shadows dance across cave walls and developed an entire philosophy, to playwrights who tell tales of poetry, to a man named Walt. Many have had this sacred job. Great women and men who took on the responsibility with the gravity that it deserved.”

So maybe the statement isn't quite as clear as those of us who care about these things would like but it's a HUGE shift from the Disney-centric universe we've seen to date. It implies the stories were real, as in had a historical basis, but then that's the premise of the show, so with that in mind, it's fine.

Really glad to see women being referenced along with the men. And I'm OK with them mentioning Walt because it's true. (And he created the parent company that runs the show, so it's a nice "thank you" in a way.)

Whether or not it heralds a change with regard to the ideas driving the stories from here on out, and more fairy tale history is mined as a result (unlikely but I can always hope), I thought this one scene - and key building block in the OUAT universe - was noteworthy enough by itself to mark it here.

The best thing I see in this is that all those passionate fans (and there remain many) who haven't the slightest clue that fairy tales have a life beyond (and well before) Disney, are going to absorb this, and the idea will make its way back into the public consciousness.

So: cheers to writers Kalinda Vazquez, Jane Espenson and the rest of the OUAT team! You've done your storytelling heritage proud.

Prediction: Eventually Henry will become an Author. Heck - at this point it's like he's been in training for it!

Fairy tale bonus of the day:

What if Tom Riddle is The Author?

*So maybe there's been some mischief-writing that needs remedying but do they need the specific writer who wrote that in the first place to fix it? Or will any Author, past of future, do? Dum-dum-daaah!

Sondheim on Bettlelheim, and Lapine on Narrators

So Into The Woods didn't snag any of the awards they were nominated for at The Golden Globes on the weekend, but the movie (and fairy tales) are still very much being discussed, especially as the cast (and media) continue to promote the various overseas releases.

I keep seeing references to Sondheim and Lapine using Bettelheim's philosophy when writing Into The Woods, (as in the original musical, which they both then adapted for the Disney movie), however it's not quite as black and white as that. 

We'll start with a summary so you have a better idea of the thought processes behind the writing of ITW, from an interview with Edward Seckerson, published by Stage and Screen Online in 2006. It seems to make it pretty clear the pair were anti-Bettelheim, but as I said, it's not so straight forward so keep reading:

Sondheim: "[W]e took a Jungian approach. You know, this whole thing about how we based it on Bruno Bettelheim is nonsense — it’s nothing to do with Bettelheim. In fact, I don’t know if James read the book, I didn’t." 

And when Sondheim was interviewed by James Lipton for the TV series Inside the Actors Studio, Lipton brought up Bettelheim: "There seems to be a philosophical war in that musical between the theories of Bruno Bettelheim and Jung." 

Sondheim responded, "It’s interesting you say that. Everybody assumes we were influenced by Bruno Bettelheim. But if there’s any outside influence, it’s Jung. James is interested in Jung—Twelve Dreams is based on a case Jung wrote about. In fact, we spoke to a Jungian analyst about fairy tales."

And from Sondheim's book, "Look, I Made a Hat" comes the following quoted paragraph:

"And, ah, the woods. The all-purpose symbol of the unconscious, the womb, the past, the dark place where we face our trials and emerge wiser or destroyed, a major theme in Bruno Bettelheim's The Uses of Enchantment, which is the book everyone assumes we used as a source, simply because it's the only book on the subject known to a wide public. But Bettelheim's insistent point was that children would find fairy tales useful in part because the young protagonists' tribulations always resulted in triumph, the happily ever after. What interested James was the little dishonesties that enabled the characters to reach their happy endings. 

... James was also skeptical about the possibility of 'happily ever after' in real life and wary of the danger that fairy tales give children false expectations. As his play Twelve Dreams has demonstrated, he was drawn not to Bettelheim's Freudian approach but to Carl Jung's theory that fairy tales are an indication of the collective unconscious, something with which Bettelheim would be unlikely to agree. James and I talked about the fairy tales with a Jungian psychiatrist and discovered that with the exception of 'Jack and the Beanstalk,' which apparently is native only to the British Isles, the tales we were dealing with exist in virtually every culture in the world, especially the Cinderella story. African, Chinese, Native American - there is even a contemporary Hebrew version in which Cinderella wants to dance at the Tel Aviv Hilton." 

So the answer is more like "No, they didn't base it on Bettelheim's ideas" but also "those ideas weren't exactly ignored either."

OK, that's all good then, but here's the thing that bothers me, personally, though: Lapine (who wrote the "book" for the musical, as well as co-wrote the screenplay for the current Disney movie adaptation), is reported by Performing Arts Journal in 1988 as saying this (emphasis in bold is mine):

"The Narrator is what the fairy tale is about. I tried telling the stories without a narrator and it just doesn't work. A story needs a storyteller, and the storyteller is the ultimate figure of authority. Originally we wanted a public figure, not an actor, to play the Narrator: Walter Cronkite, or Tip O'Neill—someone who disseminated information and points of view. Then when we got rid of him you would see that the news was now being reported by the newsmakers, not the news reporter; decisions were being made by the people, not the politicians. Ultimately, we defined our narrator as a kind of intellectual, a Bettelheim figure; I wanted to get rid of Bettelheim!"

If this is the case, why was the Narrator's pivotal role so greatly downgraded in the movie? It makes a huge difference not having The Baker's father as the Narrator (especially as we then lose the impact of the change of POV in story telling when he's removed). Having The Baker be the Narrator all along didn't work quite like the bookend I (now) believe it was intended to be (as in, he was telling this whole story to his child.) When watching the movie I was a little confused as to why the Baker was telling us all of this in the first place, the WAY he was telling it (especially how the telling started, then ended...). 

A last but important note: I want to be clear on one point. I am in favor of the movie, in general. I fully expected it to miss the mark - widely - but the material is more faithful than I expected too. The fact that it uses fairy tales at its center is actually what helps transcend the things that bother me about the movie. What fairy tales are, how they live in people's minds, how the stories communicate and pass themselves on, is what does it. The stories themselves, and all the history they bring with them, the social legacies and various personal contexts etc work to overcome the movie's shortcomings, simply because their essential forms (wonder stories/Märchen) are kept intact. The beauty of certain iconic images (created by Rob Marshall et al) and catchy, beautiful tunes that remind us of certain story phrases, support this too. Everything else is peripheral and people can take what they want to (or need to) from the movie as a result. It's kind of magical in a way.

So there you go - my two cents for the day. ;)

Additional sources: "Look, I Made A Hat" & HERE. All movie screencaps created by Turn the Right Corner. Go HERE to see many more.

For Your Late Night Halloween Storytelling: “The Tale of the Boy Who Went Forth to Learn What Fear Was”

This is actually courtesy of the smart and talented Cate Fricke at Something To Read For the Train, and is so perfect for today, that I'm re-blogging a portion before sending you over to her site to read the rest.

This is a "freewrite" inspired by the perfect-for-Halloween Grimm's tale:

004. The Tale of the Boy Who Set Out to Learn What Fear Was

*This post is part of A Grimm Project, a series of short fiction pieces using each of the Brothers Grimms’ Nursery and Household Tales as writing prompts. For more information about the project, click here. For more about the story which inspired this freewrite, click here.* 

When the bed stopped its bucking and the cats had gone to find milk, I straightened my suspenders and set off to explore the final wing of the castle. What fun I’d had so far—sheets askew and cards scattered, the castle had the look of a gaming den. One final hallway, one final door. I rapped my knuckles loudly, and the door gave way. 

Ah, it’s you, someone said. 

I could see no one in the dark. The voice was quiet and raspy. 

Nursing a cold there, eh, sir? I said. 

I heard a scratching noise near my feet. Fumbling in my pockets, I found the last match and lit it against my shoe sole. The small light flickered—two eyes looked up at me from the stone floor, reflecting the match’s dance...

Go HERE to read the rest of todays delicious entry and don't forget to also click on the link to Cate's notes and thoughts on the original tale.

BUT before you leave - please make sure you ALSO check out her inspired and wonderful Grimm Project, of which this story is a part.

I have been remiss in not mentioning it till now but it's one of those wonderful things I felt deserved more than a quick mention and, as a result, intimidated myself out of writing anything about it at all (when really I should be doing the exact opposite *red face*).

By the way, if you're looking for something to kick you into NaNoWriMo, which starts TOMORROW - this would be a perfect starting point!

Here's an excerpt from the "about' page to whet your writing appetite.

... read the rest at The Grimm Project HERE.

And Happy Halloween...

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) ✒ ✒ ✒ ✒ ✒ 

Enchanted Conversations with Kate Wolford on Goodreads: Highlights

Last week we were privileged to have two days (June 19 & 20) of real-time "enchanted conversation" during a Goodreads author-chat with Kate Wolford, editor and writer of Beyond the Glass Slipper and creator of Enchanted Conversation, A Fairy Tale Magazine, the online and free-to-read resource that's fostering some truly wonderful fairy tale writing.

I (by some miracle) managed to join in from time to time and was so encouraged to see great dialogue on fairy tales and writing and in members of the fairy tale community coming together! (And I also had the wonderful surprise of my very own copy of Beyond the Glass Slipper arrive during that time! I can't wait to get into it.)

There were eight topics being discussed simultaneously, not always in real time but they were all active during the whole two days. I grabbed a screencap for you:

 

Look at all the goodies! And all with a focus on writing new fairy tales and retellings. Don't you wish you had joined in now? (Bad news: we have no idea when Kate will be available to chat with us again. Good news: you can still read everything that was said.)

The experience reminded me of the SurLaLune fairy tale and folklore discussion forums which, although no longer as active as it once was*, is still (wonderfully!) available for reading, research and discussion (THANK YOU Heidi). I miss those conversations! Kate's Goodreads discussion brought all that excitement back. I will be the first to admit that though I was (literally) running in and out the door to appointments during the whole two days, I would pause if I possibly could for a few seconds as I rushed by the computer, refresh the Goodreads page while still standing, and do my best to speed read (and sometimes speed-write!) through the comments (and my apologies for glaring syntax and typos that occurred to participants... *red-face*)

Enough gushing - let me show you some of the highlights:

On "Indispensable books and resources?" the discussion opened was opened by S.g. with:

I've been serializing some fantasy work based off fairytales for a while. One of the things that I felt a little uncomfortable about is that when it comes to fairy tales there tends to be one or two predominant versions that everyone seems to stick to... part of my own research prior to jumping into a new one is trying to make sure I've read a lot of the different versions so I have a sense of what might be essential facets of a specific tales before I decide what "core things" to retain in a fantasy reenvisioning.
While I have to say I really am glad to have the SurLaLune BLog (http://surlalunefairytales.blogspot.com/) to consult, 
What are some good academic papers, journals, or books that I can consult? 

Among the many suggestions, Kate added this gem:

You know, my library of fairy tale books has grown almost entirely from looking at the bibliographies of the backs of books.
It's like secret book treasure.  

Yes! I agree completely. :)

On "The "Popular" Tales", discussion opened with a topic that is directly addressed by Kate Wolford's book, Beyond the Glass Slipper. Siareen commented:

I think if anyone saw a game, a book or a movie that integrated a number of tales "Into the Woods" style, it wouldn't be difficult to come up with most the tales without actually looking.
For instance most the princesses would be there, such as "Snow White", "Cinderella", "Rapunzel", "The Little Mermaid", "Beauty and the Beast" and "Sleeping Beauty", there might also be some "Little Red Riding Hood", "Jack and the Beanstalk", "Rumpelstiltskin" and "Hansel and Gretel", and if we're really lucky, they might go for some of the "less well known" tales such as "Twelve Dancing Princesses", "Thumbelina and "The Frog Prince".
The list of options, sadly never gets much bigger than that. There seem to be a number of tales which everyone knows [not all Disney], which are used and reused again and again and again. Most the rest lay mostly forgotten by the public until they pick up say an original Grimm fairy tale collection and realize they don't recognize half the tales.
Why do you think some tales are popular while others are not?
Are these the better tales? The ones that appeal more to our day and age? Perhaps they are the ones which are easiest to retell or write about? Or are there just certain elements that make these stories the ones everyone thinks about when they hear the words "fairy tale"? 

Naturally we talked a little about Kate's book and then we refocused things a little:

Maybe we can focus the topic more on writing fairy tale inspired stories. It's these same tales that seem to be the inspiration for most the literary interpretations. Do you think there are the tales that are easier to turn into a story? Or is it only familiarity that plays the important role in fairy tale retelling choices? 

We discussed illustrations, nostalgia, pop-culture, Disney (of course - such a huge influence though the company can't take credit for keeping Red Riding Hood, Goldilocks and others in popular circulation), and cultural influences and traditions (eg Germany's and Russia's canons of popular tales might surprise many).

The most popular topic by far was: "What Do You Dislike In New Fairy Tale Telling Trends?" and although we all had our various niggles we did put forward some positive options and ideas as well (this was a very fun back and forth).

Kate added this quotable set of comments in the middle of it all:

Fairy tales are made by society. They are shaped by society at LEAST as much as they shape it.
What we don't like our fairy tales anymore, we change them. Heck, when we DO like them, we change them.
The cultural heritage aspect of them is one of the reasons we return to fairy tales. Just looking at the discussions here today, you can see how fairy tales grab people. We'll never quit them. The discussion here today show how far into the cultural DNA they are.

I have to add Alyne's lovely opening comment on the "Why do you love Fairy Tale re-tellings?" topic, which was the next most active discussion:

This book by Tanith Lee (Red As Blood, or Tales from the Sisters Grimmer) made me want to write fiction, as did Angela Carter's book, The Bloody Chamber. These are some pretty old books and so its been a long time I've had this dream.
I had to live in Europe to find my plots. Always the fairy tale element is there. Why? Because I am haunted by Grimm. 
Childhood is indelible.Those fairies and witches and enchantments, including the dark forest and castles and strange chapels, were incredibly romantic to me. 
Fairy tales are the stories of our ancestors. They are also cover stories for forbidden mysteries. Finding the root of these mysteries is a quest for some artists. Removing the veil. From this simple intrigue can spring many stories. That's what drives me as a writer. What about you as writer or reader? Why do you seek fairy tales?

(By the way - I am SO interested to know what any reader out there is thinking in response to these right now! If you have comments you want to share, please feel free to add them below. The more we discuss, the better equipped we will be as writers, artists and filmmakers in using fairy tales.)

A fascinating and tricky subject, which I wish we'd had more time to discuss was: "Re-writing "problem" tales", that is, tales that have something disturbing about them, including those that seem unfair and/or have an unhappy ending (Kate includes a few of these in her book by the way). This one is a little weightier and more difficult to grab an excerpt from that's self-explanatory so I will just suggest that you go read through the discussion. If you write or work with fairy tales, you're going to bump up against this problem sooner or later.

We also described fairy tales as "cultural dynamite"and "peanut butter" (as in, they go with everything/every genre). I'll leave you to look up the context HERE if you're interested... ;)

Kate's book is not only a good individual resource but is, as you can see a good prompt for conversations in the fairy tale community. I'm going to include the blurb from the back of the book as it summarizes very clearly, not only what the book is about but the spirit of the work that Kate Wolford is doing and just how inspiring it was to have her discussing fairy tales with the community at large:

Oh and please note: if you are an e-reader, Beyond the Glass Slipper has special e-reader friendly annotations and functions (explained HERE) to make the book more fun to read and a great fingertip resource.

I dearly wish there was a way to make fairy tale community discussions a regular feature but it's not as easy to make happen as you'd think. Kudos to Kate and the Enchanted Conversation readers and writers in particular for making it fantastic. I had a blast. I highly recommend joining in (or at least lurking and occasionally waving hi) if anything like this happens again.

*Older discussions were very active indeed, with members signing in daily and sometimes multiple times a day to contribute. They're a gold mine of information and inspiration. It would be wonderful to see this happen again!