"Desperately Ever After" (Book 1) - Review by Emily Rasely

"Desperately Ever After"

Book 1: Desperately Ever After Series

by Laura Kenyon

Review by Emily Rasely

Editor's Note: This is the first book in a series that had a lot of excellent reviews and been touted by many as 'not the romance novel you were expecting'. It's had acclaim in fiction-fantasy and humor categories, which is something unusual all by itself. I've been looking forward to seeing what our reviewer Emily has to say about it.

Jacket description: 

Imagine what might happen if our most beloved fairy tale princesses were the best of friends and had the dreams, dilemmas, and libidos of the modern woman. How would their stories unfold after the wedding bells stopped ringing? Set in a fictional realm based on New York City, DESPERATELY EVER AFTER sprinkles women’s fiction with elements of fantasy, and encourages readers to rethink everything they know about happy endings. 

Years after turning her husband from beast back to man and becoming his queen, Belle finds out she’s finally going to have a child. But before she can announce the wondrous news, she catches him cheating and watches her “happily ever after” go up in flames. Turning to her friends for the strength to land with grace, she realizes she’s not the only one at a crossroads: 

Cinderella, a mother of four drowning in royal duties, is facing her 30th birthday and questioning everything she’s done (or hasn’t) with her life. 

Rapunzel, a sex-crazed socialite and one-woman powerhouse, is on a self-destructive quest to make up for 20 years locked away in a tower. 

Penelopea, an outsider with a mother-in-law from hell, is harboring a secret that could ruin everything at any moment. 

One part Sex and the City, two parts Desperate Housewives, and three parts Brothers Grimm, DESPERATELY EVER AFTER picks up where the original tales left off—and reimagines them a la Gregory Maguire’s Wicked. With the wit of authors like Jennifer Weiner and the vision of ABC’s Once Upon a Time, the women of DESPERATELY EVER AFTER rescue each other from life’s trials with laughter, wine, and a scandalous new take on happily ever after.

Laura Kenyon’s Desperately Ever After series sits at the crossroad of traditional fairy tales and Sex in the City. In an alternate New York City, Cinderella, Rapunzel, Sleeping Beauty, Snow White, and Beauty all struggle with their lives a decade or so after “happily ever after”. What happens, after all, when Beauty’s relationship runs its course?  What does romance look like for Cinderella and her prince after 10 years of running a kingdom and parenting 4 children? Questions like these are what this book is all about--with a little bit of magic, some glass slippers, and a fairy godmother or two. 

Too often, the debt modern romance novels and romantic comedies owe to fairy tale narrative structures goes unacknowledged.  However, Kenyon refreshingly takes readers beyond the familiar arc of courtship, love, and marriage. There aren’t enough stories about what relationships look like in practice. Desperately shows that post-honeymoon relationships certainly looks different than before and explores whether that difference is bad, interesting, fabulous, boring, or great. , 

By far, the highlight of this book is the friendship between the princesses. This element is particularly well developed and delightful as each have made incredibly different choices in their lives. This book gives them the time and space here to think about their decisions.  While some of them make changes in their lives and others choose to stay the course, each make informed and thoughtful choices. Both the princes and princesses are three dimensional characters with names, personalities, faults, hobbies, desires, and goals. It’s easy to empathize with them and the pressures they function under.  

 As a page-turning subversion, this novel will let fairy tale enthusiasts read beyond earlier endings of well-known tales. This makes it an ideal entry point to fairy tales for a wide range of readers interested in dipping their toes into the well of Perrault and the Grimms.

Disclosure: A complimentary copy of the book was sent by the author in exchange for an honest review.

Emily Rasely works with teens in a library by the sea and is a recovering academic who writes, reads, and thinks mostly about fairy tales, gender, queerness and cats.  When not playing minor-key Celtic tunes on her fiddle, she avidly tracks down obscure fairy tale anthologies and voraciously hordes anything written by Catherynne Valente.  As ever, she pursues that culinary Questing Beast, the perfect guacamole.

Review: Metalalia - "A Multimedia Fairy Tale Experience" by Stace Dumoski

"Metalalia - A Multimedia Fairy Tale Experience"

Review by Stace Dumoski

Editor's Note: Stace was brave enough to take on an unusual request - not just an ebook but a multimedia ebook at that, and it's clear she was just the right person for the job. (I'm also very much looking forward to her future reviews.) And in case you're wondering, what Metalalia means: "Metalalia comes from the Ancient Greek words meta, meaning ‘after’, and lalia, meaning ‘stories told’. It accurately describes the stories we are telling: original stories influenced by the thousands of fairytales, folktales and myths that have gone before, and re-imaginings of those bygone tales adapted to serve the needs of our time." (Note: image above is from Metalalia's "The River Girl".)

Description:

Metalalia: Mixed Media Fairytales for Phones and Tablets Metalalia is a unique multimedia e­reader, an immersive storytelling experience featuring - - High­ definition art, narration and music - Launched in December 2014 - Free to download, includes one free story - Additional stories available for in­app purchase with new content to be released monthly An ever growing library of stories, Metalalia contains bold retellings of classic tales in dynamic new settings. The app offers an experience unlike any other and the ability to customise how you enjoy your story.

Founded by LA­based musician Pam Shaffer, Metalalia combines Pam's signature haunting melodies with stories by the NESTA award­winning British writer Alex Nicholson alongside art from a team of accomplished visual artists and app developer Adam Schwem, known for his work on Shazam and Music ID.

I have been fascinated with the possibilities of digitally-assisted narrative ever since Captain Picard first walked onto the holodeck, so I was very excited to be given the opportunity to review Metalalia, an app designed for Apple's iPhone and iPad that presents original fairy tales as a multimedia experience. The app is the creative project of writer Alex Nicholson and musician Pam Shaffer, who collaborated with various composers, artists and programmers to create this digital storybook, which they envision as "an illuminated manuscript, but for the iPad."

It's important to point out Metalalia is not a single story, but an engine for presenting various tales produced by the authors. The free download includes one story, and there are currently three additional titles available for purchase at $2.99 each.

The app itself is very clean and intuitive to use. It opens with the image of a rustic bookcase from which you select the story you wish to read. Once the story begins, readers swipe the screen to turn the page, and can toggle text, music, and narration on or off, giving them complete control over the storytelling experience. On a technical level, the experience was flawless, and I'd like to see more storytelling experiments in this format.

The "fairy tale" that accompanies the download of Metalalia is a Rapunzel-inspired story called "The Hair-Woven Rope." I didn't think to time it, but the story lasts about 15 minutes, if you play the narration. It starts off well, with a fortress on a floating island and an unnamed protagonist locked away in a tower by her father. It features seven illustrations by artist Amy Faigin, and a lovely piano score by Shaffer. It's a fine, feminist adventure tale in which the heroine manages to escape her unhappy situation by her own devices (I'm sure you can guess how from the title of the story). It's a story I'd be happy to share with my own kids, but I'd say more "fairy tale inspired" than an actual fairy tale itself.

"The Wind-Up Boy" is a steampunk version of Pinocchio, in which the title character is created not to fulfill his father's desire for a child, but as an automated soldier for an ongoing war with a neighboring country. While the original Pinocchio is a moral tale that promises rewards for good behavior, Metalalia's version feels like it was intended to be a parable about the dehumanizing effects of war. Jiminy Cricket envisioned as a propaganda-spouting electronic "locust" is a particularly intriguing idea. (Editor: That IS intriguing! What a great concept.) I wanted this story to be longer, and for the author to spend less time echoing the events and characters of the original novel, and more time exploring the heart of the Wind-Up Boy. The adventure ends abruptly without him ever being tested, or having a chance to come to terms with his place in the world, and I found myself swiping my screen to look for more.

Shaffer and Nicholson promise more stories "featuring music and visual art set to original and reimagined fairytales and myths featuring LGBTQ characters, POC and disabled people." From the descriptions available about the other stories available for purchase, it seems like the fairy tale elements might be a little stronger than the story I read. Anyone who is looking for more stories like these should visit the Metalalia website for more information, or go HERE to the iTunes store for the app.

Note: You can see a video HERE of Metalalia in preview mode.
Disclosure: Complimentary copies of some of the stories were provided by Metalalia in exchange for an honest review.

Stace Dumoski is a professional content writer, aspiring fantasy novelist, and lover of all things magical and fantastical.  She has an undergraduate degree in Medieval Studies and has undertaken formal study in Folklore and Mythology and helmed the website "Phantastes: The Online Journal of Fantasy Criticism" which was listed three years running in the Year's Best Fantasy and Horror anthology. In joining the OUABlog review posse, she brings her extensive skills to report on some of her favorite subjects. You can find her magic filled blog HERE.

"Bitter Greens" Wins American Library Association Prize for Best Historical Fiction 2015!

A huge congratulations to our fairy tale friend Kate Forsyth!

(Here's the official award listing from the ALA.)

From Kate's Facebook page a few hours ago:

Charlotte-Rose de la Force

Congratulations again Kate!

The award is well deserved.
*clinks glasses of champagne*
(And we can't wait to read what comes next!)

Aussies 'n' Fairy Tales Week: Kate Forsyth, Author and Enchanting Word Weaver

I read recently this interesting quote (source sadly unknown)...

Words cast spells.

That's why it's called SPELLING.

Words are energy.

Use them wisely.

... and it immediately made me think of Kate Forsyth, because that's what this amazing author does: she captivates you with her words and shows you worlds - ours and that of fairy tale, woven together - that you never knew existed. And when she sets about to tell a fairy tale, people start to realize just how real these stories can be.

Ms. Forsyth is an award winning and internationally best selling author and much in demand so we'll have to wait for another time when we can ask her some questions for fairy tale folk here, but the AFTS conference was privileged to have her speak about Rapunzel, which she wrote her recent PhD on (the title of the talk was Rapunzel in the Antipodes), discuss her book based on the story (Bitter Greens) and to also have her on the panel for Cultural Editing: How Some Fairy Tales Get Lost in the Woods. (We are hoping for video eventually but I've yet to hear if all went according to plan for the recordings. Keep your fingers crossed!)

The one thing you should know, apart from being the recipient of many awards over many books for her writing (she is also the author of numerous lovely fantasy novels), when it comes to fairy tales Ms. Forsyth has as tendency to delve into the history behind the tales and weaves them together with the tales themselves. (Her newest adult novel, Dancing on Knives is more contemporary novel, set in Australia and it has a murder...)

Her books have been released one after the other in quick succession this year, with UK version not far behind the Australian ones and now, finally US versions are appearing as well. (So many lovely covers!)

Here are some of her recent books interweaving fairy tales and history with the magic of her words, as well as a new children's fairy tale retelling "duet" and her latest release which puts a little mystery into a very different Little Mermaid story. You'll note she's also been gifted with some of the prettiest book covers out right now.

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BITTER GREENS

A retelling of Rapunzel, interwoven with the story of the real life woman who first told the story, Charlotte-Rose de la Force.
(Released in Australia March 3, 2013)

A lovely stew of sex, fairytales and, well, sex really. THE AGE. An exquisite rendering of the story behind the Rapunzel fairy tale. 

Charlotte-Rose de la Force has been banished from the court of Versailles by the Sun King, Louis XIV, after a series of scandalous love affairs. She is comforted by an old nun, Sœur Seraphina, who tells her the tale of a young girl who, a hundred years earlier, is sold by her parents for a handful of Bitter Greens ... 

After Margherita's father steals a handful of parsley, wintercress and rapunzel from the walled garden of the courtesan Selena Leonelli, he is threatened with having both hands cut off ... unless he and his wife give away their little girl.  

Selena is the famous red-haired muse of the artist Tiziano, first painted by him in 1512 and still inspiring him at the time of his death, sixty-four years later. Called La Strega Bella, Selena is at the centre of Renaissance life in Venice, a world of beauty and danger, seduction and betrayal, love and superstition. 

Locked away in a tower, growing to womanhood, Margherita sings in the hope that someone will hear her. One day, a young man does ... 

Three women, three lives, three stories, braided together to create a compelling tale of desire, obsession, black magic and the redemptive power of love.

From Kate Forsyth:

I began by wanting to retell Rapunzel as a historical novel ... as if it had really happened. So I began to wonder about the source of the tale ... who first wrote it?  

I began to research the sources and and so stumbled upon the life of Charlotte-Rose de Caumont de la Force, one of the most fascinating women ever forgotten by history. Her story was just a gift to a novelist. It had everything ... romance, intrigue, drama, black magic ....  

I ended up doing my doctorate on Rapunzel, all my research was so interesting and no-one had ever really looked at it in so much depth before. 

THE WILD GIRL
The untold true love story of Wilhelm Grimm and Dortchen Wild that lies behind the tales of the Brothers Grimm. It also weaves in many of the Grimm tales throughout.
(Released in Australia on March 3rd, 2014)

One of the great untold love stories - how the Grimm brothers discovered their famous fairy tales - filled with drama and passion, and taking place during the Napoleonic Wars.
Growing up next door to the Grimm brothers in Hesse-Cassel, a small German kingdom, Dortchen Wild told Wilhelm some of the most powerful and compelling stories in the famous fairy tale collection. 
Dortchen first met the Grimm brothers in 1805, when she was twelve. One of six sisters, Dortchen lived in the medieval quarter of Cassel, a town famous for its grand royal palace, its colossal statue of Herkules, and a fairytale castle of turrets and spires built as a love nest for the Prince-Elector's mistress. Dortchen was the same age as Lotte Grimm and the two became best friends. 

In 1806, Hesse-Cassel was invaded by the French. Napoleon created a new Kingdom of Westphalia, under the rule of his dissolute young brother Jérôme. The Grimm brothers began collecting fairy tales that year, wanting to save the old stories told in spinning-circles and by the fire from the domination of French culture.  

Dortchen's father was cruel and autocratic, and he beat and abused her. He frowned on the friendship between his daughters and the poverty-stricken Grimm Brothers. Dortchen had to meet Wilhelm in secret to tell him her stories. All the other sisters married and moved away, but Dortchen had to stay home and care for her sick parents. Even after the death of her father, Dortchen and Wilhelm could not marry – the Grimm brothers were so poor they were surviving on a single meal a day.  

After the overthrow of Napoleon and the eventual success of the fairy tale collection, Dortchen and Wilhelm were at last able to marry. They lived happily ever after with Wilhelm's elder brother Jakob for the rest of their lives.

 

TWO SELKIE STORIES FROM SCOTLAND 
A retelling of the Scottish fairy tales, The Selkie Bride and The Seal-Hunter and the Selkie
(Released in Australia in May 2014)
Illustrated by Fiona McDonald (Children's)
You can read a lovely guest post from Ms. Forsyth HERE on creating the book and on her ancestry which, apparently, might just involve a selkie!

From Kate Forsyth:

My grandmother’s grandmother was Scottish. Her name was Ellen Mackenzie and she grew up on the Black Isle in the Highlands of Scotland. Ellen’s mother was called Margaret McPhee, and as everyone in Scotland knows, the McPhee clan was descended from Selkies. The name McPhee is derived from an older version of the name MacDuffie, which comes from the Gaelic term MacDubhSithe, meaning ‘son of the dark fairy’. Family legend says that the first McPhee took a Selkie as a bride!    

...I always loved the tales of selkies, who were seals in the water and humans upon the land. It seemed the best of both worlds. I loved wondering if I had Selkie blood in me, and if one day I’d find the way to transform into a seal. 

(See? Seriously. Go read!)

DANCING ON KNIVES
Using the fairy tale of The Little Mermaid and referencing The Red Shoes
(Just released in Australia on June 2nd, 2014)

A damaged family and their generations of dangerous secrets 
At twenty, Sara is tormented by terror so profound she hasn't left her home in five years. Like the mermaid in the fairytale her Spanish grandmother once told her, Sara imagines she is dancing on knives. She feels suffocated by her family, especially her father – the famous artist Augusto Sanchez – whose volcanic passions dominate their lives. 
Then one stormy night, her father does not come home. His body is found dangling from a cliff face. Astonishingly, he is still alive, but the mystery of his fall can only be solved by the revelation of long-held family secrets.
At once a suspenseful murder mystery and a lyrical love story, Dancing on Knives is about how family can constrict and liberate us, how art can be both joyous and destructive, and how strength can be found in the unlikeliest places.

*****************************************************************

You can see more information about Ms. Forsyth's books at the Random House Australia site HERE.

Ms. Forsyth's books have been reviewed all over the internet so there are plenty of opinions out there letting you know how much they love her work. She's been interviewed in a number of places as well so you can glean little bits of information about her research and process if you do a quick search but best of all, there's a video (though 46ish minutes, the time goes quickly listening to her!) in which Ms. Forsyth talks about Bitter Greens and The Wild Girl.

Have a listen (& a look):

She also just wrote a very interesting post on the history of Sleeping Beauty from Troylus and Zellandine (around 1300) to Matthew Bourne's recent ballet and the recent Disney revisioning in Maleficent, including a brief look at criticism of the tale. It's very comprehensive yet easy to read and includes her favorite novel versions of the tale. While I wasn't surprised to find Jane Yolen's Briar Rose there (with a WWII setting) I was pleased to find Adele Geras' Watching the Roses there (a lovely device throughout is including descriptions of various rose varieties that ultimately provide a subtle commentary on the story). You can find the post HERE.

Kate Forsyth

Ms. Forsyth can be found all over the place speaking on fairy tales these days. Whether it's with regard to her books and work, or discussing the importance of fairy tales with world renowned fairy tale scholar, Professor Jack Zipes, discussing the relevance of fairy tales in the 21st century on the radio, or being involved in a lively discussion panel for the Australian Fairy Tale Society, I have a feeling we will see even more fairy tale inspired work from her. With her enthusiastic fan following, including many among the young adult crowd (though her books aren't specifically YA), you know that she's doing a lot of good in having people consider fairy tales, their importance and their relevance.

I have a feeling... the best is yet to come.

Kate Forsyth's website and wonderful blog is HERE (she's also in the Other Fairy Tale News Sources blogroll on the right of the page here at OUABlog).
She can also be found on Twitter HERE.
And her Facebook page is HERE.

For Australian buyers, Booktopia is recommended. For the UK and US, Amazon.com. Some of her many awards are listed below.

TWO SELKIE TALES - released May 2014

DANCING ON KNIVES - releaseD June 2014

THE WILD GIRL - voted the Most Memorable Love Story of 2013 by Australians

BITTER GREENS - shortlisted for the 2012 Aurealis Award, the Ditmar Award & the Norma K. Hemming Award, for which it received an Honourable Mention 

THE PUZZLE RING - shortlisted for 2009 Aurealis Award & named an Unsung Hero of 2009 

THE GYPSY CROWN - won the 2007 Aurealis Award & was nominated for a CYBIL Award

THE LIGHTNING BOLT - named a CBCA Notable Book in 2007

THE CURSED TOWERS - shortlsted for the 1999 Aurealis Award

DRAGONCLAW - shortlisted for the 1997 Aurealis Award

Theater: "The Magic Hour" - A Contemporary, Grim(m), One Woman Comedy & Storytelling Show That's Casting It's Spell Over Critics & Audiences Alike

If you follow the AFTS (Australian Fairy Tale Society) on Facebook, you will see I already sent word about this play there but I wanted to highlight it here too, so everyone is aware of it, as it sounds refreshingly different and quite gutsy (what we like to see!).

Not only that, every review I've read gives glowing praise, with only good things to say about both the production and Ms. Yovich, to the point that there are rumors about it being THE theatrical production of 2014.

First, a little intro so you have an idea of what all the raving is about:

From EventFinder:

Starring Helpmann Award-winning actress Ursula Yovich (Capricornia, The Secret River and ABC TV’s Gods of Wheat Street and Redfern Now), this celebrated evening of song and storytelling is a deliciously dark interpretation of classic Grimms’ fairy tales.
The Magic Hour is set in a contemporary urban landscape and tells the stories of fairy tales’ sidelined characters including Rapunzel’s captor, Red Riding Hood’s granny and Cinderella’s ugly stepsister.
A gutsy one-woman comedy, The Magic Hour reveals the rich social commentary embedded in these magical tales and reflects on the gritty lives of the women that inspired the characters with a haunting realism.
Written by award-winning Australian playwright Vanessa Bates (Chipper, Porn. Cake, Every Second), The Magic Hour is the swansong production for Deckchair Theatre and promises an evening of no sugar-coated children’s stories. 

Sounds really interesting, right? (If I were in Oz for the conference , I'd certainly be joining a bunch of AFTS folk to go see this at Riverside Paramatta (oh to be able to see a fairy tale event with fairy tale folk!) Take a look at the promo video:

The one woman who plays all the roles, engages the audience in storytelling and in song, is Ursula Yovich, a talented award winning indigenous actress and a brief interview discussing The Magic Hour can be found HERE.

To give you even more of a picture, here's some of the press release:

Thought you knew Grimm’s fairy tales? Think again.

Once upon a time…. 

Hidden in the crevices, drawn from the gutters and alleyways of life, comes a startling retelling of classic fairy tales. This deliciously wicked and dangerously funny one-woman show stars Helpmann Award winning actor and singer Ursula Yovich (Australia, Jindabyne, The Secret River). 

She expertly takes familiar aspects of Grimm’s tales and characters from stories of Rapunzel, Red Riding Hood, Cinderella and others and cleverly manipulates them into more modern versions and settings. Do not expect sugar-coated children’s stories here. The Magic Hour is gritty, with an air of dark comedy and haunting realism.  

From one of Australia’s most original contemporary playwrights, Vanessa Bates, The Magic Hour is a gutsy one-woman comedy told with dark humour and soulful song. 

This is story-telling for grown-ups at its very best. A night of stories told at twilight with werewolves and a touch of magic…

And there's a great summary review courtesy of The Blurb Magazine, which details more of the performance that only makes me want to see it all the more. Here's a taste:

It began with the set, a beautifully lit open space with a corrugated and wood gypsy-style caravan and the trappings of an Aboriginal outback camp site designed by Alicia Clements. Props and costumes were cleverly tucked away in various drawers, and windows and shutters opened and closed to add another dimension to the stories. Joe Lui’s lighting design shone brightly on the caravan and let the edges drift into darkness; a perfect setting for some dark tales. 

Ursula Yovich wandered onto the set, talked to the audience, and checked how her pumpkin soup was cooking on her bush stove. Then she began telling her stories and, with a variety of shawls, fur, wraps and coats, body language and a change of vocal tone she created many different and very real characters. The props were hung out on a washing line at the end of each story, which gave the show a neat continuity. 

She had the sell-out audience enthralled and proved what a brilliant storyteller she is. She weaved a spell as she retold six traditional fairytales penned by Vanessa Bates that were set well away from the original locations. 

... It truly was fairytales like you’ve not heard them before. Why: because they were told from angle of other characters in the story. The essence of the ancient tales remained while the people became modern and fractured; the sick, the dispossessed, druggies, the victims who had slipped through the cracks.

You can read the whole, much longer, review HERE.

And I want a full report from the AFTS conference attendees who are lucky enough to go see this please! (Pretty please..?)

Fairy Tale News Hound Digs Up More Than She Can Chew, er, Post (aka Article Roundup From Between the Coffee Stains in a Reporter's Notebook)

It's no secret that I barely get to a quarter of the fairy tale news stories I dig up and there are always a good handful I regret not sharing so I'm going to try something and we'll see how it goes.I'm going to list a group of stories I haven't had time to post on that I think are worth checking out, giving you links to the various key articles and web pages so you can both be aware of these things happening and research them yourself if they catch your interest. 

This won't be uber-regular as it could turn into a column all by itself (!) but from time to time, hopefully I can pass on a plateful of fairy tale goodies that you can follow up on at your leisure.

My big challenge, considering I'm already interested in them, is to keep my summaries brief and concise so this post doesn't turn into an encyclopedic-sized essay.... 

(Note: Most of these are from last week and any events mentioned are still running/exhibiting.)

• Tolkien Medieval and Modern: On Fragments, Soup, and Rapunzel

Beren and Luthien by Helena Panassol 

From a blog that, studies and critiques Tolkien's work comes a parallel with Rapunzel:

"...the Silmarillion presents a reconstruction of the story of Rapunzel, in which Luthien, trapped in a “wooden house” at the top of “the greatest of all the trees,” causes “her hair to grow to a great length,” and “of the strands… twine[s] a rope” and “climb[s] from her prison” (Silmarillion 203). "

I wish it expanded on it a little more but there's enough there for you to start your won research if you're intrigued. 

• Crazy (and possibly-wrong) predictions made from the new Maleficent banner poster

A fun post with some silly thoughts that also points out the two-sided nature of the banner and that the dual (and dueling) sides of Maleficent that are likely to be explored in the movie. This does appear to be the driving force of the movie but the article also kind of want to make a whole list of more silly predictions for fun now too. :) The article also touches briefly on the discomfort being felt by money-makers on Wall Street at the darkness of the film (which is the key talking point about the movie this week).

"... if you didn’t already predict a rosy reception to Sleeping Beauty: Dark Side Edition, you can start placing your bets...""... the structure of the poster symbolizes Malificent’s inner struggle: one side is dark and thorny, and the other is lush and community-oriented..."

• "Wicked" (Live Action) Movie Has Started Gearing Up, Though Nothing Is Official Yet

Try not to get TOO excited just yet... except it's hard not to perk your ears up when the composer is already so enthusiastic.

"..."Wicked" composer Stephen Schwartz... revealed that the "Wizard of Oz" origin story has already "started gearing up" for the big screen. Although, he admitted that there are still no concrete plans for the Wicked movie adaptation. However, after years of false starts, it seems that this year could possible the year for "Wicked" in the big screen.
"... his creative team are already thinking about what to consider in order to do so.
"What are we going to change?" Schwartz said. "What are we going to keep? How do you use a whole new language and medium to tell the story? [We can] really look at it again and say, 'Oh, we can do this, and we've always wanted to do that and we couldn't onstage, but we can in a movie.' We're actually having a blast."

• Weird Science: Can A Frog Turn Into A Prince? How Many Lies Could Pinocchio Tell Before It Became Lethal?

Third year natural science undergrads ask these questions (and more in the same vein) seriously and come up with some interesting answers.

"Pinocchio could only sustain 13 lies in a row before the maximum upward force his neck could exert cannot sustain his head and nose. The head’s overall centre of mass shifts over 85 metres after 13 lies, and the overall length of the nose is 208 metres."Lengthy, extensive lies are advised against, for the health and well-being of Pinocchio." 

"...It is theoretically possible to gain enough energy for the transformation of a frog to a prince from the kinetic energy of air alone."However, extraction of such amount of energy is practically impossible for present science, as it would require extracting all kinetic energy from the air molecule."This would result in an environment of absolute zero temperature. While solar heating would slowly provide the air with energy again, the health of the prince/frog and any other person (princess) in the area cannot be assured.

(A separate article HERE on Rapunzel's hair - what type of hair it would have to be, how strong, anchor points etc)

• Red Caps: New Fairy Tales for Out Of the Ordinary Readers by Steve Berman

A brief but good introductory review of this fairy tale anthology that lives on the dark side of the border.

Red Caps might be a rock band. Or they might be something more sinister, a fey source of sounds that are but the backdrop to thrills and misadventures. These thirteen stories provide readers jaded by the traditional, Old World fairy tales with tempting new stories that will entice bored readers from their suburban ennui. Closets are waiting to be explored. Escape from work camp leads to a dangerous encounter on a wet road. That high school year book is magical and might be mocking you…or helping you find love. And isn’t love one of the central premises of the fairy tale? 

These teenage boys and girls need not fear that their love has no worth, because Steve Berman has written for them princesses who love maidens and adorkable students who have wondrous and smart boyfriends. Readers can be assured that, if the tale does not end happily, it ends most memorably.

• "The Mermaid and the Shoe" and "The Mermaid's Shoe" double book review

Both are inspired by Andersen's mermaid but they take their own journeys.
Cate from Something to Read for the Train also had a recent review worth reading (HERE) on the first book as well.

"Not every little mermaid has to follow in the wake of Hans Christian Andersen’s beloved fairy tale. Two new mermaids with tales all their own swim to the surface in “The Mermaid and the Shoe,” written and illustrated by K.G. Campbell, and “The Mermaid’s Shoes,” written and illustrated by Sanne te Loo. These modern mermaids make for a refreshing and amusing departure from their famous predecessor."

• Who Brought the Filipino Folklore to NBC's Grimm? (Not for the faint of heart.)

Sergeant Wu, a character not (currently) "clued in" to the world of the Other on NBC's Grimm has to deal with seeing an Aswang - a fascinating Filipino folklore addition to the world folklore rearing its head on Grimm these day. Scary as all hell, we still like seeing folklore and fairy tales from all over the globe appearing in our modern multi-cultural world.

"A big thanks to Filipino-American actor Reggie Lee! The Filipino folklore ruled in the United States TV ratings which additionally emphasizes Filipino-American actor Reggie Lee, who plays Sergeant Wu on supernatural TV series “Grimm”. “Mommy Dearest” is the fourteenth episode of Season 3 of Grimm..... In Reggie’s interview, he related his part in helping create the story, how he gave the writers three mythical Pinoy creatures to choose from, and they wound up picking the aswang. “Binigay ko yung manananggal, yung dwende saka tiktik. But they really, really fell for the tiktik. So I was really happy that they stayed true to the Filipino story”, he said."

• Theater: A Mermaid Tale to Ward of Racism and Fascism? (staged by India's Theatre Nisha)

A very interesting use of the tale - read the excerpt (& the article) for a brief overview. The link above on Theater Nisha takes you to their production photos on Facebook.

Theatre Nisha’s version though, is not as happy as Anderson’s, reveals Sunandha. Where in the book she becomes a ‘daughter of the air’, on stage dies of a broken heart. “We wanted to give a context for the mermaid - a contrast and, at the same time, draw parallels to her story with modern day incidents,” explains the director.
On stage, Ariel not only rebels against what she is expected to do, but her actions are a metaphor for several incidents relating to women and their safety. “Through Ariel, we are confronting issues of honor killing, racism, fascism and maybe a little bit of jingoism that’s gotten a hold of us these days,” she says.
The characters are quite fluid – no one actor portrays the mermaid all by herself..."

• Article: The Colors in Fairy Tales by Seven Miles of Steel Thistles

Snow White's Apple
by Benjamin Lacombe

An article that caught my eye and stayed with me this week, about colors in illustrations contrasted with the mention of specific colors in fairy tales, as well as the conciseness of language used in fairy tales as opposed to retellings. Reminds me of discussions on the SurLalune boards.

"A fairytale does not have to try hard.  In keeping everything simple, it also keeps everything fresh. ‘Close by the King’s castle lay a great, dark forest’ leaves almost everything to your imagination, and then comes the ‘old lime tree’ and the cool well, and that’s as much as anyone needs to know.  A novelist might add a description of the well, providing it with a carved marble parapet or a rustic stone wall.  It might be beautifully written and very fine – but in a fairytale, it would merely get in the way....Colours in fairytales are strong, simple, basic, and meaningful.... White, black and red are meaningful colours because they are rare in nature and therefore noticeable. White is the colour of innocence, the colour of an untrodden fall of snow under which the whole landscape is transformed. A white dove is an emblem of peace, a black raven a signifier of wisdom. In some variants ofSnow-White, it is a raven which the queen sees against the snow, a more likely and a sharper contrast than an ebony window-frame. Black is unusual. Most birds are brownish: even today with our dulled attention to nature, we notice black crows and white swans.  Before chemical dyes, black was an expensive colour for clothes: it stood out: most people could not afford to wear it. And red of course is the most meaningful of all colours, the most emotionally charged.  Red is the colour that accompanies childbirth, wounds, war, accidents. Red is the stuff of life and death.... Colours in fairytales aren’t decoration, they aren’t even ‘just’ descriptive. They carry information.  They are a form of emphasis. And they can be relied upon. A golden head which rises to the surface of a well may be strange, but won't be evil. ..."

• 1908: Costumes for the Blue Bird at the Moscow Art Theater

A collection of photos I haven't seen all together before. Some of it is that odd-vintage style but some of it is really wonderful. 

Seeing it all together, gives you a good idea of the mood this particular production evoked in the audience.

“The Blue Bird is a 1908 play by Belgian Maeterlinck. It premiered at Constantin Stanislavski’s Moscow Art Theatre.  

The story is about a girl, Mytyl, and her brother Tyltyl seeking happiness, represented by The Blue Bird, aided by the good fairy Bérylune.”

• STC (Sydney Theater Company)'s Pinocchio is a beautifully designed, upbeat, musical spectacular. (April 11 to May 4th)

This looks like a lot of fun. Unfortunately I'm currently on the wrong continent...

Pulling no punches, this production is designed for a world raised on American idol. From the original fairy-tale Myers and O’Brien have created a 21st century music theatre spectacular for all ages. Conceived by the Windmill Theatre and the multi-Helpmann Award winning creative team behind last years hit play School Dance, this very physical, funny and heartfelt musical comedy looks set to accomplish that rare and wonderful feat – breaking new ground on a story we all thought we knew!

• Disney teams up with HSN (Home Shopping Network) for exclusive and high(er) end movie-related merchandise for Maleficent, Cinderella and The Hundred-Foot Journey.

The promise of exclusive behind-the-scenes and making-of movie content is quite tempting to go check out, especially because... MALEFICENT!

“We’re about content-driven retail. That’s the beauty of our business model.”...Disney welcomed HSN’s fashion director and other executives on set to gather inspiration for the movie’s aesthetics via conversations with the art department, costume designers and other crew members. That intel was shared with HSN’s merchandise and marketing teams, as well as its go-to designers, who put together an exclusive collection comprising curated items as well as products designed specifically for the event.... Following the 24-hour launch event later that month, HSN will air Countdown to Maleficent specials in primetime every night leading up to the film’s May 30 release. ...(HSN and Disney) indicate that the programming will build upon the precedent set by their Oz partnership, which featured props, set pieces and trailers from the film as well as appearances by star Mila Kunis and the movie’s makeup artist."

UPDATE 4-12-14: I neglected to add a link to HSN in case you want to check them out. Apologies! You can find the site HERE and this HERE is where news on the Maleficent merchandise & specials will be updated. If I get any advance news I will be sure to share that with you too.

• Harry Potter movie, Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them, confirmed to now be a trilogy.

Fan Made poster (source)

Slightly older news but if you haven't heard it yet, you need to know: Yes, the Harry Potter spin-off will now be  "three megamovies" and J.K. Rowling will be doing the screenplay (it's her screenwriting debut). 

And check out the fan-made Harry Potter-styled moving poster! I have a strong feeling we are on the verge of "gif posters" as being the new official advertising medium as well. You heard it here first.. ;) 

"That is when Warner announced that Ms. Rowling had agreed to adapt for the big screen her “Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them,” a 2001 book billed as one of Harry Potter’s Hogwarts textbooks. Three megamovies are planned. 

The main character will be a “magizoologist” named Newt Scamander. The stories, neither prequels or sequels, will start in New York about seven decades before the arrival of Mr. Potter and his pals."

• Cymbeline is getting a modern reboot in film form. 

Known as Shakespeare's fairy tale or a Roman-era Snow White, this film is currently in production with no release date yet announced. Although this is older news because it's been happening for a while now, I haven't mentioned it yet as details have taken a really long time to trickle in, a trailer released late last year has been removed from everywhere and it's still pretty under the radar overall. It would appear, though, that we're finally getting closer to seeing the film finished and released. 

The cast is stellar, including Dakota Johnson as Imogen (that's the Snow White character), Milla Jovovich as Queen, Ethan Hawke as Iachimo and Ed Harris as Cymbeline. 

(See the link on the title for a little more information and the 'reboot' link for film style details.)

Phew! I'm going to stop there as that's an awful lot for one post but this is by no means everything happening with fairy tales in the last week. Seriously. I'll bring you some more news tomorrow...