Once Upon A Blog's New Visual Archive (& Katerina Shtanko's Snow White & Rose Red)

First of all - aren't these illustrations just beautiful? They're by Ukranian artist Katerina Shtanko (Катерина Штанко) and are, of course, telling the story of Snow White & Rose Red. Although she's a contemporary artist these illustrations look vintage and I adore the watercolor washes over ink. She's one of my (many) inspirations and the first artist I decided to dedicate a Pinterest board to.

And speaking of Pinterest...

ARCHIVES AT-A-GLANCE

Yep - I've been a busy bee. Still am. But you now have Once Upon A Blog "Archives At-A-Glance"!

I am currently in the process of archiving all the posts ever posted on Pinterest in batches so you have another way to browse topics and I have another way to get fairy tale news out to people.

I am working backward, so the archive is current from today (I update daily when I post the headlines on Facebook and Twitter) all the way back to the beginning of 2012 - so far. As with blogs, the newest entries are at the top of the page. I am nearly done with 2011 as well. Then there will be only two years worth to go... (except for dailies, of course).

While it's a little laborious it's also pretty wonderful revisiting all the fairy tale news (that I got to post at least - I missed a TON!). I can safely say I am NEVER at a loss for something to post. Whenever there's a lull in actual news or events I always have a backlog of things I missed, artist's whose work I want to profile, books to chat about, articles upon fascinating articles of topics all over the shop... it's amazing really. People wonder how on earth I run a daily blog of fairy tale news. And then they get a glimpse of what I've posted as opposed to what I chose to miss that time around and then I get asked: how do you have time to do anything else? (I'm actually beginning to wonder the same thing.)

Anyway - the archive is to, hopefully, make things easier for you to track, browse and to share. (Yes! Please don't keep the news to yourself! Share - get it out there! Have some fairy tale conversations. If you credit me as your source that'd be nice but my goal is to get it out there to the world - to show everyone that fairy tales are not dead and gone. They're alive, loved and one of the best gifts our different cultural heritages have given us - for lots of reasons.) The archive boards are at the top of my Once Upon A Blog page so you don't have to hunt-scroll for them and they each state the time period they cover.

Old boards will state "COMPLETE" when archiving for that period is done and won't be added to. Ones I'm actively working on say "IN PROCESS". The current one has a little pen-arrow next to the title, like this...

✒ FTNewsArchive~Jun/Jul 2013 ♛

...so you know it's being updated daily as posts go live) Each entry has a image representing the post, the headline, the date it was posted, a credit for the image (& title if applicable) and each "pin" links back to the original article.

EXTRA FAIRY TALE NEWS POSTS VIA FACEBOOK & TWITTER

You should also be aware that I AM POSTING EXTRA FAIRY TALE NEWS CONTENT ON FACEBOOK AND TWITTER EVERY DAY!

Yes! You want more fairy tale news? Well now you have it. There's always more - and I'm aiming to give you as much as I possibly can.


Please note: I do not intend to try and cover every subject, tale or news story - that's impossible - and there are other truly excellent fairy tale blogs that post on their different subjects - which I try not to duplicate in general - unless I really, really want to say something about that too. Although I like it when people post different opinions on one subject and we have an (almost) inter-blog discussion (very fun!), I don't want you to feel like you're wading through the same news twice all the time either. I might very well link you to an article from FB and Twitter, though, just to help spread the love, er, news. :)

One of the things I got discouraged about before (funnily enough) is that I simply couldn't get to sharing everything I felt was important or interesting. I didn't even have the time or room to share what various readers were working on to encourage people in their own fairy tale work! It was very easy to get overwhelmed - still is - but I'm working on managing that, by doing things like this. So Facebook and Twitter both get: the daily headlines (with links back to the blog), Friday fairy tale funnies, notable fairy tale quotes & excerpts, links to short films, podcasts and other media presentations, additional news headlines I didn't get time to profile on the blog (but didn't want people to miss,) updates on blog stuff (like announcements, archiving updates, additional features and pages) and pretty much anything else I can post quickly without having to spend a lot of time researching.


Note: The Facebook page is public so you don't need an account to go check for the extra news! 

If you do have an FB account though, clicking "LIKE" on the page will send the news to your feed as it comes in (always make sure to add it to your "Interest List" on the pull-down menu - click the thing that looks like a gear wheel - to make it visible in your stream).

NEW ONCE UPON A BLOG TUMBLR (experimental)

I have also started a Once Upon A Blog... Gallery of Enchanted Arts Tumblr BUT it's definitely in the the experimental stage right now. Between the blog, Pinterest, Facebook and Twitter I'm really not sure where I will fit that in.. BUT I want to try, since so many people love Tumblr and use it as their main blogging platform.

DAILY PINTEREST UPDATES

I am using Pinterest every day for fairy tale purposes - at least briefly to add the headline pins but often more than that. If you feel a little overwhelmed at how many boards I have (I have a lot!) and just want to know what I've been up to recently here's a shortcut: just check my PINS page - they'll show all my recent pins at the top as well as any new boards I've created. If you check my LIKES page you can see what I (usually hurriedly) liked but didn't necessarily end up pinning anywhere (I try to clean this up from time to time as well).

The Once Upon A Blog.. Pinterest page is continually growing but there are already a lot of boards dedicated to particular tales. I have so many I made a special page right here on the blog site (see the tabs under the blog header) so you can check if a tale is there you want to see. If you click on the title you will be direct-linked to that tale board!

See how easy and linked everything is now?

I hope all this makes your fairy tale reading and research more fun and helps you discover stories and fairy tale related goodness you wouldn't have otherwise. Now, more than ever, if you have some fairy tale news of your own, or something you've heard or seen somewhere you'd like to share, let me know and I'll do my best to get it out there. I want to encourage everyone working and creating in fairy tales and not have people feel so alone in their studies, work, art or discoveries. I'm also hoping that all this will bring you more of what I set out to give you in the first place: FAIRY TALE NEWS!

PS. Oh yes. And I most definitely have a Pinterest board dedicated to the amazing Katerina Shtanko (Катерина Штанко)! You can find that HERE. :)

Cinderella Cast Update: Sophie McShera Moves Up(stairs)

Sophie McShera of Downtown Abbey is moving upstairs in Branagh's Cinderella

Well this is a cool fairy tale twist in casting news: Disney's live action Cinderella has a new stepsister -- and she's quite familiar.

Sophie McShera

Like Lily James (who will be playing the title role of Cinderella), the newest confirmed cast member, Sophie McShera*, is also from Downtown Abbey, but though she and James will play alongside each other once more, they will have swapped ranks.

*gasps from the balcony* "Oooooooh!" *collective skirts rustle as all lean forward*

Sophie McShera as Daisy Mason in Downtown Abbey

In Downtown Abbey, McShera plays Daisy Mason, maid to Lady Rose McClare (played by Lily James). In Cinderella, however, it will be McShera who gets to give the orders as Noemi** the evil step-sibling, while James will swap her elegant frocks for an apron, getting a taste of the servant life.

(Upstairs, downstairs...)

Holliday Grainger has long since been confirmed as Cindy's other (also evil) step-sibling, (character name still unknown). Unlike their animated Disney counterparts, they will be Cinderella's beautiful stepsisters - at least on the outside.
'

Sophie McShera for Grazia

Though all three "sisters" are very familiar with period pieces this is supposed to be "a modern take" (quote) on Cinderella. Perhaps this time around, instead of mops, buckets and garters it will be Dysons, Chlorox and... well, garters are back in, so maybe they'll just be really quick in the dressing room...

So as of yesterday (June 26), the confirmed cast is now:

Lily James                     -- Cinderella
Cate Blanchett              --  Lady Tremaine
Helena Bonham Carter -- Fairy Godmother
Richard Madden           -- Prince Charming
Holliday Grainger         -- Stepsister #1 (name unknown)
Sophie McShera            -- Stepsister #2 (Noemi)

OK. This is looking interesting. Who's next?

Note: Disney has set the release date for Cinderella as March 13, 2015

* Source, additional source

**IMDB says her name is to be Drizella but I've seen this site change information every now and then. Two other (more reputable) sources are confirming McShera's character will be named Noemi.

Green Hill Arts Hosting Multiple Fairy Tale Events (aka I'm Moving to Devon. I Wish)

Actually, I'd settle for a visit during this coming last week of June. At least for starters. You see, Devon (in the UK) is where Green Hill Arts lives and a LOT of fairy tale goodness happens there all year round. The end of this month, however, is particularly tempting. And if I could go but had to choose only one of the special events, I would choose the Women & Fairy Tales talk (poster shown above, info at link).

Here's the event blurb:

Fairy tales, which we now think of as children's stories, were not originally intended for children at all. Only since the 19th century have the complex, dark, sensual or bawdy tales of the oral tradition been collected, edited, and set down in print in the watered-down forms we are most familiar with today: filled with square-jawed princes and passive princesses who invariably end up living "happily ever after." 

But how many modern readers know that in older versions of Sleeping Beauty, the princess wakes up not with a chaste kiss but with the birth of twins after the prince has come and gone again? Or that Red Riding Hood's wolf demands she takes off her clothes, piece by piece, and join him in bed? Or that Rapuzel's witch first learns of the prince's secret visits when Rapunzel's belly swells with pregnancy? 

 In this talk, Terri will explore the strange, surprising history of the world's most familiar stories -- explaining why these stories have such a hold upon her, and why fairy tales still matter today -- while Howard will regale you dark, old versions of the tales that are a far, far cry from Walt Disney....

Or perhaps I'd choose the Coffee with the Artists event, because there's no way you could avoid talking fairy tales with those guys and I can just imagine all the napkin scribbles left over...

A wonderful opportunity to spend time with these three well-renowned artists who will talk about and show some of their work in an informal and intimate setting whilst you enjoy coffee and delicious cake. 

Hazel Brown is painter, illustrator, and bookmaker whose work has been published The Art of Faery and Lady Cottington's Pressed Fairy Letters. 

Virginia Lee is a painter, sculptor, and illustrator of The Frog Bride, Persephone, and other children's books. She also worked as a sculptor on the set of the Lord of the Ringsfilms. 

David Wyatt has illustrated numerous books including Peter Pan in Scarlet (the first authorized Peter Pan sequel), the bestselling "Larklight" books by Phillip Reaves, and fantasy classics by JRR Tolkien, Philip Pullman, Terry Pratchett, Brian Jacques, and others. 

Terri Windling will join the coffee morning as the discussion moderator. Terri Windling is a collage artist, folklore scholar and an award winning author of over forty books including ‘The Wood Wife’ and ‘Queen Victoria’s Book of Spells’.

But, no. I really, really want  to hear what Terri has to say about "the strange, dark history of fairy tales as stories for adults..."! I'm hoping (please?) that someone will be recording, taping, transcribing, taking notes, pics - something! - from the event so for those of us who can't go can still participate. In absentia. From the outside. After the fact. But still, I know that anything said will be good fodder for fairy tale brain cells and anything we can do to continue that "17thC French Salon" mentality of talking tales among authors, writers and thinkers, would be fantastic.

You know what? If I were in Devon I'd just go to both: scrub floors, collect dishes - heck, I'd clean puppet orifices! - and listen from the kitchen if I absolutely had to!

Let's just break from my fantasizing for a moment to exclaim over the scrumptiousness of all three Green Hill Arts posters!! If they make prints I'll happily purchase a good sized one for my wall. (Hint, hint.)

But that's not all. There are ongoing Midsummer Mythic Artists exhibitions happening right now through August 7 this year!

Midsummer – Saturday 22nd June – Wednesday 7th AugustWalking “widdershins” (counter-clockwise) is the traditional way to enter the realm of myth and enchantment. Come to Green Hill Arts this summer and let us show you the way... 

Widdershins is an exhibition of art works by a group of celebrated and internationally renowned mythical and fantasy artists. 

Dartmoor’s landscape is steeped in magic and mystery and it is home to many artists whose work is inspired by mythic themes. Widdershins showcases the work of those who live on Dartmoor (or have local connections), but whose paintings, sculptures, books and films are known far beyond: Hazel Brown, Neil Wilkinson Cave, Brian Froud, Wendy Froud, Paul Kidby, Alan Lee, Virginia Lee, Rima Staines, Terri Windling, David Wyatt.
Widdershins explores local legends, world myth, folklore and faery tales in diverse, surprising ways... and although it all starts ‘Once Upon a Time’, it is definitely not for children only. In addition to the exhibition itself, we have a full programme of mythic, magical events for adults and children. It includes artists’ talks, book-signings, storytelling, puppetry, music and much more. 

See? Clearly I should be in Devon.


But Devon isn't the only place where the fairy tale fantastic is happening (though, these few weeks, they definitely have the lion's share). Look what I missed announcing earlier this year from Australia:

Apparently there are fairy tale salons (because conversation and exchanging ideas on fairy tales, is an important part of all these) springing up all over the world!

Some lucky Victorians (that is, people at the Monash University in Victoria, Australia, just had their own salon event in May:
In Fairy Land.

You can see an online catalogue/slideshow of the fairy tale rare books they viewed and discussed HERE.

Even better, though, The Monash Fairy Tale Salon is a regular group! (Do they take penpals? Voip-pals? I want in!)

The event from the year before  is shown at right: >>> (screencap only  - links are not clickable sorry) >>>


And HERE's a brief recap of the event on the Storytelling Australia blog.

Sounds fantastic, doesn't it? I would have been there with bells on if I could. (Where's a Tardis when you need one?)

Oh, for a fairy tale passport that would whisk me to fairy tale salons and events all over the world... *sigh*

I'll leave you with an alternate poster for the exhibitions at Green Hill Arts to inspire you (and perhaps, my passport, to get it's act together in time for the Winter Solstice events... or at least Midsummer next next year!).

Article: "Why Haven't We Outgrown Fairy Tales?" (with Maria Tatar)

After having had so many fairy tales invade our theaters and TVs in such a short period of time (the last couple of years),

WHY are they continuing to invade our screens?

From The Washington Post, comes an article on a topic more than a few people have been speculating about recently with fairy tale films, series and spin-offs still being big business, despite having had a slew of them the last couple of years.

Maria Tatar

Seeing Maria Tatar* was weighing in, I thought people would be interested to see what she has to say. It's quite a brief article and seems a little haphazard and sparse but, as always, Ms. Tatar says things well, even in a short space.

The article discusses why fairy tales continue to be popular, what fairy tale characters does Ms. Tatar think are most relevant to us as a society right now and what's the reason for the trend of retelling tales from a darker point of view, sometimes, like Disney's movie-in-production Maleficent will, using the villains POV.

Interestingly, the answer to the question posed at the top of this post isn't really answered. it's discussed why fairy tales continue to be popular but Ms. Tatar doesn't put forth any theories on why there's a fairy tale zeitgeist right now.

(Note: retelling tales in a darker, more gritty form isn't limited to fairy tales - it's everywhere: look at the new, very successful Batman franchise, Man of Steel and any other "reboot" of long-loved heroes. They're all showing their dark side, their struggles and people are can't get enough right now.)

Fan made poster - Disney has now confirmed the release date for Maleficent will be JULY 2, 2014

While the questions are fascinating (and I'd love to see more people giving their two cents on them), there was one question in particular I wanted to highlight, especially as there's a strong resistance to the subject being called a fairy tale at all.

Toney: “Once Upon a Time” has spin-off coming this fall, “Once Upon a Time in Wonderland,” why “Alice and Wonderland”? 

It’s our story about disorientation, being in a world that feels like nonsense. How do you manage, cope and survive? I think of my fourth-grade teacher sternly telling me that it’s not a story for children. Alice faces a deep existential crisis. She’s assaulted verbally. She’s constantly losing control and having to regain control. 

Tatar: That we’re taking up that story seems really important. Everyone thinks they’re in a world of crisis, especially with new technology. There’s a divide between digital natives and the rest of us. We use tales like “Alice and Wonderland” to teach us how to move forward. They take us to other worlds but also propel us forward to think about who we are and how we think about things in our own time and place and crisis situations.

(Emphasis is mine.)

Fan made OUAT-Wonderland poster

I agree that there's something about Alice that's changed in the last, perhaps, twenty years or so. There's definitely something happening with Alice and Wonderland - not as was written by Lewis Carroll but in the way certain characters and motifs have taken on a life of their own in society and pop-culture. And not just in England, where you would expect, or the US where you would think perhaps Disney had a big hand in making it popular (which he did but not in the way it has become so), but all over the world. Asian countries in particular adore Alice and her Wonderland.

I wrote something briefly about Alice during the Goodreads chat with fairy tale lecturer and author Kate Wolford and am adding it because it's essentially talking about the same phenomena:

On Alice: the book(s) totally creeps me out BUT (and I mean to write an essay on this sometime soon) I think Alice is a prime example of society turning an "idea" (because not that many people have actually read the books) into a cultural/societal fairy tale (I added societal because although the English sensibilities remain in many ways, Americans love the (Wonderland) world, so do Asians etc etc). The images and motifs have been given a life of their own beyond the book and because of such, have become a fairy tale in the true definition which is continually mutable according to the world and people telling it retaining it's motifs and speaking beyond culture and time...

It was written rather hurriedly, stream-of-consciousness style and may not make as much sense as I wanted to, but hopefully you get the idea. The main thing is, we, as fairy tale people, can't afford to ignore Alice, or her Wonderland any longer. Saying "that** isn't a true fairy tale" isn't going to fly any more. Which begs the question: what do we do about Alice?


I recommend a read of the Washington Post article. It's a quick read and only begins to touch on the topics (I wish it had been a meatier interview!) but it should get you thinking and hopefully all of us talking to each other. Everyone else is. Just take a look through the comments below the article - these are people who are seriously interested in the question and for the first time in a while, they're interested in what fairy tale people have to say.

I'm also curious to think what tales you believe will be focused on next. Tatar says "giants" and more male figure stories. What do you think?

*If you're just tuning in to the blog and are unfamiliar with Maria Tatar you'll see she's one of the people who we regularly pay attention to, having written many wonderful resources for fairy tale study and being  a Harvard University folklore and mythology professor. 

** By "THAT" I mean - NOT the book by Carroll/Dodgson but the Alice stories, the motifs, the idea of Wonderland and the character of Alice herself.

Cress's 1st Chapter Released + Win an ARC (So You can Keep Reading!)

From Marissa Meyer's Facebook page today:

"IT'S HERE, CRESS'S FIRST CHAPTER IS HERE."

(That would be HERE.)

And she's also released the  "cover copy" (aka the back-of-the-book blurb):

Ready?

**BUT WAIT! IF YOU HAVEN'T YET READ "CINDER" & "SCARLET", HERE THERE BE SPOILERS!!**

In this third book in the bestselling Lunar Chronicles series, Cinder and Captain Thorne are fugitives on the run, with Scarlet and Wolf in tow. Together, they’re plotting to overthrow Queen Levana and prevent her army from invading Earth.  

Rapunzel On the Tower by mairimart

Their best hope lies with Cress, who has been trapped on a satellite since childhood with only her netscreens as company. All that screen time has made Cress an excellent hacker – unfortunately, she’s being forced to work for Queen Levana, and she’s just received orders to track down Cinder and her handsome accomplice.
 When a daring rescue goes awry, the group is splintered. Cress finally has her freedom, but it comes at a higher price than she’d ever expected. Meanwhile, Queen Levana will let nothing prevent her marriage to Emperor Kai, especially the cyborg mechanic. Cress, Scarlet, and Cinder may not have signed up to save the world, but they may be the only hope the world has.

Marissa Meyers also announced THIS:

"Once you've had your fill of Cress's first chapter, be sure to head over to my blog for your FIRST CHANCE to win an advance copy of CRESS!" 

(And that would be HERE.)

But how on earth (Ha! Punny*) do we wait until next February 4th 2014 for the rest??

(Answer: Go try to win an advanced reader copy!)

"Into The Woods" Movie - Revised Cast List (so far...)

Fan made poster for Disney's live action "Into The Woods" movie

Screenplay read from late 2012

OK - this was a toughie to pin down! Information is flying fast and furiously around the net about this right now and things are in flux with a whole lot of TBCs (To Be Confirmed) among the names.

I kept finding conflicting information in supposedly reliable news sources so have done my best to sort all the inconsistencies out and make a list of exactly(ish) where things stand - as of writing this post, that is. This is as accurate a list as I can construct without additional secret insider info to help me out. (It is more than possible there will be news between the time I post this and the time you read it right now!)

I used an old screenplay reading list from the end of last year and have updated a bunch of changes (scribbling with a very uncooperative mouse! - not a real mouse! - though that would be cool if I could find a mouse who could hold a pen and wanted to help...).

Checks [√] mean the name is confirmed. Dots [•] mean they're TBC (to be confirmed) and are "in talks" (in biz-speak, this means they're almost sure these actors will do it but need to iron out the fine print of the contract before they're confirmed as "in"). Question marks [?] mean we have no idea (yet!) who the character will be played by at this time.

I left the names of the original screenplay readers there, just in case they're also "in talks" but haven't announced it publicly yet.

Revised cast list as of June 24, 2013 incl. TBC

In case you didn't notice, I've added in a couple of extra bits of information on the songs, the script and the Director of Photography (DP). You should be able to click on the image to see it larger (or do "view original image" and that should give you the bigger size), in case the mouse-scribble is too difficult to decipher.

Rob Marshall directing Disney's live action "Into The Woods"

Since that's a ton of info to take in for one post, and things are still very jello like with how a group cast photo will eventually look, (so VERY curious as to whom Red will be!) I'm going to leave you with just this for now.

Oh - and in case you didn't know - Bernadette Peters has been vocal in her approval of all the confirmed and TBC cast so far! In lieu of actually having her on board, I'd say that's the next, best thing. :)

Disney has announced the release date for the movie as Christmas Day (December 25) 2014.

"It won't cost much... just your voice!" (aka The Fairy Tale Fortunes of a Voice Actress)

Samantha Morton loses her "voice" (image via The Film Experience)

From a little story I came across yesterday, which reminded me of another little story you may have heard of, in which a desperate mermaid bargains away her voice for something she wanted even more...

(Via Slashfilm):

Most of us don’t spend a lot of time considering the nuances of disembodied robot voices like Siri’s or the GPS navigator’s. But then most of us aren’t directing movies in which an operating system is one of the romantic leads.
Scarlett Johansson has replaced Samantha Morton as the computerized love interest of Spike Jonze‘s Her, which stars Joaquin Phoenix as a writer who falls for his operating system. The change came about at the last minute — initial shooting had already wrapped when Jonze decided to recast the part.

Samantha Morton as Agatha in The Minority Report

The Film Experience put it this way:

I realize it's only* voicework but I'm bit sad that Samantha Morton's voice has been removed from the upcoming Spike Jonze picture Her. She was to voice the operating system that Joaquin Phoenix falls in love with in lieu of, one supposes, flesh and blood options. I thought Samantha was brilliant in insert anything from her filmography here, and even though it was only* voicework, I was anxious to "see" her again.
Morton has the most terrible ratio of talent-to-role opportunities. I don't quite get what's happened to her career as she's one of the best screen actors alive. Still, since the world has a very short memory I didn't notice much mourning online about her replacement when the news broke.

Samantha Morton

It should be noted that Spike Jonze has released a statement saying he has the utmost respect for Ms. Morton, that she's a longtime friend and remains so.

The parallels with Andersen's The Little Mermaid are fascinating as it's an aspect of the story not concentrated on as much - that of losing your "voice", or position, or "say" when someone else comes along and (through no fault of their own) takes your place. It's the biz. It's actually most "biz" and it kinda sucks. But this is one of the reasons we love the tales. Because they're very good at showing the consequences of various scenarios and we have a better chance of making an informed decision when it comes to our own lives.

Unlike Disney's version, Andersen's Little Mermaid doesn't have a happy ending in that she doesn't get the "role" she had her heart set on, of being the prince's True Love. Even though Samantha Morton earned her "legs" (or as IMDB puts it "is known as one of the finest actors of her generation") she still got bumped by the star du jour (who, to be fair, is not without "legs" herself).

It should be noted, though, that Andersen's unnamed Mermaid did end up with a soul by behaving like the true princess she'd wanted to be (soulless to soul-having = not too shabby) so there's always hope that this unfortunate setback of Ms. Morton's will (somehow) free her up to move onto bigger and better things - especially with the support of so many critics shaking fingers at this odd last-minute change by Spike Jonez this week.

I do think it's pretty neat that in the middle of this (apparent) crisis, the general response from those looking on is that, no matter what, they still want Samantha Morton to be "part of that world"... ♫

Samantha Morton

Note: This message is brought to you by the DCA: Dinglehopper Colllectors Anonymous. ;)

*Please note that "only voicework" was not meant to be derogatory in any way. The writer even made his own little annotated note on the subject in The Film Experience's article.

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!

Once Upon A Time In Wonderland: New Promo

Once Upon A Time In Wonderland is very busy trying to get our attention.

Would you like the new & just released shorter promo version on the Love Conquers All theme...?

...Or the (much!) longer one with the mini-story "Nothing Is Impossible In Wonderland"?
(3:36 mins)

 

News keeps appearing about various characters, Tumblr blogs dedicated to the show are already appearing and there's even a forum already well into discussion and speculation about what's going to happen and how...

I am actually more intrigued than I thought I'd be with the shorter promo as it did grab my attention more than the longer one (although OMG the cheesy FX does kill scenes from time to time!). I'm hoping the editor who worked on the short promo gets to have input on the editing of the show. 

Fairy tale bonus of the day (sort of): As we all know (but easily forget), editors can make or break a movie or show. I will be forever grateful for the editor who revealed the true nature of Mary Poppins in the "Scary Mary Recut Trailer" She did always creep me out as a kid... If you're interested, but worried about the visuals, don't be - you've seen it all before - it's just presented very differently to how Disney does.

The Mad Hatter character in OUAT is one of the more solid and well thought out characters for me (and the actor really knows how to make the best of his lines!) so I'm very curious to see if the established "Once Wonderland" characters will be integrated, or if this is pretty much a separate envisioning. As far as I'm concerned, Hatter can join the party any time!

Phew! I guess Fall is approaching more swiftly than we realized...

Marissa Meyer's 3rd Sci-Fi Fairy Tale "Cress" Ramping Up To Feb 2014 Release

Marissa Meyer, author of the best-selling cyborg Cinderella retelling Cinder and the Red Riding Hood inspired sequel Scarlet, leaked some exciting news on her Facebook page yesterday regarding the impatiently-awaited next installment in the series, Cress.

From Marissa Meyer's FB yesterday:

Okay guys, here's the current scoop! 1. CRESS's release date is 2/4/2014. 2. We'll be sharing the FIRST CHAPTER next week. Like, early next week. Like, SOON. 3. Cover art will be revealed in a few weeks. 4. I'll be kicking off some ARC giveaways as early as JULY, so stay tuned!!

OK. That's it: I need a fairy tale calendar of awesome upcoming events!

In case you weren't yet aware, from the ARC cover pic shown you can see Cress is inspired by Rapunzel. The included text also gives us some clues about how this sci-fi fairy tale will begin. (I'm SO looking forward to this!)

It's only relatively recent that I was able to catch up on The Lunar Chronicles. Although I'd heard nothing but great things it's fair to say, although I definitely expected excellent writing (which there was), I was fairly neutral about the series, seeing as it started off with a Cinderella interpretation*, as unusual as the premise was, but I LOVED it all.

Here's a little fairy tale bonus of the day:

On Pinterest I call them "Imag-ine-àges" - magical story image collages. They're commonly known as Picspams - collections of screencaps or photos assembled as a tribute to a story, character or idea, and I found one someone put together in honor of Marissa Meyer's first Lunar chronicles heroine, Cinder:

 I'm not going to post a review of either Cinder or Scarlet (there are hundreds of those you can check out!) BUT I will say that if you love fairy tales, are studying them and/or believe in their timeless power you need to read this series.

Note: Scarlet recently hit The New York Times Bestseller list as well! Congrats Marissa!!

*Which apart from having been done so very, many times, Cinderella stories tend to be romance-focused (and this was YA romance) - nothing wrong with that, it just isn't my genre of choice, but even with my low tolerance I wasn't bored for an instant!