Forest Rogers Wins Gold Spectrum Award!

Venetian Harpy  by Forest Rogers

The 22nd Spectrum Awards (for science fiction and fantasy art in all mediums) were recently held and one of my favorite fairy tale illustrators and sculptors, Forest Rogers, won a gold award in the Dimensional category, for her stunning and amazing Venetian Harpy (see above).

Congratulations Forest!!

Note: I should also mention that Scott Gustafson, who has illustrated many a fairy tale picture book, received the Grand Master Award!

Though Forest Rogers doesn't exclusively work on fairy tale subjects she has made, and continues to create, many memorable fairy tale-based pieces, and from little bits I pick up around social media, she's looking at continuing/completing the Vasilissa illustrations she began many years ago (before she got into sculpting) and, off and on, has been researching The Crane Wife, as she'd apparently like to create a sculpture based on the Japanese fairy tale as well. (!!)

Below are some of her other fairy tale works to date, and perhaps you can see why I love her work so.

Baba Yaga

Baba Yaga's Hut

Vasilissa with her mother's doll

Baba Yaga (still being dressed) & Vasilissa

Baba Yaga, Vasilissa and the Chicken-Legged Hut together

Snow Maiden as she melts

Banshee

Yuki Ona - snow spirit

East of the Sun (inspired by Kay Neilsen's illustration)

East of the Sun (2nd sculpt)

Swan child in progress

Hans Andersen's Little Mermaid

Silvershod (aka Silver Hoof) & his friend Cat (Russian tale)

Red Riding Hood in progress

Red Riding Hood & Wolf
(Something about this evokes Perrault and Dore and other early illustrated versions of LRRH to me.)

Vasiliss'a Mother gives her a doll before she passes away

Vaslissa enters Baba Yaga's forest

Baba Yaga tasks Vasilissa with impossible tasks

Vaslissa talks to her doll (and the doll talks back)

Baba Yaga in a rage

One of the horsemen Vasilissa sees on her journey

 You can see much more of Forest Roger's work on her website HERE and follow her on Facebook HERE and Twitter HERE. She also has a great set of boards on Pinterest HERE.

"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.

Ask Baba Yaga: What Does It Mean To Be A Mother?

I could have written today's question more than a few times... and yes: pastel EVERYTHING. What is that about? 

Oh and you should know, if you don't already, Baba Yaga is, in fact, a mother as well, so this should be interesting.

Here's today's question and answer (via poet and oracle Taisia Kitaiskaia* of The Hairpin):

(Originally posted at The Hairpin HERE)

You know, I'm not one for writing things on mirrors, but this statement would be wonderfully (awfully?) empowering to see when I have to face it. 

What do you think of Baba Yaga's advice?

Want to ask Baba Yaga a question of your own?

You can!

There's now an email address where you can send your questions

directly to Baba Yaga herself.

AskBabaYaga AT gmail DOT com

To encourage Baba Yaga to continue imparting her no-bones-about-it wisdom (ok, there may be some gristle in there... bones too), I suggest we not to leave her box empty... 

Thank you Baba Yaga (& Taisia).

* Taisia Kitaiskaia is a poet, writer, and Michener Center for Writers fellow. Born in Russia and raised in America, she's had her poems and translations published in Narrative Magazine, Poetry International, and others.

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

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

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

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

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

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

"Hauntingly beautiful visual vignettes in paper and clay."

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

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

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

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

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

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


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

WB's (aka Robert Downey Jr's) Pinocchio Gets Paul Thomas Anderson as Writer (& Possibly as Director) & Production Ramps Up

It would appear that the WB's live action Pinocchio (in development with Robert Downey Jr for some time now) has been put on the fast track.

First of all, the movie now has a new script writer that everyone is very pumped about: Oscar nominated writer and director Paul Thomas Anderson. You may know his work from such films as There Will Be Blood and Boogie Nights.

The news as first released by The Hollywood Reporter on July 1st:

Cover of Pinocchio from 1911

Warner Bros. and Team Downey are moving forward with their live-action take on Pinocchio and have enlisted Paul Thomas Anderson to write a draft with an eye toward directing. 

Though the film would seem far outside of Anderson's wheelhouse, the move shouldn't come as too much of a surprise. ... Downey and Anderson are good friends and have been looking to work together for some time. 

The Giver writer Michael Mitnick penned the latest draft of Pinocchio, and Downey has been quietly tweaking the script for the past six months. Downey has been developing Pinocchio for years, but the project has found new urgency in the wake of a string of live-action hits based on kids' classics, most recently Disney'sCinderella. 

Downey is onboard to play Geppetto in the tale about a wooden puppet who wants to become a human boy.Bryan Fuller and Jane Goldman wrote previous drafts of the story that is based on a novel by Carlo Collodi. Downey... will produce Pinocchio alongside Team Downey partner Susan Downey as well as Dan Jinks (Milk).

A few more details from Christian Post:

Downey is also cast to play Geppetto in the remake. According to the report, it will be a "traditional adaptation of the story" which is based on the 1883 novel by Carlo Collodi titled "The Adventures of Pinocchio." Disney's version of the tale was an animated movie that came out in 1940. 

Disney, on the other hand, is developing its own live-action version of the movie, with Peter Hedges writing the script. The Disney version is said to be based on the 1940 animated movie, according to a report in Variety. 

Some additional notes on how Anderson may influence the movie, via The Verge:

Anderson's script won't be entirely original. Several other writers, including Bryan Fuller and Jane Goldman, have made earlier drafts, and even Downey is said to have put some work into it. Now production on the film is apparently kicking into high gear over at Warner Bros. after seeing how successful live action films based classic kids' stories can be.  

Anderson still seems like an odd choice for Pinocchio, although he's very much not set as its director yet. As a writer, Anderson's help is hard to argue with. His scripts are consistently smart and compelling, and he does love to work with father–son relationships. It's not stated when Warner Bros. would like to have this film out in theaters, but it seems like the project now has the momentum to get there.

This is the edition my Dad gave me
from one of his trips when I was a child.
It's one of only a couple of items
he ever personally bought for me
and I greatly treasure it.

So, what are your thoughts? Do you think Pinocchio as a tale beloved by folk well beyond Italy and fairy tale realms will benefit from this take?

Pinocchio is a very dark serial story, though not without much humor of course, but I always worry when I hear about a live version of the traditional tale.

It's one thing to stylize a production so it doesn't come off as creepy (usually it becomes quite magical instead) but there are heavy issues and themes that a director/writer like Anderson could have a lot of fun with - and end up freaking out an entire generation with!

It's always hard to predict.

Artist and writers who have traditionally sunk their teeth into the darker side of things, not shying away from socially perturbing aspects in their work, tend to behave unexpectedly when it comes to properties that are considered family-fare, especially if they have kids of their own. While their take still tends to be 'fresh' (compared to traditional kid-friendly offerings), usually they want their own kids to see and enjoy the movie too which tends to bring out a conservative and protective vibe from otherwise in-your-face artists. This isn't necessarily a bad thing either - both for the film and for the artist.

"Traditional adaptation" tends to mean "once upon a time" or, at least, "a long, long time ago", complete with romanticized notions and representations of the past, especially for family films, but that doesn't mean we can't be surprised by an interpretation. If the film remains G or PG rated, for example, though we probably won't be seeing Pinocchio as an at-risk street kid, we may still see a street urchin vibe - think MGM golden age, just hopefully with a (needed) difference.

One challenge I see is that if Gepetto is the focus of the story, that's going to be a difficult thing to endear the retelling to a whole new generation of children. Adults, sure, but kids are harder. One of Inside Out's big criticisms (along with it leaving you feeling down and hopeless rather than 'up' and inspired) is that, despite being told well and looking amazing, it's a story that's really for adults reflecting on their own childhood, rather than for kids, so kids just aren't taking to it as expected. Not that kids don't understand it or the themes, they do, but just that kids don't relate in the same way that adults looking back do. Telling a deep - and classic/resonating story that children will relate to - right now - as well as adults, is no small task. (Which is why writing for children is much harder than it looks.) While Collodi did that, albeit in a culture-specific, and old-fashioned fashioned way that some people have trouble with, it's all there in the stories but it's easy to lose that balance.

If nothing else, this news certainly is interesting and brings a lot of potential to the story-retelling plate.

"Erstwhile" Says Goodbye With "Mother Holle"

Would you believe Erstwhile, who have been bringing us wonderful comics of lesser known fairy tales, has been going for eight years? Sadly for us, the wonderful team of Gina, Elle and Louisa now feel it's time to bring this adventure to an end and to free themselves up for other things they've been wanting to do. While many of us sort of half-expected them to continue until all the tales were tackled, it should be acknowledged how much wonderful work in writing, designing and illustration these girls have done, consistently beautifully, over many years now. The web comic now unfolding twice a week, Mother Holle, is their final installation but well worth following, especially as it's the last chance we will have to do so - at least like this.

A note from the creators from their official website:

We are most honored to present to you our final story for the Erstwhile series, Mother Holle, by Gina Biggs. Yes, this story will indeed be our swan song, though it will be a song that carries on to the end of August and end with a Kickstarter for our third collected volume of fairy tales. 

Louisa, Elle, and myself have worked on Erstwhile for eight years now, though not all of those years was the series available online as a webcomic. In that time we have tackled twenty-four of our most favorite lesser-known fairy tales and we are quite proud of that work. 

We agree that it has been an amazing eight years together, but all feel that it is time to say goodbye. We want to move from this structure and possibly branch out with new comics, new fairy tale inspirations, and new adventures. We thank you so much for sharing in this love of fairy tales with us. We hope you will read to the end and in August grab the final hardcover volume of the collection. Thank you all, from the bottom of our hearts! 

Now, please enjoy the comic!

There are a few pages out already and if you logged in while they were having glitch and server issues and were unable to see their pages, that's now been resolved. Although comments (which are always wonderful to read and a great discussion center) have been lost for those pages, they are once again showing in order and the new pages are stable.

If you haven't yet, you can purchase previous volumes of Erstwhile tales via HERE and, after Mother Holle is complete, they will be Kickstarting a campaign for the third and final volume of fairy tales as well. (All are/will be available in print and in e-copy form.)

This wonderful team have done amazing work in bringing lesser known tales back into circulation and we're so grateful for all their work. I can't wait to see what they plan to do next, especially with regard to fairy tales.

Note: The artwork shown within the post are the covers for the two volumes to date, which are still available to purchase. We'll keep you updated on the Kickstarter campaign for the third and final volume when it happens.

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

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

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

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

Here's a sneak peek at the first glimpse:

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

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

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

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

"Lamp Black, Wolf Grey": Review by Madison Lindstrom

"Lamp Black, Wolf Grey"

by Paula Brackston

Review by Madison Lindstrom

Editor's Note: Normally I wouldn't accept the offer of a review ARC that is mainly fantasy rather than having a fairy tale emphasis. However, I know many of those who love reading fairy tales, also love the Arthurian legends so I'm making an exception, especially knowing there are quite a few Brackston fans among readers here. Take it away Madison!

Jacket description: 

Some landscapes hold more magic than others. Artist Laura Matthews finds her new home in the Welsh mountains to be a place so charged with tales and legends, so teeming with the force of the supernatural, that she is able to reach through the gossamer-fine veil that separates her own world from that of myth and fable. She and her husband Dan have given up their city life and moved to Blaencwm, an ancient longhouse high in the hills. Here she knows that the wild beauty will inspire her to produce her best art. And here she hopes that the powerful nature of the place will give her the baby they have longed for for so many years. But this high valley is home to others, too. Others such as Rhys, the charismatic loner from the croft, who pursues Laura with a fervour bordering on obsession. And Anwen, the wise old woman from the neighbouring farm who seems to know so much but talks in riddles. And then there is Merlin. 'Lamp Black, Wolf Grey' tells both Laura's story and Merlin's. For once he too walked these hills, with his faithful grey wolf at his heel. It was here he fell in love with Megan, nurse-maid to the children of the hated local noble, Lord Geraint. Merlin was young, at the start of his career as a seer and magician, but already his reputation had gone before him. When he refuses to help Lord Geraint it is Megan who will pay the price.

The heart of any story is belief.  The reader must trust the author to lead them through the narrative and fairy tale stories have the added dimension of dealing, by nature, with the unbelievable. Paula Brackston’s latest novel, Lamp Black, Wolf Grey, delivers vivid world-building and a location-rooted story you can trust to take you through the elements of the unknown. Similarly to her novel, Silver Witch, this book also brings together characters from separate times, past and present. For Lamp Black, she 
combines the mythic world Merlin inhabits with our own mundane present, and draws each in lyrical and authentic prose.

Merlin is the story’s major rooting point to the mythic and his story transcends the separated worlds and characters.  He exists in a romanticized medieval time with his lover Megan, but lives also in present day, where he meets Laura Matthews. Laura and her husband have moved to the hills in a last-ditch attempt to have a baby and save their marriage. By happenstance, these are the same hills Merlin haunts. While Merlin is the connecting character between the plots of two mortal women, it’s unclear whether he is immortal or if his presence in the present day exists only in a separate story realm which Laura has insight into.

Brackston uses Merlin as archetype rather than character. This Merlin is a younger version than typically seen in Arthurian legend and has been given a new lover, Megan. Having Merlin in this story, considering he is such a solitary character, is an interesting juxtaposition with the other theme of the story—love, both romantic and maternal.  Two main plot points revolve around Laura’s desire for a child, as well as Merlin’s relationship with Megan.  Placing Merlin against this background humanizes him to an extent that most legends don’t. 

Lamp Black, Wolf Grey, has all the elements which make this a wonderful fantasy tale. A mythic past, Celtic magic, true love, and the most recognizable of all wizards: Merlin.   If your interest lies in the nitty-gritty of the Merlin legend, this book is not for you.  For the rest of us, however, Paula Brackston creates a sensory world, and her book offers an undemanding, entertaining experience. Her descriptions of medieval life made me want to curl up in a castle turret and watch the world go by. I recommend Lamp Black, Wolf Grey to lovers of the country-side, and to readers looking for an accessible story.

Disclosure: A complimentary ARC was given by St, Martin's Press in exchange for an honest review.

Madison Lindstrom is currently an undergrad in Creative Writing. She lives in a small, mountainous town, but dreams of traveling the world. She also loves reading, writing,  mythology, and of course, fairy tales.   Find her at  https://brontesbennetsbibliophiles.wordpress.com/