Systematic Student:
fairy tales

Today we are pleased to have joining us Marissa Meyer, author of Cinder, a futuristic retelling of Cinderella. Guys! Be excited! Cinder is a 2012 debut, and a little birdie on the inside tells me (Misty) it's fabulous! Make sure to stop back on Friday for a guest post from Marissa!

Now let's get down to business. "Serious" Questions:
~Can you tell us a little bit about Cinder and the series?Gladly! CINDER is a young adult futuristic retelling of Cinderella. In it, Cinder, a 16-year-old cyborg mechanic, must piece together her mysterious past in order to protect her country from an impending war. It's the first in a four-book series, each of which revolves around a different fairy-tale-inspired heroine (Little Red Riding Hood, Rapunzel, and Snow White), as they join forces to save the world and find their happily-ever-afters. CINDER is scheduled to release in early 2012.

~Why fairy tales? What is it that calls to you, personally, as a writer, and why do you think readers connect to them the way they do?
I’ve always loved fairy tales. When I was growing up, I loved them for the romance, the magical kisses, the dresses, the princes in their fancy castles. Now I’m drawn to them for their timelessness—these are story archetypes that have been retold and recycled in 8 billion different ways, yet authors and artists and movie directors are still coming up with new ways to tell them. And because they still relate to issues that every society deals with, whether it’s childhood neglect a la Hansel and Gretel or just wanting to improve your social status a la Cinderella—these stories hold as much meaning for us now as they did in the time of the Grimm Brothers.

~What’s your favorite scene you’ve ever written? EVER ever? Gosh, that’s a lot of scenes. Can I say every single kiss? I’m a big fan of kissing scenes. The fun part of writing a four-book series with four different heroines who have four different romances is that there’s lot of opportunity for great kissing! Book 2: SCARLET (Little Red Riding Hood) will have some particularly smoldering ones.

Quickfire, Silly and Random stuff:
~Rapunzel is named after lettuce; what odd thing would you be named after if you were in a fairy tale? I love this question, because I was tempted at one point to call my Rapunzel character “Arugula”! I ended up settling on “Cress” though, which is also a type of lettuce. If I were in a fairy tale, I think my odd name would be something geeky and literary, like maybe Pencil or Comma.

~ Using that name, give us a line from your life as a fairy tale: The fairy godmother waved her magic wand and Pencil found herself with this a real live book deal—a dream come true! She was about to retire to Hawaii and do nothing but lie on the beach and drink fruity cocktails for the rest of her happily ever after... when it occurred to her that she still had to write the rest of the books. And back to work the princess went.

~Best fairy tale villain and why? I’m partial to Rumpelstiltskin. He’s sly, crafty, can actually spin straw into gold (quite the feat!), and goes after what he wants. I also love that the story leaves open a big mystery: why does he want the queen’s firstborn at all? It could be very cruel and awful (maybe he plans to eat it!) or more sympathetic (maybe he just wants a family).

~Favorite tale from childhood? Favorite tale as an adult? Least favorites? I always loved The Little Mermaid—it was my favorite Disney movie as a kid, and I only fell in love with it more once I read the Hans Christian Andersen version and learned how truly tragic the story was. It has so much depth to it (pun kind of intended). As for now... it’s so hard to choose! Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty are probably neck and neck for my all-time favs. As for least favorite... I don’t know that I really have one, although something about the end of Hansel & Gretel always bugged me. I felt like the dad got off way too easy in that tale!

~If you could be any fairy tale character, or live through any fairy tale "happening," who/what would it be? Cinderella’s ball! I love big beautiful dresses and dancing and food!

~Would you rather:
- — live under a bridge with a troll, or all alone in a high tower? Tower, definitely! Just think how much reading you’d get done.

- — ride everywhere in a pumpkin carriage (messy) or walk everywhere in glass shoes (uncomfortable)? I’ll take the carriage, with hopes that the fairy godmother had the sense to scrape all the guts out of it.

- — have a fairy godmother or a Prince Charming? Between getting engaged and getting my book deal for CINDER both in the past few months, I think I already have both!

Thanks so much for the fun interview, Ashley and Misty! Oh course! We were happy to have you, and can't wait for Cinder! Thanks for stopping by! So who else is super excited for Cinder? *raises hand* Stop back on Friday for a special guest post from Marissa Meyer. And don't forget to leave her some love in the comments!

Today is my first actual Memory Monday post, and I'm pretty excited about it! If you missed what Memory Monday is all about, you can read this post here for a more detailed explanation.

I thought for a while about which book I want to start with, but couldn't really settle on one book. Two of the books I read this week happened to be fairy tale retellings, and I have quite a few (a lot) more on my read and to-read lists, so I decided I would start my Memory Monday postings with the reason I love fairy tales so much. And that reason is:

Grimm's Fairy Tales as written and collected by The Brother's Grimm!

Have any of you read their collection of fairy tales?! It's wonderful!

I first read this when I was 10 years old. We were spending a week or so visiting my grandparents, and I was bored. I love my grandparents very much, but at 10 years old, just being in the same house is usually enough. I'm sure you can all relate...

Always having been a reader, I was looking for a book. They had a few picture books, a lot of plays (my grandfather and that whole side of my family is very big into theater), and a bunch of non-fiction — biographies and the link. When you are ten, all of that equals one big BLAH.

I can't tell you how much time I spent searching their shelves just hoping that something interesting would appear and give me something to read. There are only so many times you can play "River Wild" in the hammock. (That's another long story...) Ahem...

As I was searching the shelves, my grandpa pulled an old copy of Grimm's Fairy Tales from the bookcase and told me to give it a try. I was skeptical at first but soon because deeply fascinated by these dark and often morbid tales. Disney never told me that Cinderella's bird friends pecked out her evil-stepsister's eyes, or that Snow White 'dies' two or three times before finally eating the apple, and that it's the dwarf's who save her the first times. There were so many more tales that I had never heard of before and they were all so fascinating. Not all of the heroines are helpless, waiting for their prince to come. A lot of them are ultimately the ones who save their princes and even the tales that have a happy ending are not nearly as peaceful getting their as the current tales would have you believe.

I overheard my grandpa remarking how impressed he was with me to my parents because of my reading. I was sitting on the couch while my brothers were watching cartoons when my grandpa walked through the room. He assumed we were all watching TV, but was impressed and pleased to find me tuning out the TV and little brother noises to focus on my book. I was, as my grandma says, tickled pink. I remember that day, and I remember that book. I loved the stories so much that my parents got me my own copy that Christmas which I promptly sat down and read again, and would use night after night to read bed time stories to my younger brothers. I have such fond memories of these stories, and I love reading them in their original form and retold in new and unique ways.

Because of this book, I also read The Complete Tales of Hans Christian Anderson, and although there were a few favorites there (namely The Little Match Girl and Thumbina) the stories of the Brother's Grimm are most definitely the favorites. (Do you know that HCA has a fairy tale (no lie) about a dung beetle? Ya, I thought it was weird too).

The Brother's Grimm had a very definite impact on me early reading, and what interests me today. Do you have any old favorites? I'd love to hear about them! Leave me a comment telling me about your childhood favorites, or linking me to your blog post, or telling me about your experiences with Grimm's Fairy Tales! I'd love to hear from you!

So, Princess Bookie is hosting a contest craze full of books and prizes and challenges and all that good stuff. I don't normally post about stuff like this, and I haven't, as yet, participated in any of the Waiting on book memes or things like that, so I figured that I'd add my comments this time.

She is asking for us to name our Top 5 books of 2011. I've run across enough 2011 releases lately that I'm willing to add what I'm waiting for. It should be fun. So, the top books I'm waiting for are:

1. Where She Went by Gayle Forman. The sequel to If I Stay, one of my favorite 2010 reads, this will be released in April and after the blog teaser tour a few weeks ago, I'm going crazy waiting to read this book.

2. Delirium by Lauren Oliver. I read Before I Fall this year and I loved it. When I realized Oliver was coming out with a second book, and a dystopian one at that, I was thrilled! It comes out in February.

3. Bitterblue by Krisin Cashore. I just finished reading Graceling and Fire and I loved them. Cashore is a great writer, and I've loved the world she's created. It's tentatively planned for April, but I'm not sure if that's official yet.

4. Cloakedby Alex Finn. I love fairy tale retellings, and I've enjoyed Finn's other modern retellings (Beastlyand A Kiss in Time) There aren't a lot of retellings about the Frog Prince, and I'm pretty excited to read this one.

5. Entwined by Heather Dixon. As I mentioned, I love fairy tales and their retellings and The Twelve Dancing Princesses has been my favorite as long as I can remember. Plus, if you look on Goodreads, the cover for this one is beautiful.

So, at the moment, these are my 5 most highly anticipated releases of 2011. What are yours?

Sisters Red by Jackson Pearce was utterly wonderful. I've always love fairy tale retellings, but my especial favorites are the stories that take a familiar tale and make it entirely their own. Sisters Red does this marvelously.

The writing itself was captivating. It's told in chapters narrated alternately by Scarlett and Rosie. I loved that we got to listen to each sister. Their outlook on life is so different, their views so varied that their voices didn't need much help being unique. It was easy to tell which sister was thinking or talking. I also loved both the prologue and epilogue which were written as fairy tales. It's such a small detail that definitely makes a big difference. (Big smile).

Jackson Pearce is not the first author to take the tale of Little Red Riding Hood and turn the sinister wolf in the forest into a werewolf. It's been done before, but never have I read it done like this. Pearce is brilliant and I'll definitely be signing up to read any and all fairy tale retellings she writes up in the future. Scarlett is mauled while trying to protect her younger sister Rosie from the werewolf (Fenris) that killed her grandmother. She loses her eye and gains an intense hatred for the Fenris and a passion for hunting them down. And, she's good at it. It drives her life and often blinds her to anything else. This is her mission, her role. She needs to protect others and remove as many of these horrid monsters as possible, with the help, of course, of her lovely sister Rosie and their childhood friend Silas. (Side note to say thank you for not making the werewolf the love interest... Ahem... Very big thank you.)

Oh ya, and the red cloak — it's a lure. I just can't get over how much I loved that detail. Red is the color of passion, lust, desire and blood and the Fenris just can't resist the lure. It made me happy.

Anyway... I will admit that I saw the twist coming from a long way off. I can't remember actually being surprised at anything that happened, although I know we were supposed to. But, I'm okay with that. Pearce writes in such a way that I didn't mind figuring everything out long before the characters. It just felt like I was in on the secret. And, I'm much, much more lenient with fairy tales being predictable than I am with the average book. Fairy tales are supposed to be familiar. And, the great writing, and realistic characters more than made up for that. And, it was great writing. It's one of those stories that just pulls you in and holds you close until you finish the last page metaphorically gasping because you just can't handle it anymore.

And can I just add that I love when authors combine more than one fairy tale?! It makes me so happy! And before I go into that, understand that this may very well be me reading more into it than the author intended... Maybe she's not actually familiar with the tale Snow White and Rose Red, and I may have seen the slight correlations because I wanted to, but I wanted to. So there... It's really subtle and I noticed it more in the personalities of the girls and their relationship to each other than the actual story line, but the faint hint of this tale was there, almost like a perfume that lingers long after the woman has left.

If you haven't read this yet, and you have any enjoyment at all for fairy tales, strong heroines, dashing young men, exciting fight scenes and stellar writing, I suggest you locate a copy now, and read it. I finished it a week ago, and already I'm wanting to read it again.

*Disclaimer: I received this book through We Love YA Tours.

* Disclaimer: I received this book as part of One ARC Tours.

Low Red Moon by Ivy Devlin was a great read. For the most part, Avery was a great character. My heart broke for her as she tried to accept and understand the senseless and brutal murder of her parents. For most of the book, I felt that Avery was a strong character, and someone I could have been friends with in high school. The only time I didn't particularly love Avery was when she was swooning over Ben. Don't get me wrong, I really liked Ben. I actually thought he was a good love interest, and a great addition to the story, and I liked almost all the scenes where they were actually together. However, it got a little old listening to Avery having the same thoughts about Ben over and over.

I also loved the descriptions of the forest. I have always loved trees and the woods. When I was younger, and playing those imagination games, I used to pretend that I was being chased through a thickly wooded area by someone just faster than me. But, my unknown pursuer was also bigger and less agile than I was, and kept running into the trees and brambles that I so nimbly avoided. Oddly enough, this was never a scary game, it was always one that left me feeling empowered and free. (Don't ask my why... I'm sharing potentially embarrassing childhood information here, give me a break!) Reading about the forest in this book brought all those great memories back. It makes me want to look around for some wooded areas to run through, preparing myself for that inevitable day when being able to run through the forest will be what saves my life. It isn't often that a description in a book brings back such vivid memories for me.

I've also always loved fairy tales, and although they were very subtle, I loved the slight elements of Little Red Riding Hood this book contained. The fairy tale elements aren't overt or anything, are in fact subtle enough I could very well be imagining them, but either way, I feel like it added a lot to the story. I won't share them, other than a young girl going through the woods to live with her grandmother because it is fun to look for them on your own, and several of the connections I noted are spoilers. I had such a great time reading this book and watching everything unfold that I wouldn't want to ruin that for anyone.

Tales from Silver Lands by Charles J. Finger won the John Newbery Award in 1925. I didn't know anything about the book when I picked it up other than it's Newbery, but I must say, I was quite pleasantly surprised by what I found.

I have always loved Fairy Tales. Like, a lot. If you remember, a few weeks ago I talked about my first experience reading Grimm's Fairy Tales, which helped cement my love for reading them as well. (If you are really interested, in my blog, and you can go back and read it.) So, imagine my delight when I realized this was a collection of 19 fairy tales recorded by Finger from South America. Although I'm not nearly as knowledgeable about other countries and their rich cultural histories as I'd like to be, I'm always open to learning more. And I think you can learn a lot about a society from their fairy tales and children's stories.

This was a real treat for me to read, and one I'm definitely looking forward to adding to my shelves and rereading, not only for myself but also to read to kids. I used to read some of the Grimm's fairy tales to my little brothers as a bedtime story, and I'd love to be able to add these tales to stories I can read/tell to young kids.

Although some of these stories might be classified as more mythology than fairy tale, I felt the same way reading these as I did reading the classic fairy tales. There's that sense of magic and possibility, where you know anything can happen, and although things might get a little rough along the way, and there probably won't be super happy ending, the good guys do win in the end.

I also noticed that the emphasis of each tale was placed on the struggles of each character rather than the resolution. The ending is always over so quickly. Normally, this is something that is a major no-no in writing, I mean, seriously. Who wants to read a 400 pg. build up to a 4 paragraph resolution?! But it seems to work in fairy tales. The stories aren't about what happens, it's about learning how to get there. We see their struggles, know their challenges and then we get to know they end up relatively alright in the end.

This is definitely a book I would recommend. The writing is a little older, but to anyone who is a fan of fairy tales in their original setting (or people who want to write a fairy tale retelling but are wanting new material) this is a great book to read and one that I strongly recommend.

Cloaked is another modern fairy tale retelling by Alex Flinn, the woman who wrote the ever popular Beastly (Beauty and the Beast) and the recently released A Kiss in Time (Sleeping Beauty).

I've made no secret about the fact that I absolutely adore fairy tale retellings, and I very much enjoyed Flinn's first two tales. Cloaked was just as much fun to read as the first two stories, but I actually liked this one even better.

Before I get into the story itself, I need to mention one of my most favorite parts of the book. In the beginning of each chapter, Flinn included a quote from one of the Grimm's Fairy Tales she took inspiration from and included it under each chapter numbering as a sort of foreshadowing for what was to come. I love the original fairy tales, and have read them many times, so it was beyond delightful to see them quoted within the story.

Cloaked is the story of Johnny, a young boy trying to help his mother pay their bills by spending all his free time working in their family shoe repair shop, located in a large Florida hotel. Johnny has big dreams, but is realistic enough to know that all they will ever be are day dreams. He works in the shop, but his real passion is design. He has notebooks filled with designs for high end, beautiful shoes. He's even managed to save enough scraps and materials to make up a prototype, and he knows they are a good design. But alas, he needs to stay behind to help his mother, and their is no way they will be able to afford college or trade school to further this dream. Although he wishes and hopes that there was some way something might be different, he has resigned himself to his fate.

But, in the way of all fairy tales, fate decides there is something more in store for our unassuming hero, and when a foreign princess (think Paris Hilton with a crown) comes to stay at their hotel, Johnny's life will change forever. Because real magic exists in the country out fair princess comes from, and her brother has been turned into a frog in a wicked attempt for the witch to steal their throne for herself and her evil oaf of a son. The princess is desperate for assistance, and promises Johnny money and marriage if he successfully saves the prince. In need of money, desperately hoping for something more out of life, and afraid to offend the princess, Johnny agrees to look into the disappearance of her brother.

It takes Johnny some time to admit and accept that magic really exists, but once he does, he finds himself in the middle of an impossible adventure, giving assistance to talking geese, taking aide from rats and foxes and searching every where for a missing toad all while being chased by magical crazy folk. By his side, ready and willing to offer whatever assistance she can is Meg, Johnny's longtime best friend who helps her family run the coffee shop also located in the hotel.

I adored the mash up of fairy tales included within Cloaked. We see elements of The Six Swans, The Elves and the Shoemaker, The Valiant Tailor, The Golden Bird, and of course, The Frog Prince. Almost all of these tales come from my favorites of the Brother's Grimm. Being so familiar with fairy tales in general, and these fairy tales in particular did mean that I was able to predict a lot of what was about to happen, but there was enough that surprised even me that I was not left feeling like this was another predictable retelling.

This was a wonderfully fun story, filled with mischief and mayhem, love and loss, and the hope for brighter days. Johnny was a great character, well rounded and fully written. There are times when he is your typical 17 year old boy, but he is so much more than that. He's loyal and loving, willing to put others before himself and he truly wants to do the right thing. He is sacrificing his dreams to protect and assist his mother. Meg was also a wonderfully written character. Although we don't see as much personal development in her as a character, a lot of the growth we see in Johnny is a direct result of Meg's influence and company.

All in all, this was a wonderfully enjoyable book. It's the perfect combination of reality and myth, fact and fiction, and is full of all the elements which make a wonderfully perfect fairy tale. This is a story that I very highly recommend to any and all whole love a good fairy tale.

*Disclaimer: I received this book through Star Book Tours.

I think this needs to be the last challenge I commit myself to for next year... Pretty soon, I'm going to get overwhelmed!:)

Among the Muses is having a Fairy Tale reading challenge for 2011. And I absolutely love retold fairy tales. It's one of my favorite genres, and one I consistently read and enjoy. So, I was really excited to hear about a challenge designed around them!

I've decided to go for the Magical level, which is 4-6 fairy tales, but it's very possible I'll end up reading more than that. This is just the number I'm committing myself to. We'll see how I do!:)

First, let me thank both Lori at The Next Best Book Blog and author M. Clifford. Lori hosted a contest to win a copy of M. Clifford's new book, The Book. I won.

Prior to reading The Book, every dystopian society I've come across in literature has been the result of a major apocalypse, huge earth changing war or a major catastrophe. It is then relatively easy for this "utopian" government to step in and take over because anarchy reigns and the people are in desperate need of some order. Even a highly controlling government sounds great when faced with the absolute lack of one. This gives most dystopian literature a feeling of separation from reality. We can see the similarities to our culture and society and hopefully avoid that future, but we breathe easier because we know it can't reach that level of atrocity without that apocalyptic moment. And, if we are faced with the apocalypse, we probably have other things on our minds. The major disaster that destroys most of the world keeps us at a disconnect that allows me to sleep comfortably at night knowing my government is solid, even though it isn't perfect. M. Clifford refuses to allow me that small comfort. The government who orchestrated the introduction and infiltration of this insidious electronic reading device is my own United States Government, still bound by the amazingly brilliant United States Constitution. This adds a new element of fear to his book. With all other works of dystopian literature, I am able to take comfort in the knowledge that my government would never be reduced to those extremes, and that I can take comfort in the protections, securities and liberties written into and guaranteed by the Constitution. Clifford takes that away from me, and instead shows me a world where my government is responsible for the systematic destruction of the printed word and ultimately our freedom of speech, the press and expression. I shudder. I cringe. But, it forces me to think.

Aside from uniquely blaming our current government on the horrific situation our hero finds himself in, the best part about this book was the love of literature that simply flowed from the pages. This book is one that truly speaks to lovers of the written (and printed) word. The way Clifford drafts his character's discussion, description and handling of books is reverent, almost sacred. The imagery he uses to describe these character's first experiences with an actual printed book gave me goosebumps. There were numerous allusions, both blatant and indirect to a wide variety of literature. He quoted multiple sources ranging from popular fiction to fairy tales to classics. He used them as inspiration for parts of his story, but managed to do it in a way that doesn't feel as if he is 'borrowing' their ideas in substitute for his own. His written voice is unique enough, even when directly quoting sources, that the words almost felt like entirely new ideas. If you take away nothing else from this book, remember that books are important and have the ability to transform your world and your life. Love them, treasure them, but most importantly, read them.

In this novel, M. Clifford has gifted the reader with both the horrors of a nightmare and the majestic beauty of a dream. His book begins with the words "Don't read the book". But it's more than that. If you read between the lines and apply it to right now, we can instead say, Don't let others think for you. Don't follow blindly. Question everything.

We have Laura here with us today, who blogs at Laura Howard: Finding Bliss, and she is talking about the differences between Fairy tales and Faerie tales! Let's hear what she has to say!

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When you think of fairy tales, do you imagine towering castles and lovely princesses — or perhaps adorable pixies with bluebell caps hiding behind azalea bushes?
As a girl, those are all the things I dreamed of. I spent hours reading stories of handsome knights and mysterious mermaids, picturing myself in the role of heroine.

It wasn't until after my 30th birthday that I discovered the darker side of fairy tales — Faerie Tales. My first taste came in the form of Melissa Marr's Wicked Lovely. In this story, I met equally beautiful and terrible creatures that were nothing like the fairies I'd grown up with. I was hooked! I went on to read Holly Black's Tithe and once again was transfixed by the idea that pixies and elves would be more likely to trick you into dancing til your feet were stubs than to grant you your hearts desire.

Now, I've read dozens of spins on the darker side of Faerie. One in particular that inspired me in my own writing is the Sevenwaters series by Juliet Marillier. This series combines a retelling of the Seven Swans fairy tale with another twist on fairies. In her work, the creatures known as the Good People or the Fair Folk are actually the descendants of the Celtic gods of pre-Christian Ireland. The Tuatha de Danaan, or children of the goddess Dana, were forced underground once the humans took to Christianity.

The fun part of this magical race is that they see themselves as highly superior and when the mood strikes they will go to great lengths to cause trouble for humans.

Whether you like stories with sweet flower fairies or you prefer the dark and disturbing side of the Fae, it's easy to see why fairy tales remain so popular, even amongst thirty something's: they offer us a chance to leave the ordinary behind and play pretend while we're lost in their pages.

Today's guest post comes from author Jaclyn Dolamore (Magic Under Glass, Between the Sea and Sky). When I (Misty speaking, here) contacted her about being involved in FTF and possibly doing a pos
t on the behind the scenes stuff for Between the Sea and Sky (research loving dork that I am), I was understandably geeked when she agreed. And then she hit me with this awesomeness. Hope you love it as much as I do; if you do, make sure to leave her some comment love! And when you're done with this one, make sure to check out our interview and swagness! :)

My first novel, Magic Under Glass, involves fairies, but in many ways they are closer to a view of elves than fairies--forest-dwelling people with a connection to the earth. After all, there were already so many YA novels that involve fairy lore and do it better than I ever could. However, when I began my next novel, Between the Sea and Sky, and I knew it would be about a mermaid--Esmerine--and a winged boy--Alan, I had to consider, once again, how much I wanted to draw from myths and fairy tales. There aren't nearly as many mermaid stories (especially when I started writing it... little did I know that 2011 would be the year of the mermaid!) so I wanted to adhere closer to traditional tales in shaping my world.

One of the most common elements of mermaid (and selkie) tales is the idea of an object that can be stolen to entrap the mermaid. Selkies usually shed their pelt, but mermaids carry caps, belts, capes, combs... A human man can steal them and the mermaid will have to come home with him and marry him. Usually they have children, but one day the man leaves the object somewhere where the mermaid can get at it and she steals it back and leaves him and her children forever.

Fairy tales, when turned into actual novels with messy human emotions and details and explanations, tend to beg some questions. My first question was, how on earth did these mermaids end up with this enchanted object a man could use to enslave them? Were they BORN with a magical object? Not likely, right? They must have created it at some point, but why would you create something that, in essence, held your freedom? And why were these mermaids always hanging out where men could steal their stuff, then?

This led me to the idea that the mermaid's belt (in my story, it's a belt) is an object of great magic, and the reason why is that a mermaid sings magical songs to fill it with power that lingers even after she has died. I figured that not ALL mermaids would have these belts. It didn't seem logical for a sustainable society! Only certain mermaids--the sirens, whose songs lure human men. And the reason their songs lure human men is because the sirens are, themselves, lured to the land and its people. After all, mermaids are half-human, so it makes sense they would be not entirely creatures of the sea. Interesting tidbit: the original mythological sirens actually had wings, and somewhere along the line mermaids took up the job, mythologically speaking. I bet there could be a story in that, too...

But back to mermaid fairy tales. The most famous one is still The Little Mermaid, and the original Hans Christian Andersen tale, like nearly ALL Hans Christian Andersen tales, is quite sad. The Little Mermaid is able to take on a human form, but only by giving up her voice and having every step feel like knives. I liked the idea of my mermaids having to sacrifice something to take on a human form, so I paid a little homage to this story too. The mermaids in my story can only walk with great pain, unless they give up their belt. Otherwise, their world is not nearly so depressing, I'll say that!

I was beginning to see my underwater society take shape from thinking about mythology, but the winged folk were really open for interpretation. Besides angels, which these people are not, there isn't much precedent for mythological winged folk. I wanted Alan's wings to work as logically as possible, so I didn't want him to look angelic--instead, his structure is more bat-like, with wings instead of, rather than in addition to, arms. He still couldn't really fly without a little magical help, but at least he could glide. But it also means the winged folk kind of have to sacrifice hands for wings. They do have a thumb and index finger and longer toes capable of grasping things, but I imagined these delicate flying people would have to make more use of tools and machines to be able to do various types of manual labor as effectively as humans.

In astrology, coincidentally, the air element represents the mind and intellect. I had written about a winged race some years before and they were very primitive and lived in mountain caves, but I wondered if maybe I should take these winged folk in the opposite direction--they pride themselves on scholarly attributes. And it makes sense, because they would be able to move and share ideas faster between cities and countries than any other people. Their world is about the equivalent of our 1800 and the more I thought about it the more wondrous it seemed to have wings back then, when even the train wasn't invented and roads were often terrible.

Now, I hope my readers will enjoy reading about these cultures as much as I enjoyed figuring them out!

Jaclyn Dolamore is the author of Magic Under Glass, and the upcoming companion, Between the Sea and Sky. You can find her online here:

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We have something fun for you today. Right now on both The Book Rat and Books from Bleh to Basically Amazing, we're hosting 2 super cute guest posts (you can see mine below) and 2 Prize Packs to go along with them.
Alanna from The Flashlight Reader wanted to be involved in FTF, and wanted to get her students involved (which I was so on board with!), so she decided to have them do acrostic poems for Fairy Tale Fortnight, and I have 1 to share with you!
Check it out:

Forgotten by her stepmother
And evil stepsisters
Impossible, never ending chores
Resigned to be a slave, but
Yearning to be free

Today brings change with
A magical wand
Love at first sight while
Enchanted dancers
Swirl in to the night

To add to the awesome, she decided to sponsor a giveaway as well (well, 2 ---> the other one is on Misty's blog, along with another great acrostic!)

***GIVEAWAY***

1 lucky winner will get a fabulous prize pack of children's books, which includes:

1 copy of Swan Lake with an audio CD 1 copy of Sleeping Beauty 1 copy of Petite Rouge: A Cajun Little Red Riding Hood 1 copy of The Emperor's Kite by Jane Yolen + SURPRIZES!

To enter: Leave a comment with a way to contact you, and leave some love for Alanna and her students OR tell us why you want to win.
+1 for spreading the word
US/CAN only
Ends May 5th May 8th!

Today's guest post comes from Titania who blogs at Fishmuffins of Doom. She also wrote a guest post on Misty's blog that includes a giveaway! Make sure you read her thoughts on her favorite dark fairy tales!

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Fairy tales are adapted into films all the time. The most famous of these are the Disney films that eventually eclipsed the original tales they were adapted from in the minds of most of society. Here are a few reimaginings of fairy tales in film that don’t tell the story word for word, but tell it in a way that is completely unique from what has been seen before. Here are a few of my favorites:

Hard Candy

Hard Candy is the story of 14 year old Hayley who meets Jeff, an adult photographer, at a coffee shop after they have been chatting online for a while. They go back to Jeff’s apartment and drink screwdrivers. You think you know exactly where this is going to go, but you are terribly wrong. Jeff passes out as the result of a spiked drink and spends most of the movie tied up and tortured, physically and mentally. Hayley is like an avenging angel for every girl who was abused or raped. She is convinced that Jeff is a pedophile and possibly involved in the rape and murder of a local girl and is willing to do what it takes to make him confess. Throughout the course of the film, I switched sides so many times. It’s difficult to say through most of the film if Hayley is psychopath or a justified avenger and if Jeff is just a normal guy or a guilty pedophile. This is not an obvious adaptation of Little Red Riding Hood. It’s not an easy thing to identify the true Big Bad Wolf like in so many other retellings. This film is both brilliant and manipulative. Ellen Page and Patrick Wilson deliver flawless, realistic, and alternately sympathetic and alienating performances. Highly recommended.

The Red Shoes

The Red Shoes is a Korean horror film that tells the story of Sun-Jae, a woman who leaves her husband after discovering his infidelity. Her daughter was spoiled by her husband and only cares about him. Her friends are rude and blunt without any concern for her feelings. One day on the subway, she finds a pair of beautiful pink shoes and takes them home. She feels better when she wears them, but notices that other women seem to covet them, even her young daughter who steals them from her. Her rude and inconsiderate friend attacks the girl and takes them for herself before being killed in a most horrific way. These shoes seem to be followed by violence and death and Sun-Jae needs to figure out how to save her daughter and herself before it’s too late. The Red Shoes is a gruesome fairy tale on its own about greed, vanity, and dancing severed feet. This K-horror film adapts it beautifully, even acknowledging the 1948 film of the same title by including a ballet subplot. The film is even gorier than the tale and features an atmospheric creepiness as well as in your face blood and gore. As a whole, it’s suspenseful and tells a semi-ghost story and semi-murder mystery. The ending is a bit convoluted, but as a whole it was creepily enjoyable. I would also recommend other K-horror fairy tale adaptations for those interested, such as Cinderella and Hansel and Gretel.

Black Swan

The ballet Swan Lake is based on a variety of folk tales from Germany and Russia and tells the story of Princess Odette’s tragic love story that usually ends in her or her love’s death. (There are several alternate endings to the ballet.) Black Swan is the story of Nina Sayers, an ambitious ballerina obsessed with perfection. Her dream role is to play the Swan Queen in Swan Lake, but is seen to have not enough passion or emotion to do the role. She is finally given the role after convincing the director of her potential. What follows is her descent into madness as she struggles to prepare for her dual role as the White Swan and the Black Swan. She experiences hallucinations, delusions, and paranoia. In a twisted way, her story reflects that of the ballet. Nina at first is Odette: innocent, naïve, and fearful. Thomas, the director at first embodies the Prince, but later is more like the Sorcerer. Odile, the Sorcerer’s evil daughter, is Lily, Nina’s ballet rival. They look alike, as in the ballet, but Lily primarily wears black, while Nina wears white. Lily is also mostly ruled by emotion and is more impulsive, which is true of Odile. As she becomes increasingly paranoid, she suspects Lily of deception and trying to take her role as Swan Queen, much like Odile tries to steal Odette’s love away. It’s an interesting modern interpretation of the original ballet with a psychological twist and it’s just a great film. Everyone acts exceptionally well, especially Natalie Portman as intense and driven Nina Sayers. The soundtrack is absolutely beautiful and complements the film well. Every aspect of the film works in harmony and is something truly exceptional.

Summary from Goodreads:

Every night, Shahrazad begins a story. And every morning, the Sultan lets her live another day — providing the story is interesting enough to capture his attention. After almost one thousand nights, Shahrazad is running out of tales. And that is how Marjan's story begins...

It falls to Marjan to help Shahrazad find new stories — ones the Sultan has never heard before. To do that, the girl is forced to undertake a dangerous and forbidden mission: sneak from the harem and travel the city, pulling tales from strangers and bringing them back to Shahrazad. But as she searches the city, a wonderful thing happens. From a quiet spinner of tales, Marjan suddenly becomes the center of a more surprising story than she ever could have imagined.
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While in the early stages of planning fairy tale fortnight, Ashley contacted Susan Fletcher, asking her if she'd like to be a part of the event. Susan didn't have the time to contribute an author interview or a guest post, but she did donate a signed hardcover of Shadow Spinner from her personal collection. How cool is that?!

If you need further proof of how awesome it is, you can read Ashley's review (click!) . In case you haven't already guessed, she's definitely a fan.

In order to win a signed hardcover copy of this book, you must


Leave a comment telling us and Susan why you want to read her book.
Be sure to include your email address so we have a way to contact you if you win!


*Open Internationally
*Ends May 5th May 8th!

Hello fairy-tale lovers! I’m back! Did you miss me? As a reminder, I’m Enna Isilee from Squeaky Books. I posted a guest post on “How Fairy Tales Changed My Life” last Friday on Misty’s blog, and now I’m here on Ashley’s blog to give you some recommendations and a giveaway!

I’ve compiled a list of fourteen (one for every day of the fortnight!) of my favorite fairy-tale retellings. Many of these have already been featured during Fairy Tale Fortnight, but I steered away from the well-known fairy tales (Beauty, Ella Enchanted etc.) on the chance that you some of these are new to you. Check out the end of the post for a giveaway!

Plain Kate Erin Bow (My Review | Goodreads | Amazon)
My thoughts: This book is not technically a twisted fairy tale, but I included it in this list because it reads like one. It’s light and fluffy, while still being deep and touching. While reading this book I laughed and I cried. It’s beautiful.

Entwined Heather Dixon (My Review | Goodreads | Amazon)
My thoughts: This one only just barely came out. It’s a retelling of the twelve dancing princesses and I love it because it does stick very closely to the original tale, while being completely unique. This story has a strong heroine, a dastardly villain, and the cutest love story ever. Fabulous.

Ice Sarah Beth Durst (My Review | Goodreads | Amazon)
My thoughts: There are lots of retellings of “East of the Sun, West of the Moon” but this is my favorite one that I’ve found. Sarah has written a number of fairy-tale books, and I think this is my favorite. It follows the typical fairy-tale arc, but manages to keep you on your toes for the entire book.

Shadow Spinner Susan Fletcher (Goodreads | Amazon)
My thoughts: Based off the story of Scheherazade, this was one of the first twisted fairy tales I ever read. Susan has an AMAZING ability to tell a story. This book has a special place in my heart, as my mom read it aloud to me when I was a child, and I still have memories of me begging her to read just “one more chapter.”

Mira, Mirror Mette Ivie Harrison (My Review | Goodreads)
My thoughts: I included this book in the list because it’s so different. It takes its inspiration from Snow White, but is told from the perspective of the mirror, and the person trapped inside. Many people don’t like this book because of its odd format, and not-so-happy ending, but I found it powerful.

Keturah and Lord Death Martine Leavitt (My Review | Goodreads | Amazon)
My thoughts: This is also not based directly off a fairy-tale, I suppose it is a little like Scheherazade. This is a beautiful love story about an amazing girl and time period. I read this book years ago, and I still find snatches of its prose popping into my mind from time to time.

Wildwood Dancing Juliet Marillier (My Review | Goodreads | Amazon)
My thoughts: Honestly, all I can say about this book is that it’s brilliant! If you haven’t read it, do so now. It’s also based on the twelve dancing princesses, but only loosely. It’s more like a wild conglomeration of many tales.

The Swan Kingdom Zoe Marriott (My Review | Goodreads | Amazon)
My thoughts: I only just read this book a couple weeks ago and I absolutely ADORED it. It’s a retelling of “Wild Swans,” the only one I’ve read, in fact. By the time I reached the end of this book I was gasping, crying, and laughing aloud. Fabulous.

The Swan Maiden Heather Tomlinson (My Review | Goodreads | Amazon)
My thoughts: This was one of the first books I received for review. I loved it because it isn’t directly based off any tale (that I know of), but feels like it is. My absolute favorite part of this book is the French influences like that. There are lots of tales from Ireland, Eastern Europe, and such, but I’ve never read a French tale before. So nice.

Toads and Diamonds Heather Tomlinson (My Review | Goodreads | Amazon)
My thoughts: This was another recent read of mine. It’s based off the tale of the two sisters: one who speaks diamonds, one who speaks snakes. The author makes this tale so fascinating and original because both sisters see their “gifts” as a blessing, and strive to find out why they’ve been given their powers. It also is based in an Indian-like culture (as in India) which added some fabulous flavor. Only complaint about this one was that it was too short.

Dust City Robert Paul Weston (My Review | Goodreads | Amazon)
My thoughts: This book is so unique! It takes all the classic fairy tales you’ve ever read, and throws it into a New York setting. Ever wondered what the world would be like if there really were talking animals, fairies, and magic? Then what would happen if the magic went away? This book addresses all of those ideas in a very witty way.

Rapunzel’s Revenge Shannon Hale (My Review | Goodreads | Amazon)
My thoughts: I would be remiss if I didn’t throw in some Shannon Hale books. Rapunzel’s Revenge is a HI-larious take on the classic Rapunzel. Shannon wrote this book because she thought the tale was overtold, and I’m so glad! In this, Rapunzel is a kick-butt, lasso wielding, rockstar! This is a graphic novel, and is great for readers young and old!

The Goose Girl Shannon Hale (Goodreads | Amazon)
My thoughts: I mentioned in my guest post on Misty’s Blog that this was the book that sparked my voracious love of the twisted fairy tale genre, and it’s true. This book is full of beautiful prose, unforgettable characters, and one of the best plots I’ve ever read in my entire life. If you haven’t read this book yet, I BEG you to please go find a copy. Please.

Book of a Thousand Days Shannon Hale (My Review | Goodreads | Amazon)
My thoughts: I’m going to end with my favorite. And I’m serious when I say that. Most of you probably couldn’t name your favorite book of all time, I can. This is it. This was the first ARC I ever received, and it is my favorite book of all time. Have I mentioned that? It’s touching, heartwarming, beautiful, amazing, lyrical, and every other positive adjective you can think of. Khan Tegus (the love interest in this book) has ruined all real men for me. It’s the world’s most perfect book.

What do you think? Have you read any of these? Would you like a chance to win one? Well, I like to consider myself TFT evangelist, and so I want to share these books with you! I’m going to give two people their choice of any book on this list! Unfortunately, my current financial situation and privacy limitations prevent me from shipping internationally, so this is only open to the US. But to two commenters I will give their choice of any of these fourteen books in any format you’d like (hardcover or paperback, availability permitting).

GIVEAWAY INFORMATION:

• Win your choice of any one of these fourteen books
• Giveaway runs 4/25-5/5 May 8!
• TWO winners will be chosen
• Must be 13yo or older
• Must have US shipping address

• Leave a comment with which book you’d want to win in order to be entered
• Be sure to include your e-mail so I can contact you if you win! Or you just need to keep a careful eye out for the winner announcement.
• Get an extra entry by naming another of your favorite YA twisted fairy tale that wasn’t listed

Eilis O’Neal’s debut novel, The False Princess, isn’t directly based on a fairy tale, but has that “feel” to it as you read. It’s about a princess who finds out that for the past sixteen years, she was a decoy for the real princess, who had been cursed at birth. It’s the complete reversal of tales where young maidens discover that they are princesses. Full of its own magic and lore, this novel has already been nominated by The Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA) for its annual Teens’ Top Ten Award. For a review of The False Princess, please visit A Backwards Story or Books From Bleh to Basically Amazing

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1) What were your favorite fairy tales growing up? What drew you to them?
I loved Beauty and the Beast and The Snow Queen. The first because I liked the fact that Beauty saw through the Beast’s exterior to his inner self, and the second for its atmosphere. And, though I wouldn’t call it one of my favorites, I had a very strong reaction to Bluebeard. We had a book of one-hundred fairy tales, which my mother would read to me from, one a night, and I don’t think I slept for two nights after hearing Bluebeard for the first time. I can still recall the picture that went with it of the wife opening the door, and it still makes me shiver. It frightened me and creeped me out, and I would read it whenever I wanted a good scare.

2) Did any fairy tales influence you when writing THE FALSE PRINCESS?
In a way, you could say that all the fairy tales in which common girls either become princesses or in which princess are raised in obscurity as common girls influenced The False Princess. Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty are probably the two most famous of these types of fairy tale, though they certainly aren’t alone. Having grown up with their stories and having had them in my imagination for so long is part of what made me ask the question that lead to The False Princess: What if you grew up thinking you were a princess and then found out you weren’t? I wouldn’t have gotten to this reversal without first having read it the other way around.

3) Was it hard coming up with your own lore when you began world-building for TFP? How did you bring everything together?
It’s always such a balance when you’re world-building. With The False Princess, there are quite a few elements of the world—the oracle of the Nameless God, the way magic works, the tension between commoners and nobles—that are essential to the plot. The reader needs to understand them and how they work to really get into the book. But TFP also has heavy doses of mystery, adventure, and romance, and so the pacing has to move along at a pretty good clip. So it was sometimes a challenge to balance fleshing out the world and its rules and keeping the book moving. I want the information to be there, but in a way that feels natural and keeps the book going, rather than a ten page diatribe on exactly how magic functions in Thorvaldor. So that was what I tried to concentrate on: getting the needed information into the book in a natural way.

4) What are some of your favorite fairy tale inspired novels and/or authors?
I love Robin McKinley’s Beauty—I’m still so jealous of the Beast’s library in that book, which contains books that haven’t been written in Beauty’s time. Edith Pattou’s East, which retells East of the Sun, West of the Moon, has a prime place on my fairy tale shelf. Terri Windling and Ellen Datlow’s anthologies of fairy tale retellings (the first one is Snow White, Blood Red) are must-reads. Shannon Hale’s The Goose Girl is a favorite, and recently, I’ve gotten really attached to Malinda Lo’s ASH, which is a very powerful and wonderfully written twist on Cinderella.

5) If you could live out any fairy tale, what would it be and why?
Probably Beauty and the Beast. It has so many elements that appeal to me: the enchanted castle, the mysterious curse, the slow building of trust and love between two people. And, of course, in many modern retellings, a girl who loves books!

6) Will you be writing any more novels that read like something out of a fairy tale? Can you tell us anything about your upcoming work?
I think so. It’s a feeling that I love in other books, and one that I like to cultivate in my own work. I’d like to do an actual fairy tale retelling myself someday—I just have to figure out which fairy tale I want to do most!

As for what I’m working on now, it has a bit of a more modern feel than TFP or many fairy tales, though by “modern,” I mean Regency England. Still, there are some definite fairy tale tropes in it. I’m going to be coy and not say much more than that, as these are still early days, and I tend to lose momentum if I talk about works in progress too much.

7) What's your favorite Disney rendition of a fairy tale? What makes it so special?
I feel a little like a broken record, but I would have to say Beauty and the Beast. It came out when I was in 6th grade and having a really hard time socially. I felt very alienated from kids my own age, and I spent a lot of time alone with my books. So to see a girl who loved to read and who was considered odd by the people around her be strong, fall in love, and have someone fall in love with her meant a lot to me.

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We want to thank Bonnie for sending this interview our way for FTF, and thank Eilis for stopping by and chatting! Make sure to leave them some comment love!

Shadow Spinner by Susan Fletcher is set in Ancient Persia and it is a retelling of 1001 Arabian Nights. The original tale is the story of Shaharazad, the young woman who tells stories each night to the Sultan, ending before the climax is complete in order to remain alive one more day. Over and over she does this, for 1001 nights. The original tale is where we get such beloved stories as Aladdin, Sinbad, and Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves. I have not yet read the original tale, partly because there are so many translations available and I am unsure which is best, but as far as I know, there are a lot of questions that the original tale doesn't answer.

What happened after 1001 nights that the Sultan decided Shaharazad could live without telling more stories? Why was 1001 somehow the magical number? Where did Shaharazad get enough stories to fill 1001 nights? What would have happened if she started to run out?

Shadow Spinner answers these questions and more. I was surprised and intrigued but this book when I learned about it, because Shaharazad is not the main character as one would expect from a retelling of 1001 Arabian Nights. Instead, our story is narrated by Marjan, a crippled young serving girl who gets drawn into the lives of those in the palace. She goes with her mistress to sell baubles in the Sultan's harem and stops to tell a group of young children a story. Her voice and her ability to tell a story are one of her most valued and prized 'possessions' and her hero is Shaharazad. No one believed that an ability to tell stories could change your life until she stepped up and offered to marry the Sultan. Shaharazad's sister overhears Marjan telling her story to the young children and she takes Marjan to meet Shaharazad, because she is beginning to run out of stories and she doesn't know what to do next.

And so, Marjan comes to live in the Sultan's palace as a serving maid to Shaharazad. But there is much more to live in the palace than plush fixings and plenty of food. Even after almost 3 years of storytelling, every morning there is an air of tension when Shaharazad leaves the Sultan's rooms. The Sultan's mother also hates Shaharazad and wants to see her fail, which means a hatred for anyone close to her, or trying to help her.

I love this book. I mean, really, honestly and truly, I love this book. Marjan wants to be a great storyteller. Every where she goes, she collects stories and collects information that could be used to create and weave her own tales. Each chapter begins with section titled "Lessons for Life and Storytelling" and the lesson within would often foreshadow the events to come withing the chapter.

Watching Marjan grow and develop as a person and as a storyteller felt like a gift. In the beginning, Marjan is holding onto some deeply rooted anger and bitterness, although it takes a while for the reader to realize this. I think it takes Marjan herself a while to realize the extent of the anger she is harboring. She also learns about a solid core of goodness within herself. She is fiercely loyal, willing to do whatever she can to protect and shield those she cares about.

Shadow Spinner is a completely unique tale that takes us into a world of palace intrigue, danger, love and hope. It is everything a fairy tale should be. There is no magic in their world but there is magic in their story. And their story teaches us that there is magic within ourselves.

Cindy Pon is the author of two Asian-inspired high fantasy novels, Silver Phoenix and Fury of the Phoenix. While not based on a fairy tale, the books, especially Silver Phoenix, are full of original lore and mythical beings that could have stepped out of any traditional story. For a review of Pon’s work, please visit A Backwards Story .

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1) What were your favorite fairy tales growing up? What drew you to them?
I love the Hans Christian Anderson stories like The Little Match Girl and The Little Mermaid
and The Snow Queen. They were all magical but also all rather tragic. I think my father was the
one to buy me his anthology and I treasured those stories.

2) What Chinese folklore tales were your favorites? What did you like about them?
My favorite is The Cowherder and the Weaver. It is called the Chinese Valentine’s story and not only incorporates fantasy, but is very romantic. The weaver girl in the story was immortal and despite having children and living a happy human life, she was pulled back and separated from her family and husband to return to the heavens by her angry grandmother. So it is only on July 7th of each year that the lovers can meet in the heavens on a bridge across the Milky Way formed by magpies.

2) Did any traditional tales influence you when writing Silver Phoenix?
Not really. I'm influenced by everything I read in a way. But with Silver Phoenix, I simply knew I wanted to tell a heroine's journey and have a fantasy inspired by ancient China.

3) Was it hard coming up with your own lore when you began world-building, especially because, despite the Chinese influence, Xia isn't China? How did you bring everything together?
That wasn't the difficult part. The difficult part was allowing myself the freedom to make stuff up!
I had to realize and accept that I wasn't writing a historical or even a historical fantasy (which would
have to take place in a certain time or place in our history), but creating my own world inspired by China.
Once I gave myself that freedom, it was easy to just write Ai Ling's story the way I envisioned it. It is no
different than what Tolkien or Lewis or many fantasy authors did, use real culture and myth but also create your own for your fantasy world.

4) What are some of your favorite fairy tale inspired novels and/or authors?
I really enjoyed Entwined by Heather Dixon as well as Ash by Malinda Lo. White Cat by Holly Black is amazing (followed by Red Glove). These novels are loosely based on the White Cat fairy tale and is a favorite series of mine!

5) If you could live out any fairy tale, what would it be and why?
As tragic as it is, and as afraid as I am of being underneath the sea very deep, I'd have to say The Little Mermaid. I've always been fascinated by mermaids since reading the story.

6) Will you be writing any more novels that incorporate mythical beings? Can you tell us anything about your upcoming work?
I only sold two young adult novels so Ai Ling's story ends with Fury of the Phoenix. For my next project, I do hope to write and sell another Xia fantasy starring a shape-shifting snake demon (very popular in Chinese folklore) heroine and a wannabe monk. =)

8) What are some traditional Asian tales that should be more well-known in the Western Hemisphere?
Journey to the West (Monkey King) is the best known (but still not very well-known) story. I'm very excited, as Neil Gaiman has been asked to write the screen play and I hope to see an excellent film made for the US audience in the near future!

And now, in traditional Fairy Tale Fortnight fashion, the lightning round of crazy but fun questions!

~Best fairy tale villain and why? The stepmother from Snow White. She was just so conniving and scary

~Rapunzel is named after lettuce; what odd thing would you be named after if you were in a fairy tale? A pastry, like Pie or Cupcake.

~ Using that name, give us a line from your life as a fairy tale:
Cupcake wandered lost in the strange forest, surrounded by star-shaped donuts, singing apple pie slices, and dancing blueberry scones.

~Would you rather:
- — eat magic beans or golden eggs? Golden Eggs!

- — style 50ft long hair or polish 100 pairs of glass slippers? Polish glass slippers!

- — have a fairy godmother or a Prince Charming? A fairy godmother!

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Thank you so much for taking the time to stop by and answer some questions for us today Cindy! The interview was fascinating! And thanks Bonnie, for contacting Cindy and working with us on these interviews! You are both wonderful!

Deerskin by Robin McKinley is a retelling of the fairy tale, Donkeyskin. I admit it's not a tale I was familiar with before I read this book, and I still haven't taken the time to seek out the original. (Perhaps I should make this a priority...) Anyway, I've posted about Robin McKinley in Memory Monday's before (here I talk about her general influence on me as a reader and here I focus specifically on Beauty.) I have always been the type who goes out of my way to find other books an author has written when I find I really like a book they've written. So, seeing that this was also a fairy tale retelling, I picked up a copy to read. In 8th grade.

From what I do know of the original tale, Donkeyskin is just as disturbing and unsettling as Deerskin. Princess Lissar is the young daughter of a fairy tale couple. No seriously — there is magic in their world, and the her father was one of many suitors to win the hand of the most beautiful woman in all the lands. They fell in love at first site and that love motivated him and gave him and gave him the strength and ability to complete the challenging quest. They marry and are deliriously in love. But when a love is that consuming, when love is that obsessive, it can become tainted and corrupted. They become so focused on and full of each other that there is not room for anyone else, not even their daughter. Always alone, Lissar is delighted when a neighboring prince sends her a dog from his prized brood. Lissar names her Ash, and they become inseparable.

Things are fine, and each of the characters are settled into their roles. But then, the queen falls ill. Afraid of losing her beauty and living when she is no longer the most beautiful woman of all, she allows herself to waste away to nothing. After the queen dies, the king is overwhelmed by grief. While the queen lived, they were so caught up in each other that they had very little attention to spare for their daughter, so she is used to being on her own. But as the king becomes more and more consumed by his grief, and the whispers that Lissar is the exact replica of her mother become stronger and louder, things start to change. Lissar doesn't know what to with all the extra attention from her father, growing more and more uncomfortable until it culminates in an announcement that shocks and horrifies her. Her father announced to the whole court that he would marry his daughter after her birthday. Sickened and terrified, she locks herself in her chambers with her beloved Ash, but the door cannot hold forever and on the third night, her father breaks into her chambers and brutally rapes and beats her. Near death, Lissar takes Ash and flees. The Moon Goddess appears to Lissar and heals hear, removing the painful memories until Lissar has healed enough to be able to handle them.

There is more to the story of Deerskin than this. Far more. There is much to say about Lissar's time in her mountain safe haven where she begins to heal, or down in the neighboring kingdom where lives Ossin, the prince who long ago gave her Ash. There is much to say about Ossin himself. But, this is a post about my memories of the book and the beginning of the story is what filled and took over my mind any time I thought about this book. A few years after I had originally read this book, I was talking to a friend who was thinking about reading it, and I couldn't remember anything beyond knowing that I *think* I liked it when I finished reading it, and that it disturbed me.

I think that I understood as an 8th grader that this book was not actually aimed at me. That I was not currently in the books targeted age bracket. I was too young. This is one of the few of McKinley's books that is specifically aimed at adults. And so, wanting to give the book a fair chance, I decided that I would reread it. And I did. I reread the book two years ago (I think) and am happy to say that, although the book did still disturb me, I genuinely liked it and would read it again. I think that now, I understand more of why the story is told as it is, and now I am disturbed as the story intended me to be, rather than as a 13 year old who wasn't old enough to be the story's target audience.

The is one of the darker retellings out there. You can't have a story based around incest without darker elements creeping into the story, especially given the way the father's inappropriate desires begin to form for his daughter. This is a book that I do recommend, a book that I think is worth the read. This is a book that I will be interested to reread in the future, so I can once again compare how my thoughts and feelings regarding the book have changed as I have gotten older and as I change.

Help us welcome today Diane Zahler, author of The Thirteenth Princess a retelling of The Twelve Dancing Princesses and A True Princess a retelling of The Princess and the Pea. (in my blog to read Ashley's review of A True Princess ).

Diane grew up in Ithaca, New York, where she spent most of her time reading children's books. She loved fantasy, but she especially loved fairy tales. In high school, she started working in the children's room of the public library, and kept reading fairy tales. After college, she went to New York City, got a job in children's book publishing and (what else?!) read more fairy tales before she finally decided to write her own! She loves to travel and often finds inspiration for her writing from the places that she visits.

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What made you decide to write fairy tale retellings?
I’ve loved fairy tales for as long as I’ve been a reader, and I also love a lot of the retellings I’ve read, especially the ones by Robin McKinley and Shannon Hale. So it was a natural fit for me when I started thinking about writing my own novels for young readers.
Would you consider a non-fairy tale retelling? Do you have any ideas?

I’m working on an idea now for a non-fairy tale retelling, but it’s in such an early stage that I don’t want to jinx it by talking about it (and I haven’t worked out the details).

Can you tell us anything about your current writing project?
I’ve finished a third retelling, Princess of the Wild Swans, which is based on The Wild Swans (versions by both Hans Christian Andersen and the Grimm brothers). And I’m partway through a fourth, which has a well-known fairy tale as its inspiration but goes off on some wildly different angles.

The Twelve Dancing Princesses has always been my favorite fairy tale, and I've thought about it a lot. But a thirteenth princess has never occurred to me. Where did the idea for Zita come to you from?
There’s not a lot to the original story, if you recall. Twelve princesses are cursed to dance until they die; they’re rescued by a soldier. Not much detail there. So I felt like I had a lot of freedom to play around with it. Fairy tales are often about abandonment and betrayal, so I wondered: what if there were another princess, but she wasn’t allowed to be part of the family? Zita is abandoned in plain sight, living in the servants’ quarters below her sisters’ bedchamber, but she never loses her desire to be connected with her family, and she never loses her determination to help them.

Is there a fairy tale you would love to retell, but haven't been able to find the right inspiration for? One that you are maybe working on, just waiting for everything to click?
I love Rapunzel. It’s been retold in various forms, but I still feel there’s a lot that can be done with it. It’s on the back burner for now, but maybe soon…

Are there any fairy tales that you absolutely do not want to retell?
Well, there are some that have been done either to death or so beautifully that I wouldn’t want to go there – Cinderella, for example, and Beauty and the Beast. And some fairy tales are just too weird or grotesque to approach, especially some of the lesser-known Grimm tales. What amazes me is how MANY fairy tales there actually are.
Check out this Wikipedia list! I could write a dozen a year and not run out. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_fairy_tales (Try Foundling-Bird or The Iron Stove for bizarre Grimm stories.)

Silly/Random questions:

~Rapunzel is named after lettuce; what odd thing would you be named after if you were in a fairy tale?

Chocolate, without a doubt. But in another language, so it sounds princess-y: Suklaa (Finnish)? or Siocled (Welsh)?

~ Using that name, give us a line from your life as a fairy tale: I was named after the food of the gods, because my mother loved chocolate more than any other food. But I never managed to live up to the sweetness of my name.

~Best fairy tale villain and why? I started thinking about this and immediately wondered: Why are the villains mostly women? There’s Bluebeard, and the wolf in Little Red Riding Hood, and Rumplestiltskin, if you’re looking for wicked males. But, though I don’t want to retell the story, the queen in Snow White has a malevolence all her own. It’s based on envy of her stepdaughter’s youth and beauty, which strikes me as particularly nasty. In the Grimms’ original tale, this villain was Snow White’s mother, not her stepmother, which makes her all the more evil.

~Favorite tale from childhood? Favorite tale as an adult? Least favorites? The Twelve Dancing Princesses and Rapunzel, as a child. As an adult, maybe Beauty and the Beast – one of the few with a heroine whose courage and love help her to save another. I’m not crazy about Jack and the Beanstalk or The Frog Prince (kissing a frog – ick. But in the original version, the princess throws the frog against a wall).

~If you could be any fairy tale character, or live through any fairy tale "happening," who/what would it be? If you consider A Thousand and One Nights a kind of fairy tale, I’d most like to try riding a flying carpet. Ever since reading E. Nesbit’s The Phoenix and the Carpet, it’s been my preferred mode of travel. So much easier and more romantic than the subway or JetBlue!

~Would you rather:
- — eat magic beans or golden eggs? Golden eggs, definitely — scrambled - — style 50ft long hair or polish 100 pairs of glass slippers? The hair, by a length. One long braid.

- — have a fairy godmother or a Prince Charming? A fairy godmother – I could wish for the prince, if I wanted him.
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Thank you so much for participating with us Diane! It's been a real pleasure to work with you!

We have a copy of A True Princess to giveaway to one lucky reader today! Diane was generous enough to provide us with a copy of the book (via the publisher) as well as some really neat bookmarks to go along with both A True Princess and her debut novel, The Thirteenth Princess.


One person will win a copy of the book and a set of the bookmarks. Then, winners will be drawn for the remaining bookmarks.


Rules:


You must leave a MEANINGFUL comment on this post. Let Diane know you appreciate the time she took to contribute be involved with us.
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Ends May 5th May 8th!