Writing fairy tales by Claire Massey

Also today, Claire Massey, from The Fairy Tale Cupboard and much more, has a guest post at EssentialWriters.com about using fairy tales for inspiration at Writing fairy tales.

Here's the beginning to whet your appetite, then click over to read the rest:

We should probably start with ‘once upon a time’: Once upon a time there was a writer who set out to write a fairy tale…

Brought up with the tales from childhood, we all know the stock phrases and can describe the typical characters and plots (although too much exposure to Disney can lead to the mistaken belief that Princesses must always be rescued, but we’ll get to that).

Fairy tales are one of the oldest types of story we have. The tales have travelled countries, continents and generations. For example, the earliest recorded Cinderella type tale comes from Egypt in the 1st century BCE, and thousands of variants of the tale have been collected from all over the world.

Natalie Portman as Snow White

Another window I've had open for days, so I need to share it, so I can reduce my desktop clutter:

From Jean-Pierre Jeunet to Direct Natalie Portman in a Snow White Reimagining?

It was revealed back in June that Melisa Wallack had penned an edgy re-imagining of Snow White, with Relativity Media and Brett Ratner (X-Men, Rush Hour) announced at producers.

It seems the potential film has received some attention from two big names: Natalie Portman (Black Swan, Closer) and Jean-Pierre Jeunet (Micmacs, Amelie).

Pajiba are reporting that Portman is interested in playing the titular role of Snow White, while Jeunet has an eye firmly on the directing gig.

Both Portman and Jeunet are unique in what they do, so it’ll be interesting to see these two talents come together for an edgy retelling of a classic, much-adorned fairytale. It has me foaming at the mouth just thinking about it.

So does this one interest you?

Fairy Tale Reflections at Seven Miles of Steel Thistles

The Tower Room: The Egerton Hall Novels, Volume One (An Egerton Hall Novel)

I ran out of steam mid-week as I have hunkered down with new books and some other projects. (And I am weeks and weeks behind on emails.  Someday I may recover.)  However, I wanted to share a link to Seven Miles of Steel Thistles which is featuring Fairy Tale Reflections every week with guest bloggers, often authors who work with fairy tales, starting this one with Fairytale Reflections (2) Adèle Geras.

I'm adding Geras' most prominent fairy tale titles here, too.  They have gone through a few reissues and are still in print, a nice accomplishment for Geras and the books.  My favorite is her picture book of Sleeping Beauty because it is just lovely, too.

Anyway, follow the links and read Geras' thoughts on Hansel and Gretel, including a poem, after learning a little about her. Starting with:

It’s about hunger. It’s about not being able to cope. It’s about mother love of a warped kind. It deals with contrasts. I love it almost more than any other fairy tale and I’ve never had to articulate why before now and hope I can come up with some good reasons alongside my gut reactions.

You'll have to go to the blog to read the rest....

Watching the Roses: The Egerton Hall Novels, Volume Two (An Egerton Hall Novel)

Pictures of the Night: The Egerton Hall Novels, Volume Three (An Egerton Hall Novel)

Sleeping Beauty a picture book by Geras with illustrations by the wonderful Christian Birmingham.  He is in the top of my list of favorite living illustrators.  (I have a dream list of who I would love to illustrate my own fairy tale translations and adaptations. I would love to see what he would do with Twelve Dancing Princesses.  Sigh...)

New Book: There's a Princess in the Palace by Zoe Alley

There's a Princess in the Palace by Zoe Alley and illustrated by her husband R.W. Alley was officially released last week.  I haven't had a chance to see the entire book yet, but it does look fun.  It is along the same lines as their previous title, There's a Wolf at the Door.

The new title, like the previous one, is receiving starred reviews from most, if not all, of the major review sources.

Book description from the publisher:

In this hilarious collection of princess stories with a distinctive spin, there's Cinderella, who was, though you may not know it, Sleeping Beauty’s mom; Sleeping Beauty, who didn’t fall asleep because of the prick of a needle—it was sheer boredom; Snow White and her diminutive friends—Les, Lou, Sam, Hank, Nat, Myron, and Bethanne; the princess of frog fame; and the princess of pea fame.

Actually, the entire book is like the children's version of Sherri Tepper's Beauty, a novel from years ago, in which famous fairy tale princesses are all related somehow.  This is of course much more light-hearted and intended for children when Tepper's book was definitely for grown-ups.  And Tepper's book is decidedly unhumorous as I remember it.

Review excerpt from School Library Journal:

This colorful, oversize graphic novel is packed with puns, witticisms, and sarcastic asides. It opens as Cinderella–whose real name turns out to be Ashley–tries on the glass slipper and it fits. "My princess! Marry me!" says handsome Prince Dennis. "My prince! Okay!" says Cinderella. Before you know it, they have a daughter. A certain witch who is not invited to the christening casts a spell and–voila!–Princess Dawn becomes Sleeping Beauty. She is something of a spoiled brat and wakes to the kiss of another handsome prince–one who takes himself far too seriously. But she's not ready to make a commitment, so off she goes into the woods, where she invades the house of seven dwarfs and turns into Snow White.

Excerpt from Publishers Weekly review:

Like their 2008 collection The Wolf at the Door, with which this volume shares its oversize format, the Alleys' panel-art versions of Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, Snow White, The Frog Prince, and The Princess and the Pea are part retelling, part parody. Knit together with some creative genealogy, the stories downplay beauty and romance and concentrate on feisty dialogue. Two mice provide running commentary--"Don't you think she might need to brush after being asleep for so long?" one asks about Sleeping Beauty. Earlier, one asks, "Shouldn't the Prince love Cinderella no matter what she's wearing or who she is?" "Of course," replies the other, "but she doesn't know that yet!"

Anyway, it looks like fun and I can't wait to see the full book.  I would love to test drive it with actual kids and see how well they like it, pretty well I imagine.

The 3 Little Dassies by Jan Brett

 

The 3 Little Dassies by Jan Brett is a new release this week. I don't know much about it beyond the book description, but Brett's version of Beauty and the Beast is one of my all time favorites. And, yes, this is obviously yet another addition to the large library of Three Little Pigs retellings.  I think we get more of those than anything else in fairy tale picture books, but this looks to be one of the better and more unusual ones.  Cause, again, it's Jan Brett.

Product description for the new book from Brett's website:

Once upon a time there were three little Dassie sisters --Mimbi, Pimbi, and Timbi. Just like the little pigs who built new homes, the sisters cross a desert in southern Africa to build their houses.

"Welcome!" Says a smiling Agama Man. He is happy to see them, for he is the only one there, he tells them, except for an eagle. The Dassies shiver, but they stay.

The very next day the eagle dives down to flap and clap and blow in Mimbi's grass house and carry her up to his nest. Back he goes for Pimbi. Then for Timbi. But Timbi outsmarts that pesky eagle as Agama Man attempts a daring rescue of Mimbi and Pimbi.

Bold African patterns and prints fill Jan's stunning borders where that handsomely dressed man looks on. But it is the Dassies, in their bright colorful dresses and hats, that steal the show in this irresistible tale. My African version of the three little pigs' story began in 2007 when my husband Joe and I camped in Namibia in southern Africa.

"One morning we climbed up and sat by a freshwater spring. Sunny on the reddish rocks were little rock Dassies, the cutest and most unusual creatures you can imagine with a big bump of a nose like a koala bear, bright eyes and soft fur. A redheaded Agama lizard came along and acted as if he owned the place. Then the shrill whistle of eagles overhead sent the chassis running for cover. Eagles have a strong appetite for Dassies.

"I went home with images of Dassies, the Agama lizard and eagles dancing in my head until they became my characters, with the three little Dassies in dresses and flat turbans like the ones worn by the Herero women since Victorian times. Joe and I agreed that our trip had turned into a treasure hunt."

So refreshingly enough, the three dassie characters are all girls, too.  That is really rare in these retellings where much is bent but the gender usually remains male. I admit, that simple detail makes me want to add this one to my overfull shelves.  Brett has played with the tale before in her The Three Snow Bears, a nice companion book for this new one.

Twelve Dancing Princesses Tales From Around the World Cover Art

This is the cover art for the next SurLaLune Press Release: Twelve Dancing Princesses Tales From Around the World.  You can read more about the title and see the Table of Contents at Twelve Dancing Princesses Tales From Around the World. Just a few more weeks and this one will be available for ordering.

Is anyone surprised I chose Kay Nielsen's art for this cover? I doubt it!

I will be writing more about the title after it is available, of course.

And this will be the next title for which I already have cover art, too. It should be available in time for Halloween this year.

I don't have much information up for it yet, but you can view page for The Grateful Dead Tales From Around the World, too.

Beauty and the Beast and Cinderella collections are up after these!

The Bridal of Triermain by Sir Walter Scott

The Bridal of Triermain by Sir Walter Scott (1813) is seldom mentioned as having a sleeping beauty in it, although not one that falls into the ATU 410 tale type.  First of all, the full text of the work is available here. (It actually appears in many places on the web, but many of the versions are not the full narrative  for some reason, perhaps from indiscriminate copying and pasting by website builders who didn't check the text.) Sir Walter Scott's waning popularity is one explanation.  That it's not one of his more famous works is another.  Yet it is interesting all the same.

I admit I am not overly familiar with his work beyond Ivanhoe, although he was always one of my favorite authors to collect when I played Authors as a child. (I doubt many of you would be surprised to learn that was one of my all time favorite games as a kid, would you? Although why Jane Austen didn't appear in the deck, I don't know! Hmmpf! At least we got Louisa May Alcott.)

Anyway, Scott was prolific and very familiar with folklore, using it to inform his own work which is part of what influenced The Bridal of Triermain.  Here's more about it from The Walter Scott Digital Archive at The Bridal of Triermain.

Composition
Scott began writing the Bridal of Triermain in 1812 while still hard at work on Rokeby. It was a continuation of one of three anonymous fragments that he had printed in the Edinburgh Annual Register for 1809. Scott had been amused by the conjectures surrounding their authorship and thought it would be diverting to play a further hoax on the reviewers by publishing a lengthier anonymous composition. He particularly relished bamboozling the influential William Jeffrey, whom he thought lacking in true poetic sensibility. Many critics had believed Scott's friend William Erskine to be the author of the lines in the Register, and now Erskine agreed to play along with Scott's scheme, submitting a learned preface. Scott himself inserted allusions in the text of the poem designed to remind the reader of Erskine. He had hoped to mystify the critics further by publishing The Bridal of Triermain simultaneously with Rokeby. In the event, though, it did not appear until almost two months later on March 9, 1813.

Synopsis
The Bridal of Triermain interweaves three stories, all with a Lake District setting: the eighteenth-century courtship of Arthur and Lucy, the Arthurian Legend of 'Lyulph's Tale', and the twelfth-century romance of Sir Roland de Vaux.

In order to warn his aristocratic lover Lucy against excessive maidenly pride, the low-born poet Arthur recites 'Lyulph's Tale' in cantos I-II. He tells how how King Arthur is seduced by the enchantress Guendolen. When he abandons the pregnant Guendolen to resume his kingly duties, she swears revenge. Sixteen years later, the fruit of their union, Gyneth appears at Camelot to remind Arthur of his promise that should he and Guendolen produce a daughter, she would wed the bravest of the Knights of the Round Table. Arthur declares a tournament with Gyneth's hand as the prize but instructs her to halt the combat before lives are lost. As the instrument of her mother's wrath, however, she does nothing to end the ferocious fighting, until Merlin arises from a chasm in the ground to punish her. She is sentenced to slumber in Guendolen's enchanted castle until awakened by a knight as brave as any of the Round Table.

The poet Arthur's courtship of Lucy proves successful and, following their marriage, Lucy begs him to tell of Gyneth's fate. In the third and final canto, then, he recounts the quest of the twelfth-century knight Sir Roland de Vaux of Triermain. He has heard Gyneth's legend and sets out to find the enchanted castle. Having located it in the Valley of Saint John, he successfully passes through a series of allegorical dangers and temptations (Fear, Avarice, Sensuality, Ambition) to awaken Gyneth from her five hundred-year sleep and win her hand.

And really, that's all I have to say about that.  Other than that enchanted sleeping is a really common element of Arthurian tales.  Hadn't ever really considered it until I worked on Sleeping Beauties: Sleeping Beauty and Snow White Tales From Around the World.  But that would have been a whole other book, too.

Mirror, Mirror from Kickstart Comics

The fairy tale bandwagon keeps getting bigger and I couldn't be more thrilled.

A new comic book company, KickStart Comics, has a new title--Mirror, Mirror--that will be released in the next few months, apparently with Wal-Mart as one of the primary distributors. Release dates are always fluid on this stuff, I've learned, so I thought I would cover it now and if you are interested you can keep your eyes open for it if you ever visit Wal-Mart.  Otherwise, I'm sure it will be available online for ordering, too.

From the Kickstart website:

MIRROR, MIRROR

Written by: Joshua Williamson (comic credits include justice league, DC’s Halloween special, Dear Dracula, Johnny Monster & Necessary Evil)

Pencils/Inks: Lee Moder (comic credits include Painkiller Jane, Legion, Wonder Women, Highlander, Stars & S.T.R.I.P.E., X factor, Red Sonja)

"The Magic Mirror from the Snow White fairy tale was shattered and its pieces hidden across the globe, to be protected by a secret society known as the Huntsmen. Owen Bullfinch, racing against a secret society, searches for the pieces before the mirror can be rebuilt and used for evil."

Yes, it is rather Snow White meets Warehouse 13, etc. Which is very current. And it appears to be more friendlier to a younger age than Fables, judging from the art and the Wal-Mart distribution.

And here's an excerpt from a much longer article about the series at Newsarama:

Newsarama: Joshua, what can you tell us about this book Mirror, Mirror?

Joshua Williamson: Essentially it’s National Treasure meets the Grimm Fairy Tales. It’s written by me, with amazing pages by the great Lee Moder and all wrapped up in a great cover by some guy named Darwyn Cooke. It’s a family adventure book that I think anyone can enjoy.

At the end of the Snow White fairy tale we never heard what happened to the Magic Mirror. In Mirror, Mirror we learn that the magic mirror was manipulating the evil step mother to cause everything bad that happened. After the fairy tale was over, Snow White destroyed the mirror and scattered all the pieces throughout the world to stop it from ever being put back together. There is a secret society called the Huntsmen whose job it’s been to protect those pieces. Even the Grimm Brothers were members who wrote their fairy tales as clues as to where the pieces were hidden and how to find to them again.

But now a member of the Huntsmen has betrayed them and is starting to rebuild the mirror using these clues. The newest member, Owen Grimm, is trying to stop that from happening.

Nrama: How much after the story of Snow White does Mirror, Mirror take place? Is it in modern times or some far away time?

Williamson: It’s all in modern times, with a few flashbacks to the original fairy tale with a few tweaks and to the history of the Huntsmen.

Nrama: Will any of the characters from Snow White be in this, besides the Magic Mirror of course?

Williamson: Aside from the quick flashbacks it’s pretty much only the Magic Mirror... but that doesn’t mean there isn’t someone related to a character from Snow White.

Interesting enough to check it out further...

New Book: Reckless by Cornelia Funke

Reckless by Cornelia Funke was released pretty much worldwide on Tuesday.  And I missed the release date because, yes, I apparently live under a rock when I am working feverishly away on my own books. 

Book description from the publisher first, which is very unhelpful overall since Funke sells books with her name alone these days (not a bad thing):

Beyond the mirror, the darkest fairy tales come alive. . . .

For years, Jacob Reckless has enjoyed the Mirrorworld's secrets and treasures.

Not anymore.

His younger brother has followed him.

Now dark magic will turn the boy to beast, break the heart of the girl he loves, and destroy everything Jacob holds most dear. . . .

Unless he can find a way to stop it.

If you're looking for happily ever after, you've come to the wrong place.

Excerpt from School Library Journal review:

Funke takes readers on a new adventure into a magical place where the dark side of fairy tales holds sway. Jacob Reckless, like his father before him, escapes into the Mirrorworld, and all is well until his younger brother, Will, follows him in and falls under the enchantment of the Dark Fairy. Through an injury, she turns him slowly into a Goyl, a person made of stone. Jacob is determined to rescue his brother and restore him to himself. Accompanied by his companion, a shape-shifter girl/vixen named Fox, and Will's girlfriend, Clara, Jacob journeys with Will to find the antidote to the spell. With a large cast, including a dwarf, powerful fairies born from water, deadly moths, man-eating sirens, unicorns, and the terrifying Tailor with fingers ending in blades and needles, the story includes multiple fairy-tale motifs as the characters grapple with fear and despair while on their seemingly hopeless quest. The action picks up midway through the book and races to an exciting climax.

From News24:

The new fantasy novel from best-selling author Cornelia Funke, Reckless which goes on sale worldwide this week, is based on her extensive reading of central European fairy tales.

Funke's novels for older children have made her the world's best-selling book author in the German language.

Her new book is loosely modelled on the lives of the Brothers Grimm, who collected fairy tales in the 19th century. The key characters, Jacob and Will Reckless, have the same first names as the Grimms.

"I had to re-read the fairy tales for Reckless, and not just the Grimms' ones, but also other fairy tales from Austria, Slovenia and Hungary which is the approximate locale of the story," she said Monday in an interview with the German Press Agency dpa.

Funke paid tribute to Lionel Wigram, a British film director, saying, "The story of Jacob Reckless is as much Lionel's as mine.

"We discussed and developed each character and every step of the plot for months on end, often for six to eight hours a day.

"For more than two years, we were in contact almost every day and then repeatedly spent weeks on each new version of the story, considering the best ways through the twists and turns," she said.

And, no, I haven't read it yet. And, yes, I am intrigued. Mostly I am happy that a German writer is playing with the Grimms in an unexpected way. That's fun for me and my order for the book has now been placed. (I for once didn't Kindle it because the reviews say the formatting on some illustrations and text are problematic. Besides, the book will arrive just in time not to distract me from finalizing my current manuscript. Always a good thing...)

And here's some trailers and video promos:

New Tangled Trailer

Okay, so I'm a day or so late on this, but here's the newest trailer for Tangled.



And, well, I am much more interested in this one than I was in Princess and the Frog. I may actually see it in the theatre which is saying something for me. I don't enjoy going to movie theatres anymore. But does this movie have anything to do with Rapunzel, really? I think the boys have taken over the fairy tale. I really, really don't want her to be the sidekick. Just saying...

Makes me want to reread Parsillette in which the boy does not get a happy ending...

And I am REALLY curious about that glowing hair scene. What is that about?

Guess we'll know around November 24th or thereabouts...

Medieval Sleeping Beauty: Blandin de Cornouaille

Okay, so today I am discussing a medieval sleeping beauty that did not make it into my new book, Sleeping Beauties: Sleeping Beauty and Snow White Tales From Around the World, due to various logistical issues, such as length, translation and copyright.

The tale is Blandin de Cornouaille.  From my book:

The piece survives in a single 14th century manuscript housed in the National Library of Turin. It is a long narrative poem that describes the adventures of two knights, Blandin de Cornoalha (also referenced frequently as Cornouaille) and Guilhot de Miramar, with an emphasis on the merits of selfless heroism during the height of chivalry. A few translations of this oft ignored piece can be found on the internet. The best I found is by Ross G. Arthur and includes an instructive introduction and bibliography. Blandin is the proper hero while his friend Guilhot, himself a fine knight but considerably less perfect, is presented as Blandin’s foil.


In the course of the story, Blandin learns of a maiden, named Brianda, who was enchanted by her father before his death and is kept in a castle guarded by ten knights. Blandin defeats the ten knights and then meets her brother who takes him to Brianda’s room in the castle where she lays enchanted on a bed, surrounded by seven damsels who serve her. Blandin immediately falls in love with her beauty...

When I was researching the story, I found an English translation--Blandin de Cornoalha and Guilhot de Miramar translated by Ross. G. Arthur--with a helpful introduction by Arthur. Alas, it has disappeared from the web in the original version that I studied. However, the translation by Arthur is at different places on the web, such as at Britannica.com and ReadOz. The story isn't a straight traditional ATU 409 Sleeping Beauty, but the heroine is enchanted and is rescued from her sleep by the hero, Blandin de Cornoalha. In fact, of the four medieval sleeping beauties I included in the book, this is the most distant cousin.  The story is really that of Blandin de Cornoalha and his friend, not the sleeping heroine. Also, it is not a great piece of literature, but it is interesting as yet another example of enchanted sleepers.

A Catalan language version is available at Blandin de Cornoalha. And a list of resources is available at Roman de Blandin de Cornouailles et de Guillot Ardit de Miramar Bibliographie.

Folklore Careers Anyone?

There's not much fairy tale news right now but to give you a break from all my talk of Snow White and Sleeping Beauty, here's a great guide to Folklore Careers from the Center of Folklore Studies.

Of course there are many ways to incorporate a love for fairy tales into your career, but a degree in folklore is a great place to focus on it.

And a list of Where to Study Folklore from The American Folklore Society.

PhD Programs in Folklore
Indiana University
Memorial University of Newfoundland
The Ohio State University
Pennsylvania State University
Université Laval
University of Alberta
University of California at Berkeley
University of California at Los Angeles
University of Hawai’i at Manoa
University of Louisiana at Lafayette
University of Missouri
University of Oregon
University of Texas at Austin
University of Wisconsin

MA Programs in FolkloreGeorge Mason University
Georgia State University
Indiana University
Memorial University of Newfoundland
The Ohio State University
Texas A&M University
Université Laval
University of Alberta
University of California at Berkeley
University of California at Los Angeles
University of Hawai’i at Manoa
University of Louisiana at Lafayette
University of Missouri
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
University of Oregon
University of Texas at Austin
Utah State University
Western Kentucky University

BA Majors, Minors, and Concentrations in Folklore
Arkansas State University
George Mason University
Georgia State University
Harvard University
Idaho State University
Indiana University
Memorial University of Newfoundland
The Ohio State University
University of Alberta
University of Hawai’i at Manoa
University of Kentucky
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
University of Oregon
University of Wisconsin
Utah State University