Merry Wanderer of the Night:
Event — Fairy Tale Fortnight

Fairy Tale Fortnight is officially over! This is our final post, one last time to speak while you are all listening, and we wanted to take this opportunity to express our thanks. It's a bit bittersweet actually. It will be nice for us to have our days back in our control, rather than being consumed with magic and wishes, witches and trolls, but at the same time, we're sure going to miss it. It's been a huge part of these last couple months. We have had such an awesome turn out! There were so very many awesome people who expressed interest and made Fairy Tale Fortnight a part of their April.

This event has been a crazy awesome experience for me! I have had a blast spending so much time in this world of fairy tales and meeting, or getting to know better, so many awesome people! Whether it's my fairy tale soul twin (I'm looking at you, Bonnie) or my Fairy Tale Sister who seems to share my Fairy Tale brain wave length (cue Twilight Zone theme song, and enter Misty!) or bringing my Twitter friends into the Fairy Tale Fun (hello to Enna, Farah, Jayme, Lynn Marie, and Laura) But everyone who participated has made this event great! It really meant a lot that so many people were able to come together and share a love of fairy tales. I hope you all enjoyed this event as much as I did.

in my blog to fill out our survey for the event, and tell us what you thought!

And for all of you who participated, and all of you who read the posts and shared some fairy tale love, Misty and Ashley have one thing to say to you:

THANK YOU!!!

Thank you for joining us, for reading the posts, for writing your own posts, tweeting and spreading the word, putting our button on your sites, talking about it with your friends. Thanks to the authors who took time out of their busy schedules to answer emails and interview questions, write up guest posts and offer giveaway prizes, and generally make these two bloggers shake and shimmy squee. (be glad you couldn't see/hear it... it wasn't pretty) You are all wonderful people, truly amazing and this event would not have been this amazing without you. Again, thank you. Thank you, thank you, and we hope to see you all again next year.

What's that you say?! Next year? Yup! Fairy Tale Fortnight will return again next year. Tell all your friends.

Here is an alphabetical list of all the wonderful participants.
For links to each participants contribution, in my blog to be taken to the schedule

Alanna (giveaway [2], guest post [2]) Alex Flinn (author interview) Ammy Belle (guest post [2]) Andrea (photo guest post) Angelique (video clip) Bonnie (guest post, sent authors to us) Carolyn Turgeon (author interview, giveaway) Cindy Pon (author interview) CSI Librarian (guest post [2]) Curlypow (guest post) Danya (guest post) Diane Zahler (author interview, giveaway) Donna Jo Napoli (author interview, giveaway, video clip) Edie (giveaway) Elie (fill-in game) Elizabeth C. Bunce (author interview, giveaway) Emily (guest post [2]) Enna Isilee (giveaway, guest post [2]) Erika (guest post, video clip) Farrah (video clip) Heather Dixon (guest post) Her Royal Orangeness (guest post) Jaclyn Dolamore (author interview, giveaway, guest post, video clip) Janette Rallison (author interview, giveaway) Jayme (guest post, video clip) Jen (video clip) Jennifer (giveaway, guest post) Jessica Day George (author interview, giveaway, guest post, video hello) JG (fill-in game, giveaway) Khadija (fill-in game) Kristen (giveaway, guest post [2]) Kristen C (giveaway, guest post) Laura (guest post) Liz (video clip) Lynn Marie (video clip) Marissa Meyer (author interview, guest post) Maureen McGowan (fill-in game) Meghan Nuttall Sayres (giveaway) Mel U (guest post [2]) Mette Ivie Harrison (author interview, giveaway, guest post) Midnyte Reader (guest post) Miss Eliza (guest post) Nancy Werlin (giveaway) NoraBell (video clip) One A Day YA (video clip) Sara (guest post, video clip) (and her daughter) Katelin (video clip) Sarah Porter (author interview) Sierra (giveaway [2], guest post [2]) Sheila D (giveaway, guest post) Susan Fletcher (giveaway) Tia Nevitt (author interview) Titania (giveaway, guest post [2]) Tricia (guest post) Velvet (giveaway) Zoë Marriot (author interview, giveaway, guest post, video clip)

Fairy Tale Fortnight is drawing to a close. It's been a crazy event with 135 unique posts between the two blogs, not to mention everything that other people across the blogosphere have posted on their sites.

Misty and Ashley have had a blast making this event happen, but now we want to know what YOU thought! We created this survey to get an idea of what went well, what didn't and what we could do better.

The survey is anonymous, so feel free to be brutally honest with us. We can take it.

We wanted to cap off Fairy Tale Fortnight with something we believe to be pretty awesome. We've been talking for the last two weeks (and for the last few months, to each other) about how fairy tales are such an ingrained part of society, and everybody knows them and the references. And fairy tales are really meant to be read aloud — so wouldn't it be awesome if we got a bunch of people together to read a fairy tale as a sort of "collaborative bedtime story"...

So we did.

This video would not have been possible without the awesome support and creativity of so many great bloggers and authors (and 1 adorably enthusiastic little girl). We want to give you guys a BIG thank you and the best Happily Ever After we can.

We ♥ you!
Alright, grab some popcorn, pull your kid into your lap (unless you don't have a kid, or your kid is a teenager. That would just be weird)... It's time for the unveiling of:

Little Red Riding
Hood: a
Collaborative Bedtime Story

Endless
thanks to the following people:
Authors:
Donna Jo Napoli Jaclyn Dolamore Zoe Marriott

Bloggers: Angelique @ Vampires
and Tofu Erika
@ One A Day Y.A. Project Farrah @ I Eat Words
Jayme @ Horribly Bookish
Jen @ Lost in the Library Liz @ Consumed By Books
Lynn Marie @ Bringing
the Epic
NoraBell @ The Bookery Sara @ Books Your
Kids Will Love
and an awesome kid named Katelin!

In each of our interviews this Fortnight, Misty and I have been asking the authors a series of fun and silly questions. Then, we asked you the same questions in one of our giveaway (enter! enter!)
We thought it would be a great to ask each other the same questions. So now you get to experience the inner (possibly twisted) workings of mine and Misty's minds. Misty's answers are here, and you can hear what I had to say on Misty's blog.

So Misty, as you know, I got crazy excited when you announced Fairy Tale Fortnight. So now, I'd like to know why. ~Why fairy tales?

I could go on and on with this answer. I don't think it was until I started going through things for this event that I even realized the extent of my fairy tale obsession. I mean, I knew; I've always known. In my Adv. Comp. class in college, when we had to pick something to do a huge research project on, and were told to pick something we wouldn't get sick of, when everyone else around me was choosing a topic that would impress the teacher, I chose fairy tales. I've hoarded my fairy tale books from my childhood, and read essays and research on fairy tales for fun. They hold my fascination like nothing else.

But why?

I'm going to say there are many reasons, and I couldn't begin to touch on them all. But for me, the biggest reason is that they are communal and ingrained in our pysches as a result. Fairy tales are interactive. Yes, now you can read them all alone, curled up in bed. But for centuries (and beyond, if you expand "fairy tale" to include all original oral mythology), they were told in groups around campfires, or between parent and child at night before bed. They connect people, and they provide these common tropes for the rest of our lives. You say glass slippers and everyone knows: nothing more need be said. That's powerful.

Beyond that, I love the contradiction of them. They are thought of mostly as kids stories, but they can be incredibly dark. They show us people at their weakest and meekest, becoming something great. Nothing is ever what it seems, and yet you know just what it will be. I love the magic of that.

I love that your research project was on fairy tales! That's so awesome!

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

I haven't the foggiest. That's the thing about naming — we have no control over it. So I'm going to go with the name I almost had (in real life. Don't ask me how this was even a possibility): Blue. Forgive me... All I can think of is Little Boy Blue. (Come blow your horn...)

~ Using that name, give us a line from your life as a fairy tale:

Blue sat tucked away as always in the tiny little garret room; she knew her wicked stepmother was looking for her, and that the longer she dallied, the worse it would be — so for now, Blue was content to stay curled up with one of her favorite books, her rat Faustus on her shoulder, both of them dreaming of a different world.

Aww. Poor little Blue. You should send the rat and his buddies into step-mother's bed at night... Teach her what it's like to be on the short end of things.: P

~Best fairy tale villain and why?

Tough one. I like the villains. (Or, I like to dislike them.) I like to try to figure out their motivations. I'd say Rumplestiltskin. He's just so bizarre and hard to understand, and that's always creepy. I always wanted to know why he wanted the baby? (???) And then, anyone who tears themselves in half when they're angry = serious cray cray. Close second would be Snow White's stepmom, who wants to cut out her heart and eat it.

I almost picked Rumpelstiltskin too! He's so creepy! But, cursing babies to die and eating the heart of young girls won out over dancing baby snatcher. (although, putting it light that, maybe not. Ugh.)

~Favorite tale from childhood? Favorite tale as an adult? Least favorites?

As a child I was obsessed with The Elves and the Shoemaker and the 12 Dancing Princesses (and occasionally, Puss in Boots). I can't say why I loved the Elves so. I just wanted them, I think. And I wanted to make them tiny little clothes. The 12 Dancing Princesses is easier to say why: I had an absolutely beautiful
copy of it (still do!), and I just wanted to dress up in those gowns and see that underground world with the silver-leafed trees and the 12 princes and their boats. (And Puss in Boots had a kitty.)

As an adult, I tend to like the darker stuff. I have a fascination with Little Red Riding Hood (did as a kid too), but I really find myself drawn to the lesser known or seriously distrubing tales, like Donkeyskin or The Rose Elf (which I rewrote in poem form for a creative writing class. I think it's probably too long to repost for you guys, but it was fun. I'd love to do an actual story with it some day.)

Least favorites... I always had questions about some. Jack and the Beanstalk made me indignant. I mean, he's basically a thief. That is not his hen, and he had no business climbing that beanstalk anyway! Plus, what the hell was he doing with the magic beans? Who trades their cow, their only source of income, for beans? I always wanted to shake him.

Jack always did strike me as a bit of a skeeze.

~If you could be any fairy tale character, or live through any fairy tale "happening," who/what would it be?

I would be one of the 12 Dancing Princesses — I really want to see that underground world with the trees made of silver and gold and jewels. That was such a stunning image to me when I was a kid, so awe-inspiring, that I've been a little obsessed with it ever since. I'm not much of a dancer, though... (see answer to last question)

Misty, do you realize — if we are both among the 12 Dancing Princesses... We must be, sisters! Hello to my sister in fairy tales! Let us flee from the creepy Evil Queen together!

~Would you rather:
- — live under a bridge with a troll, or all alone in a high tower?

I bet that trolls got stories to tell...

I bet that troll really smells...

- — ride everywhere in a pumpkin carriage (messy) or walk everywhere in glass shoes (uncomfortable)?

Pumpkin carriage. Glass shoes freak me out. Unless they were the ones from Ever After, and then I'd have to reconsider.

Oooh. Ever After!

- — have a fairy godmother or a Prince Charming?

Um... the prince, I guess. I find the godmothers a little dubious...

- — eat magic beans or golden eggs?

Eggs! I don't even want to know what eating magic beans would do to a person... O_O

I'm definitely with you on that one! And, you know how I feel about golden eggs... Makes the outside match the insides, if you know what I mean.;) (still humble...)

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

I bet you could do some pretty awesome couture things with 50ft of hair. I wouldn't want to wear said hair, but style it?

Sure.

- — be forced to spin straw into gold for hours on end, or dance every night until your shoes are worn through?

Spinning and weaving fascinate me, and spinning straw what certainly be an interesting skill — and one hell of a party trick. Alchemy, anyone? And though I'm sure it'd be pretty mindless after awhile, I could listen to audiobooks or something while I did it. I'm not really much of a dancer (sober, anyway), so I think I'd have to go with spinning. Couldn't be much worse than most jobs, right?

Until creepy Rumpelstiltskin pops up, asking if you need help!! Uber creepy villain, remember? Are you going to offer him your first born?! Come to the enchanted ballroom with me Misty. I'll teach you to dance. (or ply you with liquor until you can't tell the difference!)

*Misty reconsiders*

I want to take a second to say thank you to Misty. I saw her post about Fairy Tale Fortnight, and I knew that I wanted to be a part of it, knew I wanted to do as much with it as I could. So, when she asked me to co-host with her, I gave a very, very enthusiastic YES! I have had so much fun preparing for this event with Misty. We've had some awesome email exchanges, and some very definite Twilight Zone moments. I don't think there has ever been a time when we weren't on the same page about things, and our ideas for certain elements of the Fortnight were eerily similar.

It's been such a blast working with you Misty! You've been amazing! It's a little bit sad to see the Fortnight end, but this just means we get to start planning for next year! I can't wait!

Alright Fairy Tale fans! My last giveaway comes from author Regina Doman! She has generously offered a copy of any one the books in her fairy tale series to one lucky winner!

Her series, A Fairy Tale Retold, covers several different fairy tale favorites. With five books in the series, Regina's stories retell the 1001 Tales, Sleeping Beauty, Snow White, Snow White and Rose Red and The Twelve Dancing Princesses.

These books have been on my wishlist for a long time. I haven't read any of them yet, but I've been eyeing them for over 3 years now.

These books are each set in the modern world and use modern teenagers to tell these fairy tales.

Regina has been generous enough to offer the book of choice to one lucky winner within the US, UK, Europe, or Australia. And, if the winner is from the US, the book of your choice will be signed!

To enter — Leave a comment with which book you would pick if you are the winner! And, why not tell us which fairy tale you would love to see a retelling of next!

AND head on over to The Book Rat for an interview with Regina!!

The Sweetest Spell by Suzanne Selfors is a book that I hadn't even heard of until Misty and her magic fairy tale fortnight fingers managed to get a copy sent to my house. I read the synopsis and thought it sounded super... weird (escaped death because of a cow?! Churns milk into chocolate?! Chocolate conquers all?!) but then, I noticed at the very top, where it says "re-telling of The Ugly Duckling" and I was like, Oh! WIN!

This is quite a charming little book and I was actually quite impressed with much of the writing and the imagery and the feel of the story. It didn't quite have that magical something that makes you feel a fairy tale, but it was close and I found myself enjoying the story immensely.

Without giving too much away for fear of spoilers, I will say that the villian and the climax of this book were a disappointment to me. I don't think we need a detailed back story from our bad guy to make us understand why/how they are in a fairy tale retelling. But they do need a motive. Even if that motive is just — I'm evil and I know it... But in this book, I never really got the motive. I mean, I understood the superficial motive, but it didn't really... fit right to me. (It's really hard to explain this without just spoiling everything.)

There were a also few moments that felt rushed and a few characters that seemed to change halfway through, like the Peddler. Some of him I understood, but I felt like the author tried too hard to allow him to make an about face that wasn't really there. (You don't grin maniacally when you stab someone if you are really just a good person at heart...)

But other than wishing for a bit more character development in certain places and a slightly more sensical ending, this was definitely a book I enjoyed reading. Once I started reading, something about the writing was compelling enough to make me want to keep turning pages. There was never that insane rush to get to the end of the story because the action is so intense you just have to have to have to know what's going to happen next. Instead, it was just a gentle pull that kept me turning the pages, reading along. Which, considering how important cows are to this story and the way that cows move, feels like the absolute perfect pacing for this story.

I thought that most of the interactions involving Emmaline were done very well. The author really shows how deep rooted and damaging prejudices are and Emmaline has to face a lot of them, from the people in her village who scorned her, to the people in the rest of the kingdom who despise her and her people, to those so overcome with greed they see nothing of her except her magical ability to create chocolate, the thing they desire and crave more than any other. She is a strong character, one determined to remain true to herself no matter what happens and no matter what she's up against. And I loved watching her sense of self and purpose grow.

The story itself is full of the usual fairy tale fare — a damsel in distress, a quest, crimes again the King/Queen, lies, betrayal, false reports, true love, and etc. but Selfors always managed to infuse her own spin and her own touch to every part of the story. The basic fairy tale predictability was there, but nothing about this story felt like I was reading the same old thing. The fairy tale was buried underneath an original story and I truly enjoyed it. Is it the best book I've ever read? No. But it's definitely one I enjoyed and definitely one that's going to need to sit it beautiful hardcover on my fairy tale shelf.

Click the button to be taken to the
Fairy Tale Fortnight Main Page & Schedule
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The Sisters Grimm: The Fairy Tale Detectives by Michael Buckley was a charming middle grade novel about two young sisters. After they mysterious disappearance of their parents, Sabrina and Daphne are sent to live with their grandmother, a woman their parents had told them died long ago. Sabrina, the older sister, remains skeptical of the older woman for a long time, refusing to believe that she might be her father's mother. Sabrina feels further justified in her wariness of the old woman when she begins telling the girls of their 'heritage'.

Apparently, fairy tales are real. And her ancestors, the Brothers Grimm, were actually the first fairy tale detectives. What we view as a collection of tales is actually their case files, stories and notes written down so that the Brothers could figure out the fairy tale whodunit. I won't spoil the story of how or why their services were needed, because it was a lot of fun learning that for yourself while reading. Sabrina refuses to listen to this faux grandmother until the truth is so clear, she cannot possibly avoid it.

This is a book that I would have completely devoured as a kid. It is full of action, fairy tale characters, suspense, misdirection, and magic. It has a lot of the typical — orphans (who might not be orphans), who end up being something far greater than they had dreamed, who go from no knowledge of who they really are to saving the day — elements, but it works perfectly on a level for middle grade readers.

There weren't a whole lot of real surprises while reading this book, but that has more to do with my age and reading experience than any flaw within the writing. Young children will be delightfully shocked and appalled at the twists and turns the story takes and will eagerly look for the sequels. I personally would have loved to have seen more interaction with more of the fairy tale characters. There is so much potential with character interaction and development here!

I look forward to reading the follow up books as well. I'd love to see how Sabrina and Daphne go about trying to rescue their parents and learn to live with the 'Everafters'. I will probably end up purchasing this series soon, if not for myself than for my younger brothers. This would be a great way to introduce a young reader to fairy tales or to delight a young reader who has already discovered their magic.

The Third Child: a fill-in from author Maureen McGowan There was an old woman who lived in a Birkin bag. She had 3 children, the bane of her existence. The first was a thick-headed, doltish son, who was prone to buying magic beans and geese that laid strange orange eggs. The 2nd was a beautiful but haughty daughter, who stared at herself ceaselessly in any reflective surface, speaking in rhyme to the reflection there. But the 3rd child, Pandora, she was the worst of all. The first 2 children gave her endless grief, but it was Pandora who drove the old woman to distraction, for Pandora was always greedy.

The old woman had no choice but to lock Pandora high in a tower — from which Pandora promptly escaped, climbing down a ladder made of hair and fleeing in a giant pumpkin carriage. (The old woman’s fault, you see, for braiding hair-ladders and growing what were surely mutant pumpkins...)

The 3rd child traveled night and day, finally reaching the Great City. When Pandora reached the City, she opened a manhole and discovered the sewers flowed with gold. It seemed too good to be true. So Pandora promptly stole a bucket from a poorly attended vendor’s stall nearby, and set off to climb into the sewers.Pandora‘s quest was not an easy one, and before long, she discovered the bucket had holes. Not knowing what else to, Pandora did what any greedy 3rd child would do: using her skirt, she plugged the holes. This of course caused her to run through the streets half naked, which led to her arrest for stealing a bucket filled with yellow paint. Which is exactly what one would expect of such a 3rd child.Pandora lived infamously ever after, of course. But to this day, when ever someone says Fool’s Gold, everyone thinks of Pandora , the 3rd child of the old woman who lived in a Birkin bag.

Thanks, Maureen! Maureen McGowan is the author of the Twisted Tales series, including Cinderella: Ninja Warrior and Sleeping Beauty: Vampire Slayer, as well as a short story in The Mammoth Book of Time Travel Romance.
Make sure to check back with us in late May, when Misty and Ashley will both be a part of Maureen's blog tour.
Ashley will be reviewing Cinderella: Ninja Warrior. Misty will be reviewing Sleeping Beauty: Vampire Slayer.

As I've mentioned on the blog a time or two before, I come from a theater family. I'm pretty sure if you cut certain family members open they would bleed drama. My dad has been involved in every facet of theater but his real passion is technical design. His current job allows him to design sets, costumes and lighting designs. He's also a phenomenal artist and painter. I'm talking about him today because a few years ago, he was involved in the set design for Into the Woods, which is one of my favorite fairy tale mash-ups. It's what happened to all these beloved characters after the "Happily Ever After" that apparently, wasn't so perfect as it seemed.

He recently started a blog talking about his theater designs. He posted about his set design for Into the Woods , which I'll link here, because there is no way I can adequately summarize that, but I wanted to post a few pictures from it because it's a fairy tale, it was a fabulous set, and I totally helped paint it:)

If you are interested in reading more about how he designed this (and other) sets, you can definitely check out his new blog — The Theatrical Designs of Gary Benson and you can also check out his webshots portfolio.

This post is just me casting lonely puppy dog eyes at fairy tales, both released and announced that I'm itching to get my hands on. There's a lot of them, but this is in no ways an all-inclusive list. There are a lot of really great looking retellings that got left behind, simply because the post was so long. For that same reason, all that's included about each title is a tiny bit about why I want it so bad.

Shadows on the Moon by Zoë Marriot — If you haven't yet picked up on how much I want this book, I don't think you've been paying attention. I loved Zoë's previous novels and this retelling of Cinderella fascinates me. This is probably my most highly anticipated of all the books on this list.

Sweetly by Jackson Pearce — The companion novel to Sister's Red, which I loved (my review) , this is Pearce's version of Hansel and Gretel. But, just as Sister's Red was unlike any Little Red Riding Hood story I've read before, Sweetly promises to be just as original, and just as fabulous.

Heart's Blood by Juliet Marillier — I loved Marillier's writing in Wildwood Dancing (my review) and Cybele's Secret. I'm eager to read more of the fairy tale retellings that she has written. Heart's Blood is the one that I used as my example, but really, any of her books I've no yet read would fit there.

Thornspell by Helen Lowe — I haven't read too many retellings of Sleeping Beauty but it's one that, in my experience, often does very well on the retell. I've had this one on my tbr for a while now, and can't help but think that it's getting time to take it off.

Dread Locks by Neal Shusterman — The first in his Dark Fusion trilogy, this promised to be a very unique and twisty version of Medusa. The series also retells Little Red Riding Hood and The Ugly Duckling.

The Near Witch by Victoria Schwab — The cover is beautiful and haunting, and the synopsis sounds like it comes from a fairy tale. But it is instead a wholly original story, a new fairy tale. And I for one, cannot wait to read it. (Thank you Victoria for the correction. My apologies for having it wrong before.)

The Fairy Godmother by Mercedes Lackey — This is the first book in her Five Hundred Kingdoms series, and it's the one I've chosen to represent Lackey in general. I've heard a lot of great things about her writing in general and about this series in particular, and it is one that I am eager to read.

Birdwing by Rafe Martin — This is the book that has, perhaps, been on my list the longest without having been read. Birdwing is a retelling of The Six Swans (or The Wild Swans etc.) but it is the story of the youngest brother, the brother who was given the shirt with only one finished sleeve. What was his life like, with one arm and one wing? This idea fascinates me, because I've thought about that before, and I would love to see where Martin takes this story.

White as Snow by Tanith Lee — There is a whole fairy tale series where several writers grouped together and all (somehow) decided to tell their own tales. White as Snow is one of them, as is Briar Rose by Jane Yolen, which is definitely a book worth reading. I'd love to go through and read each of the books in this series. They all seem fascinating.

Toads and Diamonds by Heather Tomlinson — I really enjoyed Tomlinson's The Swan Maiden and was excited to see that she had another fairy tale retelling coming out. I can't wait to see what she does with this story. It's a lesser known tale, and one that is a little bit... weird (gems or snakes falling from your mouth every time you speak?!) and it's one that could very definitely be fascinating on the retell.

So there it is — a very small grouping of fairy tales that I'm insanely anxious to read. Have you read any of them? What did you think?! Any you recommend more than others? Any you are adding to your own TBR?

With us today we have the lovely Elizabeth C. Bunce, author of A Curse Dark as Gold, a fantastic retelling of Rumplestiltskin (set in the Industrial Revolution! Brilliant!) and the "Thief Errant" series, which is about Digger, a spy and thief who unwittingly finds herself at the center of a magical rebellion. The first book, StarCrossed, is out now, and the second, Liar's Moon, comes out in November!
Make sure to stick around till the end of the interview for a chance to win your own copy of StarCrossed!
Without further ado, I give you: Elizabeth C. Bunce!

~What inspired you to set the tale of Rumplestiltskin in the Industrial Revolution?
A couple of things, actually. First, I wanted to set the novel in the time and place of fairy tales—that imaginary Fairy Tale Country—and thanks to classic artwork by Dulac, Dore, and others, for me that's the 18th century. Second, it was a natural extension of the decision to set the story in an ailing textile mill, because the social and economic changes of the Industrial Revolution presented an existing set of realistic obstacles and conflict for the plot. And, to be perfectly honest, I was in love with the clothes of the era, and just couldn't imagine Uncle Wheeler dressed any other way!

~What was the research process like for the story, both on the fairy tale front and the historical front?
On the fairy tale front, I read as many traditional versions of Name of the Helper tales as I could—not just early "Rumpelstiltskins," but also pieces like England's "Tom Tit Tot" and Scotland's "Whuppity Stoorie." But my goal was always to focus on the story of the girl who bargains away her infant son, so I did stick pretty close to the "Rumpelstiltskin" framework. The rest of the research—oh, mercy! I dug into everything from everyday life in the 18th century, to traditional folk magic and ghost stories, and, of course, a huge amount of research (both book learnin' and the hands-on kind) into the woolen textile industry. I have monographs on wigmaking, esoteric economic histories of individual mill towns, even the journals of period woolworkers. For me, research uncovers not just the things you know you're looking for—but almost more importantly, the things you had no idea you needed.

~Will we ever see more stories set in Charlotte’s world?
Yes! I have one published now, a ghost story called "In for a Penny" in the Scholastic anthology Bones, edited by Lois Metzger (July 2011). And I have a few more ideas—including more retellings—up my sleeve, as well.

~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?
As a reader, I'm even a bigger fan of retellings than I am of the original tales. I am fascinated by the ways authors expand and adapt the source material while keeping the stories fresh and accessible to today's readers. There's so much potential in the fairy tales, and I find it really comes to life in a brilliant retelling. I'm particularly drawn to the fairy tale landscape—the dark woods, the impenetrable briar hedge, the castles. But as a writer, I like the challenge of re-imagining those classic settings; expanding the borders of Fairy Tale Country, as it were!

~StarCrossed seems pretty different from Curse; did you feel it was a departure for you? How does StarCrossed’s Digger compare to Curse’s Charlotte?
I like to say that Curse was written for my adult literary and fairy-tale scholar self, while StarCrossed and Liar's Moon were written for my inner 16-year-old fantasy fan. So in that way, I can't say the series is a departure, although it did feel very different to write Digger's story than Charlotte's. As characters, Digger is a complete 180 from Charlotte. Charlotte thinks over everything before she makes any move, and Digger is very much more a Shoot First, Ask Questions Later kind of girl. Oddly enough, their goals end up being the same (saving the people they care about), but their methods are a little different. I have a feeling Digger would have taken one look at Shearing and Stirwaters, said, "To hells with this," grabbed everyone, and lit out of there.

~StarCrossed is a series, so I know you’re in the middle of that, but are there any plans to tell more straightforward fairy tale retellings in the future?
Definitely! The first novel I ever wrote was a retelling, I have a collection of short retellings that's been in the works for a while, and I've just started collecting research materials for a Victorian-era fairy tale project I'm excited about.

~What’s your favorite scene you’ve ever written?
I don't know! What a great question. Since we're talking about Curse, let's narrow it down some. I still think that book has some great scenes (I especially love the conjuring of Jack Spinner, the introduction of Biddy Tom, the crossroads, and the denouement)... but today I'm feeling romantic, so I'm going to say Randall's gift of the watch. There's something magical about those rare moments where you can capture everything about a story in just a few lines, and I think this scene between Randall and Charlotte tells us so much about both characters.

Lightning Round!

~Rapunzel is named after lettuce; what odd thing would you be named after if you were in a fairy tale?
Hopefully I'd get a name! But it would probably be something like Donkeyskin or Aschenputtel. Maybe Doghair. Hundehaare. That sounds about right.

~ Using that name, give us 1 line from your life as a fairy tale:
Hard by a great prairie, in a cottage surrounded by mud in all seasons, guarded by a pack of hounds, lived a woman known as Hundehaare, whose back was permanently bent from bending over her books, her fingers gnarled and pricked from the needle. But from her muddy cottage, Hundehaare crafted things of great wonder, and her work was sought by folk from distant lands.
(Ok, that's two lines!)
[The judges confer... Two lines is acceptable, since they are such good lines.:) ]

~Best fairy tale villain and why?
Well, see, I tend to take a longer, more sympathetic view of my fairy tale villains, so it's difficult to come up with a list of inexcusable baddies. The thirteenth fairy in "Sleeping Beauty" is awfully petty, but, then, who hasn't felt wounded at being excluded from a party? And for mismatched dishes? But after giving this some deep thought, I'm going to have to go with The Pea.

~Favorite tale from childhood? Favorite tale as an adult? Least favorites?
My favorite always was and will probably always be "Beauty and the Beast." The least favorite one is hard to answer; it used to be "Rumpelstiltskin," hands down—but I feel kind of bad about saying that now, since the story has actually been very good to me!

~If you could be any fairy tale character, or live through any fairy tale "happening," who/what would it be?
Although it directly contradicts another answer below, I'm going to say I'd like to accompany the soldier as he follows the dancing princesses to Faerie.

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

- — live under a bridge with a troll, or all alone in a high tower?
Tower

- — be forced to spin straw into gold for hours on end, or dance every night until your shoes are worn through?
Spin. Was there ever any doubt?

Thanks so much for stopping by and chatting with us, Elizabeth! For those of you who haven't read A Curse Dark as Gold (was there ever a better title?), Misty and Ashley both highly recommend it! And if you haven't read StarCrossed, here's your chance!

Misty's review of A Curse Dark as Gold | Ashley's review of StarCrossed ***GIVEAWAY*** Thanks to the awesome people at Scholastic, we have a beautiful finished hardcover copy of StarCrossed to give away to 1 winner!
To enter, answer this question: If you were to retell a fairy tale, what would it be and where/when would you set it?
Then, fill out this form.
International
Ends May 5th May 8th!

Enchanted by Alethea Kontis was my absolute most anticipated release for 2012. I saw the cover on Goodreads and left that window open for days so that I could stare at the cover and quietly covet this book in the comfort of my own home. And then Misty and I started talking about Fairy Tale Fortnight part duex and she was just as crazy excited about this book as I was. And I can't tell you how happy I am that not only did we both manage to get our hands on a copy to review for FTF, but Alethea also participated in the greatness that is FTF. (Check out her awesome giveaway pack!)

I haven't been reading anything lately for a lot of reasons, but I read this book in a day and was reminded why I love reading so much. This wasn't a perfect book, but it was just so delightfully... delightful that I can't stop smiling every time I think about it.

Seriously. There was so much fairy tale awesome packed into one book! I mean, really. From the very first chapter you stumble into so many different allusions and hints and blatant discussions of so many different fairy tales, some well known, some not so well known, that it fair to made my heart sing.

Before I get into more of what I thought of the book, I wanted to make one point. There is a lot in this book that could potentially be annoying or aggravating to some. During last years Fortnight, I posted about Why I Always Forgive My Fairy Tales. And that applies very much to this story here. There are parts of the story that are predictable, parts of the story that happened too fast or too symmetrically to be fully realistic or believable (magic numbers 3 and 7 pop up a lot in this story). But I didn't care. Because it's a fairy tale and that automatically means I will love it just for existing, just for being what it is.

Sunday is our main character and she loves stories and words and writing (girl after mine own heart, no?) She always carries with her a magical diary (a name day gift from her Fairy Godmother) that never runs out of pages. But Sunday generally sticks to the past because what she writes has a tendency to come true and she recognizes that this sort of power is not something to be played with. (And how refreshing is it to have a young character that nevertheless understands responsibility and the importance of power).

Sunday has a large and varied family and I loved that there was so much importance placed on family and relationships in this story. The characters aren't perfect and some of them make poor decisions or let old hurts fester, but there is still this deep bond, this strong assurance of love and affection and loyalty that runs through the entire family and I loved that this was a family, not without their problems, but that was still warm and loving.

There were some moments when I felt that the author was trying just a little too hard to be mysterious and keep us from figuring out the secrets too soon. It made the passages confusing rather than intriguing and I thought it to be a bit overdone. But even with that and the previous warning aside, this was pretty much the perfect book for me to read right now. It was delightfully fun and I spent almost the entire time reading this book with a smile on my face. It's pretty clear from where the book went and how it ended that the author is hoping to write sequels with the other Woodcutter sisters (not to mention that she said it in her interview) . And that's totally fine by me! Monsueir et Madame Publishers, if you choose to publish more of Kontis's Woodcutter family drama, you've got a guaranteed reader right here.

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The Mermaid's Mirror by L. K. Madigan is the story of Lena, a 16 year old who feels the call of the sea. She been through a lot of changes in the last year or so, changes that come from growing up. Her best friend, Kai, has grown into something more, and she's trying to navigate the boyfriend-girlfriend thing without alienating their other best friend, Pem. She's also desperate to begin surfing, but because of a horrific accident when Lena was young, her father refuses not only to return to the water himself, but also refuses to let Lena learn to surf. But the sea is calling to Lena, stronger than ever and she finds herself unable to resist its call.

And then she sees the mermaid. After that, nothing will ever be the same.

Although not a direct retelling of The Little Mermaid, The Mermaid's Mirror definitely contains elements that feel very like a fairy tale and the story moves in much the same rhythm and pattern as a retelling. There are mysteries to uncover, secrets to keep, and unbelievable challenges to face.

Lena is fairly close to her family. Her mother died when she was young and her father remarried when she was nine. This is the mother she remembers and they have a relationship that is closer than many biological families share. She doesn't always understand her father or the decisions he makes, but she loves him and they too are close, although that relationship gets a little strained as she realizes just how many secrets are really being kept. But it is with her half-brother, Cole, that Lena has the strongest relationship. About ten years younger than Lena, he worships her in that special way reserved only for young children. And she is a wonderful older sister, doing what she can to make sure Cole always feels loved and welcome by her.

Her relationship with her friends was also handled very well. Lena is still a little unsure about what it really means to be Kai's girlfriend and you can tell that he is more into her and their relationship than she is. She cares about him, but you can kind of tell that something is missing. But the three of them, Lena, Kai and Pem are close and it is obvious that they all truly care about one another.

As Lena searches for truths about the mermaid in the water and the mother she never really knew, she begins to unravel the secrets that her father was not ready for her to learn. When she finally gets the full story, she is left with an unimaginably tough choice. She is taken, by the mermaid in the waves, to live beneath the surface, in the village of the merfolk. Wrapped in the enchanted seal cloak, she is able to breath the water and survive in the water. Below the surface, she learns about different kinds of love and her whole world is opened up to new possibilities. Her thoughts of her previous life are murky and seem to drift away almost as soon as she has them. It is eventually that strong connection to her family, specifically Cole that will eventually force her to make a choice between the world she has always known, or the world she is just discovering.

I think that the real strength of Madigan's writing with this story is her characters. They are so complex, so developed and so real that I cannot help but feel drawn to them. I feel Lena's pain and her confusion. The anguish of her father is palpable when he realizes his daughter is lost to him. Although the story was delightful and the writing well crafted and beautiful, it was the characters that truly made this story. They are what carry it, what the story rests its weight upon.

I was thrilled with how much I enjoyed this book. Madigan does not take the easy way out here. She does not give you a pretty package to wrap your story in and make the world perfect. But she does give you a real story, one that is beautifully told and one that will linger with me for a while. I imagine that this is a tale that will make sudden appearances in my mind, reminding me of the enchanting world beneath the waves and the bittersweet relationships all tied together by Lena. It was much different than I had expected, but it is, nonetheless, a story that I truly enjoyed and one I imagine I will be reading again in the future.

In addition to providing a guest review for us, (read her review of Cloaked ), Sheila from Book Journey has generously offered a giveaway for our lucky readers today! It's pretty simple. Here, from Sheila herself, is what you have to do:
In celebration of the FUN that is Fairy Tale Fortnight I wanted to offer a giveaway. First, read my review of Cloaked at The Book Rat and leave a comment there about the review. Then return here and share with us your favorite fairy tale and why.


A winner will be chosen using random.org and the winner will get to choose from one of three of Alex Finn's books that I will send them from Amazon: Cloaked, A Kiss In Time, or Beastly.

USA and Canada entrants only please. Ends May 5th May 8th

Today's Fairy Tale Fortnight interview totally makes my day. Because it is with the author of my number one most anticipated release of 2012 and will be followed by a review of the book! I cannot even begin to describe how happy I am that Alethea, author of the soon to be released Enchanted agreed to be part of Fairy Tale Fortnight! So check out her awesome interview and then enter the giveaway of WIN that she is donating!

What do you make of the resurgence in popularity for fairy tales? (Once Upon a Time, Grimm, Mirror Mirror, Snow White and the Huntsmen, all within a very short time)? Do you see it as a trend that will sort of peter out, or is it just getting started?

J. R. R. Tolkien once said (and fairy tale scholar Jack Zipes agrees) that fairy tales were 100% guaranteed moneymakers. In these times of extreme economic crisis, doesn't it make sense to bet on a Sure Thing? Even Mama wouldn't disagree with that.

I believe this is a trend that started once upon a time in sixteenth-century Italy. We're definitely on the crest of a fairy tale tidal wave right now. I hope that wave continues for a very, very long time... or until we all live happily ever after. Whichever comes first.

What impact do you think fairy tales have on society (especially with the same tales popping up in various forms in every society)?

Over the years, fairy tales as a whole have been both teaching tools and "urban" legends at the same time. They are typically pro-cleverness, anti-laziness, and sometimes even end more realistically than happily. I think the more unadulterated fairy tales that children are read as part of their growing-up process, the more traditional values they will have, and the better off our society would be.

But we live in a world now where children are protected from such terribly, bloody things. Fairy tales are neutered and spoon-fed by Disney, and our children are reading Facebook news links before bedtime. Because THAT seems like the best way to mold our future society. *rolls eyes*

Book in a Tweet: Your fairy tale in 140 characters or less?

Every beloved fairy tale originated with the Woodcutter family. Enchanted is Sunday Woodcutter's story.

Favorite fairy tales: "The Goose Girl" and "Snow White & Rose Red."

Most underrated fairy tale? Every one that hasn't been made into a Disney film: "The Foundling," "Master Maid," "The Seven Swans," "The Little Match Girl," "Tom Thumb"...

Most overrated fairy tale? "Snow White." Every retelling of this tale concentrates so much on the evilness of the queen and not really Snow White herself. (The jury's still out on OUaT, but it's decidedly Regina-centric.) At the end of the Grimm tale, Snow White invites the queen to her wedding and makes her dance in red-hot iron shoes. Doesn't exactly fit the Lily White Mary Sue Princess she's always portrayed as, does it?

Last year we asked everyone’s fairy tale hero/heroine name; this year, we want to know your fairy tale villain name:

According to the online Fairy Tale Name Generator, I am EVIL STEPMOTHER. Ha! Is that even possible?

Using that name, give us a line from your villainous fairy tale:

"Once Upon a Time, a fairy godmother married a widowed prince with two lovely daughters. While the sun shone she was loving and kind, but when the sun set, she locked herself in the tower room and became THE EVIL STEPMOTHER."

If a genie granted you 3 wishes, what would they be?
1. That the Enchanted series continue on long enough for me to tell the stories of all seven Woodcutter sisters
2. That we all be doomed to a happy life
3. The genie's freedom (I am no fairy tale dummy!)

Best way to read fairy tales?

In bed, to a child. Fairy tales are all the more magical when told.

If one of your books was being turned into a movie and you could cast 1 character, which character would you cast and who would play them?

It's funny you should ask! I am a huge movie buff and a fan of many actors, not the least of which is Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje. I was writing the last half of Enchanted right about the same time they killed the character of Mr. Eko on the TV show Lost. I was furious! So furious, in fact, that I immediately resurrected him in my book... and thus, Jolicoeur was born. I would be tickled pink if someday a production company 1.) turned Enchanted into a film and 2.) cast Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje as Jolicoeur.
P.S.- — I kind of come off like I hate Disney in this, but I really don't. Well, okay..I sort of don't.
PPS — I didn't really get to mention THE WONDERLAND ALPHABET — it would be cool if perhaps you could find a way to sneak it in somehow. Stories like Alice in Wonderland and Peter Pan are very much fairy tales to today's generation, I think.
What a fabulous interview! Seriously! LOVE! And would that I were a genie that I could grant your first wish! I would love to read more of the Woodcutter sister's stories! I absolutely loved the allusions to the various fairy tales! ____________________________________________

Alright! GIVEAWAY TIME!!

Because Alethea is MADE OF WIN she has donated an awesome gift basket full of Enchanted goodness and Fairy Tale win.

She has donated a finished, signed copy of Enchanted to one lucky winner along with other fun swag and surprise gifts.

TO ENTER: Use the Rafflecopter form below. There are extra entries available for commenting on Enchanted related posts on Ashley's blog — Basically Amazing Books, Misty's blog — The Book Rat and Bonnie's blog — A Backward's Story. The Rafflecopter widget is the same on all three blogs. You can enter through any of our blogs, but you must visit and comment on each individual post for the extra entries.

Giveaway is US only. Ends May 7th.

Visit:
Ashley's Blog Misty's Blog Bonnie's Blog

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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This marks the last of our interviews conducted by Bonnie from A Backwards Story (for this year, at least). Today she is chatting with author Tia Nevitt, whose novella, The Sevefold Spell, is catching many eyes with it's pretty cover.
Check it out:

Tia Nevitt is the author of The Sevenfold Spell, an e-book novella centered in the world of Sleeping Beauty. The novel features a girl and her mother whose lives are destroyed when their spinning wheel is taken away from them and shows what they must do in order to survive. For a review of Tia’s book, please visit A Backwards Story.

~ What were your favorite fairy tales growing up? What drew you to them?
My favorite was Cinderella, mostly because of Leslie Ann Warren in Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Cinderella. They played it every spring while I was growing up for a number of consecutive years. The Disney version also hit the theaters when I was a girl, but I didn’t like it as much. Nowadays, I understand why—too much focus on the cute animals, and not enough focus on Cinderella. But really—there’s only so much plot to work with. I’m having the same difficulty now with my Cinderella retelling!
Later, when I was about ten or so, I discovered Beauty and the Beast, and that became my favorite. This was mostly because we had a beautifully illustrated version of it, and also because the story was more complex with a more admirable heroine.

~ What made you decide to write The Sevenfold Spell from a villager's POV?
I didn’t really. The Sevenfold Spell is a retelling of Sleeping Beauty, and I wanted to write from the point of view of the woman who owned the spinning wheel. Many readers have thought of her as a villager, but I actually envisioned her as living in a tiny neighborhood in the capital city—right where all the action takes place. But the reader is always right!
I wanted to explore the spinster’s point-of-view because I wondered what became of all the spinsters after the spinning wheels were banned. I was watching Disney’s Sleeping Beauty with my daughter and the plight of the spinsters seemed like such a good seed for a story. I wanted to show how everything in Talia’s life changed with the loss of her spinning wheel—her whole future was bound up in it. It happens incrementally, first the loss of an income, which results in the loss of her dowry, which results in the loss of her betrothed, at which time she begins to despair. I tried to put myself in the mindset of a fatherless young lady who is very unattractive, faced with a long life ahead of her with only a cranky mother for company. The only man who ever looked at her must leave… What would she do in search of happiness?
One of the ideas I had from the start is that Sleeping Beauty would actually be Sleeping Ugly. Therefore, I made Talia to be Aurora’s opposite. Where Aurora is beautiful, privileged, dreamy and pure, Talia is unattractive, poor, pragmatic—and sensual. I realize that’s a bit unusual, but a mousy and shy spinster would have been too much of a cliché, and besides, sometimes the character’s choices lead the author, which is very much what happened in this case.

~ Will future books in the Accidental Enchantments series be from alternate POVs as well? Can you tell us about what you're working on now?
Yes, they will all be from the point-of-view of people who are caught up in the magic. Right now, I’m working on Cinderella. It’s from the point-of-view of a dressmaker’s niece, whose leg is lame, and who is hounded by an unscrupulous moneylender. She makes a bargain with a certain fairy godmother, but trouble starts when one of the crystal slippers turn up missing. For my Snow White story, the prince is the one who is accidentally enchanted, so he is one of the point-of-view characters. But most of the story takes place from the point of view of one of the dwarves—who happens to be a woman. I also have some ideas for Beauty and the Beast, but they are too unformed to go into detail.

~ Was it hard coming up with your own lore when you began world-building for The Sevenfold Spell? How did you bring everything together, especially the way you created the Sevenfold Spell itself?
The Sevenfold Spell itself came straight from the fairy tale, except I believe there were originally twelve blessings, and they weren’t bound up together. Perrault only details a few of the blessings in his version of Sleeping Beauty. I settled on seven because I wanted a prime number. Five was too few, and eleven was too many. Why a prime number? It just seemed to me that if you were going to have some magical numbers, then there ought not be very many of them. Technically, there are an infinite number of prime numbers, but that infinite number is going to be much fewer than the number of ordinary numbers out there, even though they are both infinite. And since that dichotomy makes no sense at all, but nevertheless is, it seemed perfect for magic.
The rest of the lore came from the many plot holes in Sleeping Beauty. Why could each fairy only cast one spell upon Aurora? Why could the evil fairy’s spell not be undone? Why a hundred year sleep? And why would Aurora touch the spinning wheel?

~ What are some of your favorite fairy tale inspired novels and/or authors?
When I sat down to write The Sevenfold Spell, I didn’t go out and buy up a bunch of fairy tale retellings, like I probably should have done. I just sat down and wrote it. I wanted to write the retelling that I wanted to read. What I did do was read all the Sleeping Beauty versions that I could find, which is where I got Talia’s name. (I didn’t keep anything else from that version because it’s very strange.)
I did read Patricia Wrede’s Snow White and Rose Red years ago, which I kept for all this time so my daughter could read it one day.

~ If you could live out any fairy tale, what would it be and why?
Probably Beauty and the Beast, because nothing awful actually happens to Beauty! Cinderella would have had to live through either her father’s death or neglect (depending on the version you read), Snow White would have had to put up with the evil queen’s jealousy and abuse, and Sleeping Beauty was just so passive. Beauty gets to be heroic (in sacrificing herself for her father), but her punishment is to live in luxury in a castle while falling in love. I’ll take that one!
I certainly didn’t follow the fairy-tale formula in my own life. I didn’t really make an attempt to find a Prince Charming, which is probably why I found one. I left home when I was eighteen to join the military, where I ended up launching and recovering jets with my future husband. From that experience, you’d think I’d be writing military sci-fi or something. And although I had a few ideas along those lines, none were strong enough to engage me long enough to write a novel—or even a novella. Maybe I haven’t thought of the right plot yet.

~ What's your favorite Disney rendition of a fairy tale? What makes it so special?
Beauty and the Beast. It had all the right ingredients. The original story had plenty of plot, a self-sacrificing heroine, and a tragic hero; Disney added terrific animation, a great cast, and marvelous music. But the best part about it was Gaston. The original plot lacked a true villain, and the addition of an arrogant, handsome villain who had everything that Beast didn’t have was inspired. The guy who sang Gaston (Richard White, according to IMDB) was perfect.
The only flaw in the movie is that Belle actually called Beast “Beast”. Bleh.

~ What was your biggest surprise in your publishing journey?
That this story was accepted at all. This was my first attempt to submit this version of the story to a publisher. I had recently expanded it from a short story—which I had been unable sell anywhere—to a novella, and I sent it to my first choice publisher. I expected the same thing that had happened before—a rejection within a few weeks or months. I was really surprised to get a phone call, instead!

A very warm welcome now to Ammy Belle who has a great post for us today about How to Find Pixies in New Jersey. Not sure what them means? Then read on!!

And, don't forget to check out Ammy's first guest post over at The Book Rat about Tender Morsels!

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

I suppose in some way, everyone thinks of the princess in the castle or the knight in shining armour when they think of fairy tales: your mind becomes awash in the grandeur of the Disney fairy tale – the white walls of a palace, the beautiful silhouettes of the old dresses, the magic of a time that caught somewhere in the fold of history we have yet to discover.

But the real magic of fairy tales is that they can adapt – and adapt well – to pretty much anything. The reason for this, is the plain fact that fairy tales are just moral tales – they are stories you tell people to warn them about life (especially the original ones, the ones I like to call dark fairy tales). Essentially, these modern fairy tales take the original magnetism of the stories from the olden days and attempt to fit them into some modern city or town.

Lately there has been a little bit of a trend on adapting fairy tales: one such series is the Tithe series by Holly Black. In this series (I have only read the first book, but my understanding is that the first is the best example of modern times and fairy tale) we are dropped into a fairy war, where dark fairy tales meet the New Jersey shoreline. It ‘s through the realm of faerie that Black creates, the use of iron as the boundaries between human and faerie, and the manipulation of the changeling narrative from old stories, that makes Tithe a modern faerie tale.

Kaye is our heroine. She’s a blonde haired, green eyed girl with almond shaped eyes and is pretty small for her age. She lives a nomadic lifestyle with her Mom, who sings for a series of bands. Her father isn’t in the picture, but when her mother’s boyfriend attempts to stab her, they pick up and move back to their home in New Jersey – to live with Kaye’s older, stricter grandmother, in her home near the seashore and the woods, where Kaye had imaginary friends growing up. The imaginary friends, are of course, faeries of different types, and they “play” along a little creek near her house. Little does Kaye know, they have been fighting a strange war for her whole life.

Tithe is a real faerie story – in the sense that, it has faeries. Like Tir Na Nog. In fact, very much like that: in the original faerie stories, faeries were not like Tinker Bell – they were actually untrustworthy. They guarded their own possessions jealously, and killed anyone who came at them from any which way. Faeries are manipulative and care very little for humans – and sometimes they are beautiful, but often they are gnarled and misshapen creatures that have a very scary sense of humour.

Black doesn’t hold back – she makes her story gritty and realistic, with a caffeine-addicted, chain smoking, strong willed protagonist, and her dismal nomadic background. Her friends are few and far between, and filled with jealousies. Her life is dangerous, but she doesn’t realize it, and coming back to New Jersey makes it that much worse: there in the industrial dotted river side, there lives a kelpie – a sea horse that collects young drowned girls. Black entwines the old with the new – mixing the harsh and lonely world of the kelpie, with the paint chipped world of the New Jersey boardwalk. It’s an amazing comparison, and the best example of it is when the kelpie and Kaye strike a bargain: for his boon, he requests the dilapidated old carousel horse to keep him company in the deep. This juxtaposition of old and new, on top of the contrasted faerie and human world, creates a blanket of intrigue that almost shows a compassionate side of Kaye’s world.

Such is the case with iron in Tithe: the faeries are cruel and out for themselves, their desires – whether they are actually good or bad – come before anything else – but they are nature, they represent a basic form of nature, that can be cruel and yet very vulnerable. This tension works within the New Jersey city limits – or at least, the New Jersey that Black paints for us – this urban wasteland where the shoreline is wasting away, and nature seems on the verge of making a comeback, as the water and grasses start taking over the boardwalk. Iron represents this hardline though, the thing that faeries cannot survive – they can be wild and dangerous – but put them in a car, and they’re toast.

I think that iron is an interesting choice for this. In an age where we see digital media and electricity and such as such big themes (see Steampunk), I think a return to iron is both interesting... and it makes sense – I mean, what do we have that isn’t made of iron? The whole human world seems to be a death trap for faeries, and in turn, the faeries are harsh and cruel – and they have weapons. Instead of guns, they have swords, but it works in the totality – the adaptation to the New Jersey shoreline works with the iron, the totality of the dangers for each world is balanced so well, it is almost as if New Jersey itself is a magical place.

Finally, there is the changeling aspect of the story: the changeling narrative is an old faerie tale, where faeries will steal into a nursery and switch a newborn baby with an old, dying – but veiled – faerie. There actually is no real reason, I think... or at least I have never found a common theme for all of it – though each story has its own unique spin. Tithe gives its faeries a reason for the changeling, but it changes the rules – the changeling doesn’t die, instead, the changeling becomes the story. The main viewpoint is through the lens of someone who does not quite belong and at the same time, is pivotal to everything that happens. The reason this works for the modern fairy tale, is the fact that it basically reminds us all of our awkward teenage years when we were confused about how the world fit together, but deep down inside, we knew we were special.

In the end, this is what why the modern fairy tale works – it pulls out the comparisons between the old and the new, and draws a line between these worlds... and then allows the characters to hop scotch between the lines, in order to draw the reader in. It works because we want the magic, and we recognize the setting – much like a dystopian, where the parameters of what we understand become hazy and fluxuate so that we can imagine ourselves in different situations.

Tithe was a great read, and I cannot wait for the next two instalments – not only because of weird way New Jersey becomes more magical, but also because the main love interest, Roiben – he’s awe-inspiring.

Anyways, that is my take on modern fairy tales and Tithe – go check it out, and keep reading those fairy tales – they can adapt to pretty much anything – can’t wait to see a cyberpunk fairy tale set in the future...

These last two weeks, Misty and I have completely devoted our blogs, our reading, and our time to all things fairy tale. (Not to mention all the time that went into preparation) We have had authors, bloggers and readers sharing their thoughts on fairy tales and their retellings. We've offered giveaways, so that you might have the chance to go home with some of this amazing books. We've interviewed authors, written our own reviews of retellings, and in Misty's case, shared some personal writing. (Go read her story NOW. It's AMAZING)

So why do we have we done this? What could possibly have motivated us to put so much time and energy into making this event possible? What motivated all these guests posters who have contributed something to the event? What is it about fairy tales that has drawn so many people together?

With this post, I want to generate discussion, to get each of you talking and sharing what it is that makes fairy tales so special to you as a reader. Or, if you are new the the genre, why you want to read the genre. What it is about this genre of book, this style of writing that draws in so many diverse readers and writers.

Take the Cinderella story. In just these two weeks, there has been mention of a Cinderella character who is fairly quiet and demure (Before Midnight), mystical and dark (Bound), a lesbian with ties to the faery realm (Ash), bitter and lonely (Princess of Glass), and magical and vengeful (Shadows on the Moon ), not to mention the scores of other retellings in existence.

So what is it about fairy tales. Why do they appeal to such a variety of readers? Why do so many of us come back to these same stories again and again? I'm intentionally keeping my thoughts and motivations vague for now. I want to know what draws you into these tales, what makes you interested in reading these retellings. So tell me dear reader, why is it that you love fairy tales. What about them interests or captivates you?

What is it that brings you back?

Author Kenechi Udogu has been generous enough to offer us a copy of her book, The Other Slipper (two guesses where that story goes;) )

Synopsis:

When Jo finds a lone glass slipper on the night of the royal ball, she realises that there is more to the seemingly ordinary object than meets the eye. Searching for its owner, she is led to the palace where the princess sets her on a journey that thrusts her into an unexpected world of magic and illusions. It soon becomes clear that there is a lot more to her mission as she discovers startling secrets about her past and struggles to embrace her destiny.

To enter to win a copy of The Other Slipper, leave a comment telling me what you would do if you found *the* glass slipper!

This is for an electronic copy of the book, which means it's international! Also — be sure you've filled out the giveaway form! (and don't leave me any personal info in the comments!)

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Not Your Average Retelling By Marissa Meyer
Fairy tales and folk tales have been around for hundreds of years, being re-shaped, re-twisted, and re-told again and again. And yet readers continue to hunger for more, as is evidenced by not only the deluge of fairy-tale retellings in the book market, but also Hollywood’s current obsession with them. (Have you heard of the three Snow White movies coming out in the next few years?) How do writers continue to work with the same material, yet give us such vastly different renditions?

Here are some ways that today’s writers are keeping our beloved tales alive and new.

Lesser Known Tales
There are some tales that pop up again and again. How many Cinderella remakes can you list off the top of your head? How many Beauty and the Beasts come to mind? While there are good reasons these tales have stood the test of time and popularity, there are also a lot of great stories that, in the past, went ignored in our Disney culture. Not the case anymore! As the market for fairy tales becomes more saturated, more writers are delving deeper into the works of Grimm, Andersen, and even non-European cultures, and seeking out stories that haven’t yet received their due.

Tales that once would have been considered fringe (such as “The Twelve Dancing Princesses” or “East of the Sun, West of the Moon”) have received more attention lately with books such as Entwined by Heather Dixon and East by Edith Pattou, and I have a feeling we’ll be seeing more and more non-Disnified tales on the rise. After all, the Grimm brothers alone had over 300 tales collected, so writers have plenty of material to choose from.

Examples of Lesser Known Tales Retold:
Matchless by Gregory Maguire (based on “The Little Match Girl”)
The Swan Kingdom by Zoë Marriott (based on “The Wild Swans”)
A Curse Dark as Gold by Elizabeth C. Bunce (based on “Rumpelstiltskin”)

Original Settings
Another way authors are setting apart their fairy-tale retellings is by choosing interesting times and locations for them to take place in. Writers are no longer trapped in fantastical, make-believe worlds just because they lend themselves so easily to the original stories. From ancient Greece to futuristic space colonies, the options are endless, and (lucky us) writers are taking advantage of that! Will we soon be watching Puss in Boots in the court of Louis XVI? Will the next Frog Prince hop out of Cleopatra’s Nile? We’ll just have to wait and see where authors are willing to take us.

Examples of Retellings with Original Settings:
Briar Rose by Jane Yolen (“Sleeping Beauty” set during the Holocaust)
Toads and Diamonds by Heather Tomlinson (“Diamonds and Toads” set in pre-colonial India)
Mirror, Mirror by Gregory Maguire (“Snow White” set in 16th-century Tuscany)

Unique Twists
No matter how rare (or common) a tale is, or what fascinating time and place it’s set in, the best retellings still have one thing in common: the author has made it strictly their own. There is still something that sets that story apart from the Grimm Brothers’ or Hans Christian Andersen’s or any other author who may choose to re-spin the same tale.

Gregory Maguire is renowned for telling fairy tales from the villain’s perspective (see Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister). Gail Carson Levine turned the classic Cinderella story upside-down in Ella Enchanted, when she gave Ella an unusual curse—she must do whatever she is told to do. These “retellings” are almost more like “re-envisionings”—they may use the bones of the classic tale for inspiration, but then the author took the story in a new direction that we’d never seen before.

I believe it’s these new twists on the old stories that keep readers hungry for more retellings, because you just never know what an author is going to do next. How will tomorrow’s fairy tales differ from today’s? I, for one, can’t wait to find out!

Examples of Retellings with a Unique Twist:
Ash by Malinda Lo (“Cinderella” with an LGBT romance)
Sisters Red by Jackson Pearce (a modern “Little Red Riding Hood,” in which two sisters become werewolf hunters)
A Tale Dark and Grimm by Adam Gidwitz (a collection of tales, including “Hansel and Gretel,” strung together into one continuous storyline)

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Marissa Meyer’s debut novel, Cinder (“Cinderella” set in the future), re-imagines our princess as a teenage cyborg faced with the task of saving the world. It’s scheduled for release in early 2012. You can find her online at: Blog | Facebook | Goodreads | Twitter | Youtube