Giftmas Blog Tour -- Now with More Krampus

All month long Rhonda Parrish and her helper elves are hosting the posts of other people as part of my 2015 Giftmas Blog Tour. All the guest bloggers are welcome to write about anything they’d like so long as their post touched on a December holiday in some way, no matter how tangentially. This website will also host several Giftmas blog posts throughout December. Share them on social media using the hashtag #GiftmasTour. But wait! There’s more! ​We’re also giving away a whole whack of prizes (check out the list here) which you can enter to win using the Rafflecoper code below. Whatever December holiday you celebrate (or don’t) winning a stack of books will make it better! Krampus - in search of delinquent children, approaches a little boy during Krampusnacht in Neustift im Stubaital, Austria, on November 30, 2013. And a Very Merry Krampus to You For the past two years, whenever my friends, family, or the authors/editors I work with at World Weaver Press see a Krampus related article online or hear a Krampus bit of news, they immediately send it to me. My social media accounts floweth over with Eileen, have you seen this? Krampus links. But in early 2014, when editor Kate Wolford (Enchanted Conversation, Beyond the Glass Slipper,Frozen Fairy Tales) pitched to me the idea of World Weaver Press publishing an anthology of Krampus stories, I admit, I had no idea what she was talking about. But a bit of Googling and a few conversations later, I was in love. Okay, I wasn’t quite in love—yet—but I was fascinated. Krampus (also called Perchten or Tuifl) is a monster out of the Germanic Alpine tradition, and he’s been around for at least a thousand years—some sources say well over two thousand years—and specifically as a companion of St. Nick since the 16th century (or so the internet tells me). “His name comes from the German word krampen, which means claw. Some say he is the son of Hel from Norse mythology. Others say his physical features or even the chain and rusty old bells he wears come from other demonic-like creatures of Greek mythology” (source). Called by some “the Christmas Devil,” he’s not actually demonic in the religious sense of the word, at least no more than any other monster, troll, yeti, or other pagan-roots creature from folklore. Although Krampus certainly has the horns and chains and sometimes hooves associated with depictions of the devil. He’s also coated in shaggy fur and his most defining feature after the horns is a very, very long tongue. Take a quick look at any Krampus and you have to wonder what sort of influence this critter had in the design of Orcs in Lord of the Rings. In fact, the differences between Orc cosplay and Krampus cosplay are subtle. Yes, I just said Krampus cosplay. There’s a tradition in Europe—particularly in Austria but it’s done elsewhere and is catching on in North America—of holding Krampuslauf or “Krampus runs” on December 5, also known as Krampusnacht, or Krampus Night. Here’s my favorite YouTube video of a Krampuslauf, this one is from Graz, Austria, in 2010 . . .  . . . and if you want to watch the video and see the rest of the article, you'll have to head over to Rhonda Parrish's blog, host of the Giftmas Tour. You can also find and enter the rafflecopter giveaway there. There's three prizes all huge stacks of books.

Where Fairy Tales Come From

First off, I have done A Thing: my short story "Candy, Shoe, and Skull; Sallow Flowers Plucked Like Chains" appears in this month's issue of Niteblade Fantasy and Horror Magazine.

And yes, it's the dark fairy tale issue.

If you know me, you understand why that is perfect.

I've read the magazine and there are some delightfully wondrous and oh-so-dark retwistings of fairy tale in these digital pages. So far my favorites, other than my own story (because: of course), are Eric J. Guignard's "A Kiss and a Curse," a Beauty and the Beast retelling of dire consequence, the narrative poem "Et je ne pleurais jamais les larmes cicatrisantes magiques; c’est seulement un mensonge joli: Arne-Thompson Index No. 310" by Elizabeth McClellan featuring a Rapunzel with agency and engineering on her side, and Rhonda Eikamp's "The Men in the Walls," which is also very, very dark. Well, they're all dark. This is, after all, the dark fairy tale issue. But there's a delight in these dark stories that my brain keeps turning over and over. I love the twists and shapes of these tales.

My piece, "Candy, Shoe, and Skull; Sallow Flowers Plucked Like Chains,"really came about because I kept picking at the notion of where fairy tales come from, then applied that to the modern world.

We're all just dark and twisty beings who don't understand what's going on.

There are two main theories in folklore studies about the origins of these stories of the people and the fact that so many cultures developed the same basic tales seemingly independent of one another. One notion is that these tales arise from the collective subconscious.

Read the rest of this post . . .

Oct. 2 Green Man Event with Prizes

Bitten By Books is hosting an Urban Green Man anthology par-tay on Wednesday, October 2, 2013, starting at Noon CST. Drop by to chat with the editors, illustrator, and the many, many contributing authors of this great anthology of new fiction any time during the day or evening of October 2.

Oh, and did I mention there are prizes? Because there are prizes.

First off, if you RSVP that you'll attend before the event (here) and then you actually attend, you'll have 25 entries toward the $50 Amazon electronic gift certificate, provided by the publisher, EDGE Science Fiction and Fantasy Publishing. More entries can be earned the day of the event.

We'll be answering questions that you submit and discussing how we took this old myth and made it new -- yes, I said we. Because I'm one of the contributing authors! [inserted excited-but-not-annoying-and-completely-professional-noise here]

I'm trying to finish reading the anthology by Wednesday. I'm not sure if that's going to happen, but I'm excited to give it a go and at least finish the stories alongside my "Breath Stirs in the Husk" in the Earth section.

On Tuesday, the day before the event, I'll be posting here on Speak Coffee to Me how location, location, location really shaped my story ... and then creepily enough turned around and affected my real life. And for those of you who remember the days when I still posted bits of fiction here on the blog, it's the same location as The Trees (Jud, you're probably the only one still around from then who'll recall it).

It's out!

Issue 29 of Lady Churchill's Rosebud Wristlet is out now! Including, among other awesomeness, a short story by me right there on page 20.

You can get paper copies or ebooks at the website for Small Beer Press and LCRW.

Grimm, Once Upon a Time & Story Structure

I'm blogging as part of World Weaver Press's Fairy Tale Festival today about the throughlines / story structure of the first seasons of GRIMM and ONCE UPON A TIME. Catch the whole article here.

Thoughts on Snow White and the Huntsman or How Peter Jackson's LOTRs has spoiled me for all other films

I was really excited for this rendition of Snow White. I really was. And boy, was I disappointed. And it might be Peter Jackson's fault.

No, Peter Jackson didn't work on Snow White and the Huntsman. More's the pity. But because of Peter Jackson, I now expect films of high fantasy to be visually gorgeous and knit together with great sense. Yes, LOTR was written by Tolkien, not Jackson and his creative crew. But the script was rewritten by Jackson and his creative crew. They cut and reorganized. They said hey, it makes no sense for the climax of the first story arc to be in second story. So they change it. And so on.

Snow White and the Hunstman did have some cool visual effects. Like when ... whenever Charlize Theron had a scene.

The first problem with this film is casting Charlize Theron as a character whose main crisis is that her rival is more beautiful than she is. Who -- who? -- in Hollywood do you possibly cast to play that part? Kristen Stewart, who was cast to play that part, isn't an ugly girl, but she, like most American women, can't outshine Charlize Theron, even with movie magic. Not by anyone's standard. Remedy? Flash back to the now-dead old Queen telling young Snow White that she's beautiful on the inside. Ooooh. Inner beauty. Got it. Doesn't make much sense given the whole mirror trope, but we'll role with it.

The second problem is how we connect to the main characters. The Queen was creepy. Great. Goosebumps: Check. The huntsman was rugged but troubled. Deadly, with a devastating past. We can totally empathize with him. (It wasn't until I went to write this post that I realized he was played by Chris Hemsworth -- you know, Thor.) Snow White? It was impossible to care about her or root for her success.

I should preface all my following statements with the fact that this was the first movie I'd ever seen Kristen Stewart in. I'd not watched Twilight at the time and I have no personal feelings about her assorted romantic dealings which headline the tabloids. But damn, did her performance ruin this film.

Every time she was on screen she made me remember that I was watching a movie. I couldn't ever get into it because I spent all my time wondering why the hell is she doing that?

Fairy Tale Retold

If you're a fan of fairy tales retold --of the darker side where it's not just the wolves that have teeth -- then may I suggest the latest release from World Weaver Press, Wolves and Witches by sisters Amanda C. Davis and Megan Engelhardt.

In paperback and ebook (Kindle, Nook, Kobo), Wolves and Witches is 16 fabulous stories and poems that you'll want -- like Red Riding Hood's wolf -- to gobble up in one big bite.  

Witches have stories too. So do mermaids, millers' daughters, princes (charming or otherwise), even big bad wolves. They may be a bit darker--fewer enchanted ball gowns, more iron shoes. Happily-ever-after? Depends on who you ask. In Wolves and Witches, sisters Amanda C. Davis and Megan Engelhardt weave sixteen stories and poems out of familiar fairy tales, letting them show their teeth.

How Many Days Till Christmas?

According to the sudden overcrowding of my email inbox, today is the last day to buy online with assured delivery before Christmas. Or so at least twelve different emails told me this morning. Then there were a few more that sported digital gifts and the "It's never too late for a digital gift" slogan. 'Tis the season.

But what I want to mention today is another beautiful Christmas surprise. This week, World Weaver Press released their first novella, Opal, a gorgeous, lyrical retwisting of the Snow White tale by Kristina Wojtaszek, which both fairy tale lovers and YA fantasy readers will find reason to enjoy.

Writer's Digest editor Zachary Petit called it:

“A fairy tale within a fairy tale within a fairy tale — the narratives fit together like interlocking pieces of a puzzle, beautifully told.”

This is a tale that reaches from the frozen tundra, to the snow filled woods, thick and deep with the secrets of the shape-shifting Fae, back to the world of men. It's the journey of the daughter of an owl, a girl who is the key to unlocking the prison that holds a king. It's the perfect, quick, winter read.

The moment I started reading the first few pages, I was put in mind of the fairy tale novels of Patricia McKillip and Robin McKinley.

White as snow, stained with blood, her talons black as ebony… In this retwisting of the classic Snow White tale, the daughter of an owl is forced into human shape by a wizard who’s come to guide her from her wintry tundra home down to the colorful world of men and Fae, and the father she’s never known. She struggles with her human shape and grieves for her dead mother — a mother whose past she must unravel if men and Fae are to live peacefully together.

It's out now as an ebook for Kindle, Nook, and Kobo. And a paperback from Amazon ... which they're quick to assure everyone you can still have delivered by Christmas.

In this week's news: fairy tale edition

Cross-posted with World Weaver Press' "Books & Pieces" weekly news round-up segment.

A cache of 500 folk tales were discovered in Germany recently, many of which have not been a part of our previously documented understanding of the folk tradition in Europe.  From that trove, the fabulous tale of the "Turnip Princess" -- which could easily be retitled "The Tao of the Turnip" -- the likes of which we've never seen before.

This amazing bit of animation is a beautiful, bloody, Red Riding Hood becomes an interesting twisted-origin story of folk lore's favorite caped crusader.  The short film is titled simply "RED":

RED from RED on Vimeo.

The film puts me in mind of one of Roald Dahl's poems "Little Red Riding Hood and the Wolf." And if you know Roald Dahl, you know the man had a wicked sense of -- well, of humor most certainly, but he also had a wicked sense of the wicked.

Moving slightly out of the realm of folklore and into the realm of myth, Amalia T. has a fascinating blog post up on the forbidden nature of love poems in ancient Norse society. Apparently, magical ensnarement of women was such a big deal that there were laws against it. Amalia rationalizes the situation, writing:

How can you be sure that a poem is just a poem, and not a spell meant to seduce your daughter and ultimately dishonor her? How can you even be sure that the person writing the poem isn't Odin, for that matter, or worse, Loki, who is also known for shape shifting, come to take advantage of your daughter/sister.

Admittedly, not being seduced by Loki is a good thing -- unless you have a bad boy complex. Dating preferences aside, it's a fabulous example of the power and magic of mere words.

Snow White and the Huntsman looks like it just might be the fantasy film of the summer. The second trailer (below) is awe inspiring. This film promises to deliver what other recent fairy tale adaptations haven't: a plot with folk lore roots that we actually want to see. Red Riding Hood last spring was ... pretty. And admittedly Amanda Seyfried's character showed a surprising amount of agency for what we'd originally pegged to be a film that was just an excuse to shoot a bunch of dramatic looking footage of a red cape against snow. And while I'll freely admit that if I was 17 years-old when that film came out, I'd own the DVD right now, the truth is Red Riding Hood didn't appeal much beyond teenagers and scholars of little red cap tales.



And even though it's hard to buy that Kristen Stewart is, or ever will be, more beautiful than Charlize Theron, the special effects are cool enough and the plot dark enough that we're willing to forgive such things. More forgiveness is found when the extended sneak peek (!) has a nice little flashback snippet of dialog between Snow White-as-girl-child and the now-dead Queen-her-mother, wherein the Queen tells her daughter that her fairness lies "in here," and then pats the girl's heart. Oh, so that's what you meant? Gotcha.

**Late addition: “Frog/Prince” a short story up on Daily Science Fiction (an online sf/f magazine) today is an marvelous little tale about what it means for a frog to become a prince or a prince to become a frog. Clever and heartbreaking. Well worth the read.

For more links to interesting articles and genre related cartoons, check out and "like" World Weaver Press' Facebook page, updated daily.

Themed calls for submissions

Three interesting markets to make note of on this Thursday. Three markets that are riddles to me -- ones I hope you can solve by finding work to send them even if I can't.

Mistress of the Macabre, to be published by Dark Moon Books, is looking for horror stories -- the kind that actually scare you -- written by women for an all-female authored anthology. 1500-6000 words. Pays $20 + contributor's copy. Deadline: June 30. More info. 

I absolutely love the title Mistress of the Macabre -- say it aloud a few times and I'm sure you'll soon be agreeing with me. You just can't say it more than once without an attitude. So much fun.

While I write a lot of creepy little stories, I can't say I've got anything that I'd call truly scary -- mostly scary how bad the writing is. . . . But then again, how scary can I be if I'm quoting Love Actually to prove my chill factor?

Bibliotheca Fantastica, themed anthology from Dagan Books wants "stories having to do with lost, rare, weird, or imaginary books, or any aspect of book history or book culture, past, present, future, or uchronic. Any genre. Although the fantastical is not essential per se, stories should evoke a sense of the fantastic, the unknown, the weird, wonder, terror, mystery, pulp, and/or adventure, etc." Under 10,000 words. Pays $0.02/word. Deadline: March 31. More info.

Every time I look at the Bibliotheca Fantastica call for submissions I kick myself; I have a fabulous premise that fits in these guidelines but no plot with which to make it a story!

Fairy Tale Review, Yellow Issue. Fairy Tale Review is a magazine producing one issue per year featuring work which entangles itself in the folkloric. Of recent, they've been working with guest editors who shape the issue and theme of the single issue that they work on. The last issue's theme was "lost children. This year the theme and the issue title are the same thing: yellow. Poetry, fiction, essays, drama, creative nonfiction, comics, illustration. I believe this market is non-paying but I could be wrong. Deadline: May 31. More info and the editor's take on how "yellow" is a theme.

I'm completely stumped on how to take that from the abstract to fiction or poetry that relates to the folkloric. The editor's description that she's interested in writing that worships and dements yellow. We would like you to knock on yellow’s door and invite her out to play, somehow did not make a light bulb or even a pen light go on over my head.

Read an ebook week promotion

March 4-10 is Read an E-Book Week.

In celebration, I bought confetti. The fact that you can't now see the confetti is damn stinky.

My short story "Garbage-to-Gold Spindle--On Sale Now!" is also free to download this week (discounted from it's usual price of $0.99) at Smashwords.com if you use the code REW50.

The short story is a humorous retelling of the Rumpelstiltskin tale which was previously featured in Enchanted Conversation: a fairy tale magazine.

The original reason I published this short story as its own ebook was two-fold: I wanted to teach myself how to do the technical end of ebook formatting while working on a short sample, and I wanted to give "Garbage-to-Gold Spindle--On Sale Now!" a more permanent home when Enchanted Conversation announced that they were closing as a magazine and converting their operation into a much more, ah, slim state of affairs.

Many other Smashwords titles are either discounted or free with the right coupon codes this week, so hop on over and fill up your eReader.

What I'd love to get this week (other than confetti) is a reader rating and/or review on Smashwords, Amazon.com, or BarnesandNoble.com -- all three sites have my short story for purchase but only Smashwords is selling it for free as part of ebook week.

Happy e-reading!

The year of Snow White

We may have just had the Chinese New Year, and various news articles might still be extolling what to do, buy and eat in the Year of the Dragon. But from where I'm sitting, this is the year of Snow White.

In 2012 not one but two full length, live action Snow White tales will make their way into theaters. Mirror Mirror staring Julia Roberts and Snow White and the Huntsman staring Charlize Theoron -- perhaps that phrase in and of itself is proof that neither of these tales is actually about the girl Snow White, but the evil queen.

Roberts and Theoron play undoubtedly different queens. Roberts fills the role with her signature laugh and the premise tends toward slapstick.  Beauty in Mirror Mirror is portrayed through bold colors, and dazzling ornateness. Theoron's character is much more of a Morgan le Fay. In Snow White and the Huntsman, beauty is a dark, sensual thing -- both erotic and cannibalistic.

In short, Mirror Mirror is the type of child's whimsy we think of today when we think "fairy tale."  And Snow White and the Huntsman is a throwback what "fairy tale" meant a few hundred years ago -- actually, what it's meant for most of its existence.

Character Sketch Writing Contest

If you are interested, a "mini contest" is now open at Diamonds and Toads, the sister site of the magazine Enchanted Conversation. They're looking for a 300-word character sketch of the fairy of summer -- more info.

Rapunzel based fiction contest

Enchanted Conversation: A Fairy Tale Magazine is running a Rapunzel themed contest starting tomorrow, April 1, and ending April 8.  The story or poem must be under 2,000 words but can be any variation of "the maiden in the tower" tale type.

The contest coincides with the release of the first issue of the second volume of Enchanted Conversation: the Rumpelstiltskin themed issue which featured my epistolary short story "Garbage-to-Gold Spindle--On Sale Now!"

And in case you're like my mother and think that "on sale now" means you can go buy the issue, don't reach for your wallet just yet. The issue is free! But my story is about a mail order company -- and yes, they're running some sales.

Short story published today!

Appearing today in Enchanted Conversation's Rumpelstiltskin issue, is my short story!

Titled "Garbage-to-Gold Spindle! On Sale Now!" the story is a humorous bout of correspondence from a mail order catalog to one Mr. Stiltskin.  At only 1,800 words, it makes for a quick read.

Actually, brevity is the name of the game for this issue of Enchanted Conversations.  None of the ten pieces published in the issue are longer than 2,000 words.

Reading over the issue, I have to say that I was impressed with the poetry (which I approached with unnecessary skepticism as I've often seen folk lore meet poetry in unflattering ways).  Particularly impressive was the quiet and soulful poem "Other End of the Tale" by Gerri Leen.    I was also impressed by another quiet and thoughtful tale, the opening short story "Little Rattle Belly" by Mae Empson.  There's even a nonfiction essay on spinning and the history of linen toward the end of the issue, "Straw Into Gold," written by Elizabeth Creith. Also enchanting was the final story of the magazine, "The Duchess's Boy," by Louise Quenneville, wherein a gnomish duchess wisely states, "I know about making bargains with humans, and they are not to be trusted to keep their end of the agreement.

Here and now, here and previously, or here and later?

I'm writing what can be best labeled as "urban fantasy": contemporary setting, fantastical elements.*  When you start writing realism, the reader assumes you're in the "now" (the contemporary present) unless you tell them otherwise.  But lately, I'm having a hard time cuing my readers in to the fact that we're in the "now" not the past or the future.

Oh I'd love to blame this on the people who tell me I'm writing surrealism -- which, by the way, I'm not; surrealism undermines the rules of reality, fantasy replaces the rules of reality with its own (there's a fabulous Ursala Le Guin essay about this and other things in The Secret History of Fantasy).  But I can't blame this on the people who don't get any of what I'm doing, because the reactions are too across the board.

I would love for all readers to walk into all stories and assume "here and now" until their told differently, not assume "here and now" until they encounter a fantastic element, but that's what I'm seeing:

The first are those who hit the fantastic element and are transported back into the woods to a time gone by, when not all the world was known and therefore they can accept the strangeness.  This group does fine when you give them Buffy, but struggle when you give them a scene like this image by L. Helje where a gnome and a house cat interact.

The second are those who hit the fantastic element and are propelled forward to the near future, when such a discovery exists.  This group probably wouldn't put the gnome/cat in the past, but tries to propel Buffy the Vampire Slayer--or better examples would be Flashforward or Lost--ten years into the future just because that sort of stuff "doesn't happen now" so it must happen in the future rather than in a present altered by the author.

There's a third group, the hard core reader of urban fantasy, who sees (for example) a female witch doctor and so long as she's not wearing a gown and carrying a dirk, and the author didn't say in the year 2029, this group assumes that the jeans and Metro-card the character has, could have been bought at the very same places the reader bought hers.

And then there's the way-outliers who hit the fantastic element and that catapults them into an "other world."  These people assume all fantasy must take place in a secondary world of the imagination that has nothing to do with the primary world we live in.  Which is an intriguing psychological state of being, but not all fantasy is second-world fantasy.  And frankly, I don't want to live in a world where there's absolutely no room for wonder, so let's not even contemplate those people.

I sincerely want my writing to put everyone on the same page. The third group gets it, the fourth isn't worth bothering with, so my conundrum is how do I convince groups one and two that we're in the world of the present day?  Stick in a description of a kid with an iPod?   The way to convince someone that you're not in the present is to present them with items that stick out as not-right.  Sipping orange Nehi,** or carrying a ray gun.  But to convince us we're in the now without putting a year/date on it? ... I'm frankly feeling rather stumped.

I've had it suggested to me that my characters could/should spend more time observing/interacting with their world as a means of setting the time frame.  I'm beginning to think that more time spent contemplating the world would be good for narrative voice as well, because it would allow me to develop voice, character, and setting all at once.  I pulled back from this between my undergrad writing and now because in undergrad I ONLY set stories using the voice of the protagonist because that voice was (ahem) mine.  Unfiltered and undiluted.  I wanted to branch out as a writer, so I developed a calmer, more reserved, writerly voice which worked for me in the third person.

Ah well, wax on, wax off.  Time to apply everything I've learned

(The Dandelion image at the top of the post, btw, comes from this etsy shop which I love, love, love and bought some note cards from at one point.)

*I just read David Hartwell's essay on "The Making of the American Fantasy Genre" where he writes about the pulp magazine origins of urban fantasy (yes, before Charles de Lint).  The discussion of urban fantasy is tangential to his discussion of the publishing of second-world fantasy, but he had my full attention for both.  Also, discusses John W. Campbell's attempts to codify urban fantasy like he did with science fiction.  The essay's not in my copy of Age of Wonders (I have the 80s edition, but it's supposedly in the 90s edition) but it is in The Secret History of Fantasy in extended form.

**Apparently, along with retro-candy there's now retro-soda, and that means you can get your bottle of orange Nehi once again.  Though let's face it, at that price point you've gotta be hankering some nostalgia for that atmosphere the fictional reference is trying to create.

Grab-bag: fairy tales, Twilight, and a Ski-doo

It came to my attention last fall that the National Book Award bars fairy tale retellings.  WTF?  As Laura Miller points out they allow retellings of Shakespearian or Biblical tales.  Kate Bernheimer and Maria Tatar are on a mission to get this changed.  Meanwhile, Disney has no plans to make another animated tale -- then again, NPR thinks Disney is going through an identity crisis.

TheOatmeal explains what the Twilight formula is and how it works on so many people

Can a book save your life? Literally.  In the event of a shooting, would you rather get caught with a book or a kindle?


And please, you really have to do this:

1. Go to Google Maps
2. Choose 'Get Driving Directions', and enter (A)New York to (B)China
3. Scroll down to step 31
4. then Step 105