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 . . .

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.

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.

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.

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