Frozen Fairy Tales Giveaway

Want to win a free ebook of the Frozen Fairy Tales anthology? Enchanted Conversations, a fairy tale magazine, is doing a giveaway.

Click here to participate.

Frozen Fairy Tales

       

           

  The Frozen Fairy Tales anthology is out today!

Here's some info from the World Weaver Press site. Isn't the cover gorgeous, by the way?

DESCRIPTION

Winter is not coming. Winter is here. As unique and beautifully formed as a snowflake, each of these fifteen stories spins a brand new tale or offers a fresh take on an old favorite like Jack Frost, The Snow Queen, or The Frog King. From a drafty castle to a blustery Japanese village, from a snow-packed road to the cozy hearth of a farmhouse, from an empty coffee house in Buffalo, New York, to a cold night outside a university library, these stories fully explore the perils and possibilities of the snow, wind, ice, and bone-chilling cold that traditional fairy tale characters seldom encounter.

In the bleak midwinter, heed the irresistible call of fairy tales. Just open these pages, snuggle down, and wait for an icy blast of fantasy to carry you away. With all new stories of love, adventure, sorrow, and triumph by Tina Anton, Amanda Bergloff, Gavin Bradley, L.A. Christensen, Steven Grimm, Christina Ruth Johnson, Rowan Lindstrom, Alison McBain, Aimee Ogden, J. Patrick Pazdziora, Lissa Marie Redmond, Anna Salonen, Lissa Sloan, Charity Tahmaseb, and David Turnbull to help you dream through the cold days and nights of this most dreaded season

CONTENTS

Introduction by Kate Wolford
The Stolen Heart by Christina Ruth Johnson
Faithful Henry by Steven Grimm
The Ice Fisher by J. Patrick Pazdziora
Buffalo Wings by Lissa Marie Redmond
Cold Bites by Tina Anton
Death in Winter by Lissa Sloan
Simon the Cold by Charity Tahmaseb
The Light of the Moon, the Strength of the Storm, the Warmth of the Sun by Aimee Ogden
A Heart of Winter by Anna Salonen
Happily Ever After by Amanda Bergloff
The Heart of Yuki-Onna by Alison McBain
The Wolf Queen by Rowan Lindstrom
What She Saw by Lantern Light by L.A. Christensen
The Shard of Glass by David Turnbull
How Jack Frost Stole Winter by Gavin Bradley

ANTHOLOGIST

​Kate Wolford is a university lecturer and anthologist living in the Midwest. Fairy tales are her specialty. Previous books include Beyond the Glass Slipper: Ten Neglected Fairy Tales to Fall in Love With and Krampusnacht: Twelve Nights of Krampus, both published by World Weaver Press. She maintains a blogazine, Enchanted Conversation: A Fairy Tale Magazine, at fairytalemagazine.com.

Fairy Tales: Step Off the Beaten Path

                      

I love classic fairy tales, but sometimes you're in the mood for something a bit different. For a westerner, these Japanese tales are just that. Sometimes fairy tales can get a bit predictable, but there's no danger of that with these stories. Kwaidan: Stories and Studies of Strange Things by Lafcadio Hearn is a collection of Japanese supernatural horror stories, and  Royall Tyler's Japanese Tales will transport you to medieval Japan and introduce you to ghosts, demons, healers, and saints. Some of the animal fable type stories were quite graphic, but then, Grimm's Fairy Tales aren't all snuggles and cotton candy, either.   

It's interesting to read folk tales from different countries. Sometimes you discover a familiar story in different guise, and it makes you wonder if that's the original one. When people traveled to distant lands, they took their stories with them, and the best ones got adopted by the locals. Pretty cool, huh? 

                        

This beautiful book is a souvenir of a trip to Scotland, but you don't have to sit on the shores of a dark loch to enjoy these tales. Pour yourself a dram of the good stuff and settle down in front of the fire to learn all about selkies, giants, mermaids and ogres.  

                      

Have you heard of Baba Yaga yet? Trust me, you need to. Russian tales are dark and magical, and they appeal to those who like their fairy tales dark and gruesome. My edition is in Finnish, but you can probably pick up a nice collection on Amazon. 

                    

The Fairy Faith in Celtic Countries By W. Y. Evans-Wentz isn't exactly fairy tales, but a "scientific" book of a folklorist gathering stories of the Fey in Scotland, Wales, Ireland, and Brittany. I found it a fascinating read, and a treasure trove of story ideas. Be warned, the writing's a bit on the dry, scholarly side. I bough this in a magic shop in Edinburgh, so that makes the book extra special to me. 

                    

This is for all the Finnish readers out there. Myytillisiä Tarinoita by Suomalaisen Kirjallisuuden Seura is a classic for anyone interested in Finnish ghost stories and folklore. You''ll probably have to track it down at the library, but trust me, this book is worth it.  (No translation that I know of, sorry.)

So, that's my picks. Have a book recommendation of your own? Post it in the comments.

Frozen Fairy Tales is Coming!

Frozen Fairy Tales is an upcoming fairy tale anthology from World Weaver Press, a joint venture with Enchanted Conversations: A Fairy Tale Magazine, and I've got a story in it called "A Heart of Winter."

 The anthology's due to launch on November 10th. I'll post more info when I get it.

By the way, Enchanted Conversations also has a fun flash fiction contest coming up, check it out here, if you want to participate.