New Issue of Faerie Magazine

The newest issue of Faerie Magazine is hitting newsstands and mailboxes soon and this is a great issue. Of course, I am slightly prejudiced since my latest column is included, this time it's an article about the Grimms' tale, The Three Spinners. Bet you didn't expect that one, did you? I didn't but when editor Kim Cross requested a tale about spinning, this was the perfect choice, especially considering I've already written about Rumpelstiltskin in a previous issue. I struggled with finding material and learned a little myself since I hadn't studied this one much previous to writing this article for readers like you.

Here's the brief description for the issue:

Faerie Magazine Issue #22 includes an in depth interview with writer Charles de Lint, the life of Edmund Dulac (fairy illustrator of the Victorian era), Dancing in the Green: Robin Hood and the Faeries by John Matthews, The Three Spinners by Heidi Heiner of Surlalune, and much much more! Enjoy!

I just received my author copies today and it is very full of wonderful imagery--very expected with Edmund Dulac featured--and many more articles not listed here such as one about the aforementioned spinning as well as one about The Mabinogion by Claire Matthews and even one about mushrooms in Victorian paintings which is much more interesting than you might think at first thought.

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Hansel and Gretel Article on Faerie Magazine Site

Another one of my articles is featured on The Faerie Magazine site this week, this time my article about Hansel and Gretel from the Winter 2008 issue. This will only be available through the weekend so if you want to read it, do so soon!

Here are the first few lines:

“Hansel and Gretel” is one of the best known fairy tales. It is also one of the most horrific, offering up several nightmare-inducing elements in just a few pages. Child abandonment. Evil witches. Cannibalism. Murder, albeit in self-defense. Perfect bedtime reading! Yet somehow it remains one of the most popular fairy tales in children’s picture books with new versions published each year.

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Hansel and Gretel, Goldilocks and Faerie Magazine

For almost three years now, I've been writing articles about fairy tales for Faerie Magazine. Each week, the Faerie Mag website features an older article on its site and this week you will find my 2008 article about Hansel and Gretel. Just go to Article of the Week to read it.

That said, the new issues of Faerie Magazine should be hitting newsstands soon. My article for the new issue is about Goldilocks and the Three Bears, so I will write a little more about that in the next week or so.

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Faerie Magazine #20 On Newstands

The newest issue of Faerie Magazine should now be appearing at your favorite booksellers or in your mailbox if you are a subscriber. 

Here is the description for this issue:

Faerie Magazine Issue #20 - Featuring "Steampunk" - find out what it's all about; Word of Froud - "The Picture of Something that was Not There - yet Was", "Diamonds and Toads" from Heidi Heiner at SurLaLune, All about "Instructions" - a charming new title by Neil Gaiman and Charles Vess, Learn the legend of "The 1,000 Islands" and enjoy the photography or Ian Coristine, The Magical Universe of Myles Pinkney and so much more...

As you can see, my column in this issue is about Diamonds and Toads.  Here are the first two paragraphs:

While Cinderella is lauded as one of the most widely dispersed fairy tales with hundreds of variants around the world, another tale type rivals her in its quiet popularity. In the academic world, the tale is classified as ATU Type 480, “The Kind and the Unkind Girls,” although this is not the title of the best known variants. Savvy fairy tale readers will more easily recognize titles such as Mother Hulda (Frau Holle), The Fairies, Diamonds and Toads (Toads and Diamonds), and Father Frost.

There are over 1,000 documented variants of the tale with over 900 alone listed and categorized by Warren E. Roberts in his ground-breaking dissertation, The Tale of the Kind and Unkind Girls, first published in 1958. More variants have been discovered since, but Roberts’ research of the tale and accompanying conclusions are still upheld today over fifty years later, a testament of his painstaking work.

So find the issue and read more about it and all of the other interesting stuff found inside.

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Faerie Magazine #19 On Newstands

The latest issue of Faerie Magazine is now available on newstands. (You should be able to find it at Barnes and Noble or Borders as well as many indies or you can subscribe online.) The magazine has abandoned naming issues by seasons and is assuming a simple numbering system, thus this is issue 19.

Per usual, I have a fairy tale history column in this issue. This time it's "Who's the Fairest?: Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs." I really enjoyed writing this one and came to appreciate Snow White even more than ever. The article is also being adapted to appear in my next fairy tale anthology of Snow White and Sleeping Beauty tales from around the world.

But wait, I have not one, but two articles in this issue. I also wrote "Anne Isabella Thackeray Ritchie & Her Victorian Fairy Tales" for your reading enjoyment. There isn't much available to read about Thackeray Ritchie beyond two rare biographies and a few academic papers, but she is a fascinating author and literary figure from the Victorian era.

Of course, there are many more articles in the issues, too. There is a great one about illustrator Ruth Sanderson, a column by Brian Froud, and many more interesting bits and pieces.

You have about a month to find this since the next issue is slated to start appearing on newsstands on March 15.

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