Out of Season

Hello, reader. Last week's story was pretty dark, so I shouldn't be surprised that my modern version of it turned out dark as well. Enjoy!

Who knew the way to freedom could look so bleak?

The Twelve Months

Seems like a good place to find violets.

Salutations, reader! The fairy tale for this week comes from the Czech Republic. The Twelve Months is a pretty brutal story, but it has a mostly happy ending. Click the link above to read it and continue below to think about it with me.

Crack in the Sky

Hello, reader! I was having a little trouble figuring out how to turn "The Stones of Five Colors and Empress Jokwa" into a modern story. So, I started making it simpler. I took the characters of world-shaking importance, and turned them into kids playing in a field. Hopefully Empress Jokwa doesn't mind being turned into a teenager.

A crack in the sky isn't always easy to notice at first.

The Stones of Five Colors and the Empress Jokwa

There's power in these stones. Some of them.

Hello again, reader. As those of you who follow me on Instagram know, I just got back from my honeymoon in Japan. Which was lovely, by the way. We stayed in Tokyo, and I highly recommend it. What this also means is that this week, I decided we should look at a fairy tale from Japan, which turned out to be The Stones of Five Colors and the Empress Jokwa. It's a bit of a longer read, and it's almost two stories in one, but it's worth it. Click the link above to read the story, and continue reading below to analyze it with me.

The Journey to Success

Hello, reader! I didn't intend to take such a long break. For those of you who are curious, I won NaNoWriMo. Which means I wrote 50,000 words on my novel in November. As you may have guessed, the things I was putting off doing in November came back with a vengeance in December. But, I managed to bribe a house elf to finish a few things for me so I could get back to this blog.

Picking up where we left off, I wrote a modern version of Puss in Boots. This story didn't turn out quite like I expected when I sat down to write it, but I still think it turned out well.

Wise guide or just a cat? Who can say?

Puss in Boots

Pictured: three brothers with their inheritance, and also a goose

Greetings, reader! This week, we're looking at Perrault's version of Puss in Boots. It's very different from the character you know from Shrek. For one thing, this cat is a lady. Check out the story in the link above and ready below for an over-analysis of it.

Carmine and Her Grandma

Hello, readers! For those participating, happy NaNoWriMo! For those who have no idea what that is, in a nutshell, it's a group of crazy writers who are each trying to write 50,000 words in one month. Of course, I am one of these crazy writers. This year, I'm working on the second draft of the sequel to my novel, which is tentatively titled Pride and Pettiness. For those of you who don't know, my debut novel, A Tale of Two Tricksters, is available on Amazon. Which, incidentally, was also a NaNoWriMo novel. I may be a bit biased, but I think it's an excellent book and you should totally buy it.

This week, I wrote a modern version of Little Red Cap, the Grimm brothers version of Little Red Riding Hood that we analyzed last week. Continue below for my modern retelling!

Soup is great if your grandma is sick. Or at any time.