Fractured Fairy Tales


I'm thrilled to announce that a story of mine, "The Eye of the Beholder," was recently accepted into an anthology of fractured fairy tales entitled After the Happily Ever After.

But what the heck is a fractured fairy tale, you might ask?

Fractured fairy tales take traditional tales and either turn them upside down or change some of the elements significantly, so that you get an entirely different story. Humor is often an important part of the retelling. For example, The Three Little Pigs could be about greedy capitalist bankers confronting the Wolf of Wall Street, or Cinderella might become a man-- Cinderfella is a classic example of this. Snow White and the Seven Dwarves could be a woman who does animal rescue and is, herself, rescued by a litter of 7 puppies, or a sci fi tale about life on other planets (Well, ok, on second thought, either of those might be really weird. But you get the idea).


More info about fractured fairy tales:
Marilyn Kinsella's Fractured Thoughts

A wonderful source of traditional fairy tales:
Andrew Lang's Fairy Collection

Have you got any ideas for reframing a traditional fairy tale? Please share them in the comments!

Want to read some brand NEW fractured fairy tales? Get your fill by supporting our anthology! 70+ unusual tales of what happens when the traditional fairy tale recipe has some....substitutions:

www.kickstarter.com/projects/transmundanepress/after-the-happily-ever-after-anthology

Bonus: Here is a teaser for my short story. Which traditional fairy tale do you think inspired it?

Father has done something so, so foolish. He didn’t want to tell me, but I coaxed it out of him in the special way that only I can. He purloined a rose from a beastly lord for me and was caught. Now, either he must stay, or I must go as payment for his crime. Of course, I will go. I’d never do otherwise. But I confess that I am horrified at being handed over to a husband sight unseen, even if he does live in a castle. 


At least we won’t starve.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

N is for Name

Image
NA M ES               “Names have power.”                       -Rick Riordan, The Lightning Thief              What's in a name? Plenty. The name you give your character gives the reader an instant impression, even if they don't know what the name really means. For example, w hat do you think of when you hear the following names:  Destiny Colt Barack Ruby Hester Sierra Khan Jesus Barbara Magda Aloha Martha Kofi Prudence Lucifer Bilbo Miranda Filippo Jessie Duncan Anjali Peewee Ishmael Ludwig Ngai Dae won Amber Hercules Scarlett Ashley Midori Gabriel Xerxes Ralph Heathcliff Veruca Hannibal Roshanna Ramona Svengali  Hans Isabella Lolita Jeeves Pip Ebenezer  Rudolph Gump Scout Winnie Grendel Tarzan Scheherazade I bet each of them gave you an immediate impression, even if you can't fully articulate what that impression is.  Well, your reader will have one, too. So when you choose a name for your c
Read more

F is for Fear

Image
FEAR “Fear is felt by writers at every level. Anxiety accompanies the first word they put on paper and the last.”  ―  Ralph Keyes ,  The Courage to Write: How Writers Transcend Fear Fear isn't something we talk about a lot in terms of creative process.  But it can keep us from following our dreams for years, even lifetimes. And that's a real shame.  Because, at the end of your life, you don't want to have big regrets. Such as: I never wrote that novel I dreamed of. I never published a short story. I never wrote down that children's story. I never followed my dream of writing . I've heard lots of people say some variation of this. You probably have, too.  The good news is, it is virtually never too late to follow your dream.  Don't believe me?  Check out these late bloomers: Grandma Moses began to paint seriously at the age of 78. Laura Ingalls Wilder didn't publish Little House on the Prairie  until she was 64. Frank McCourt wa
Read more

Zest

Image
"What hunger is in relation to food,  zest is in relation to life."       -Bertrand Russell Zest is one of my favorite things: there are few foods that smell as clean and energizing as a citrus fruit--especially a lemon. Zest is, therefore, the perfect word to describe the excitement, or energy for life. We have zest for things that we love. And sometimes it is that zest, the tantalizing hint of what is to come, that hope for a more delicious future, that carries us through. "True happiness comes from the joy of deeds well done. The zest of creating things new." -Antoine de Saint-Exupery If gratitude is for the past, hope is for the future,  zest, therefore, is for the present."                     -Park, Peterson & Seligman, 2004 "Zest. Gusto. How rarely do we see one living, or for that matter, creating by them. Yet if I were asked to name the most important items in a writer's make-up and rush him along the road he wants to go...I woul
Read more