No, not really. We're all serious business here, so there's no dancing required. What is required is a little backstory for this year's emissary; I was playing on someone else's playground when I wrote it. So, here goes.
The Magic Tree and Other Tales by Marius Barbeau (retold by Michael Hornyansky) is a hipster motherlode when it comes to fairy and folk tales. The book is out of print, the stories are French-Canadian, and most people have never heard of them. And boy, are they missing out.
This was my absolute favorite set of tales when I was growing up. While the tales use many common fairytale tropes (particularly the Rule of 3), they still offer a different flavor on the general fairytale themes, and have a great deal of fun in so doing.
My favorite story within this collection is actually a pair of stories, "Scurvyhead" and "Sir Goldenhair," which were placed successively in the book and share a protagonist. Petit Jean, the hero, gets himself into a tight situation but maneuvers his way out of it with the help of a talking horse, who then guides him to greater glory. I always wanted someone to write these two tales as a novel, but, to my knowledge, no one ever did.
Well, until now. My philosophy on writing is that if someone sees a gap in literary canon, it's that person's responsibility to fill it. And really, no one else was going to write this particular fairy tale to my liking. Doubtless my version won't live up to the standards of the 5 other people who've read the original. Oh well.
I wrote the first draft of Goldmayne in Summer 2011 and gave it to my mom for her birthday (uncompleted still at that point, and she hounded me for chapters until I'd finished it about a month later). As a stand-alone story, it was a contender for getting published last year, but Kingdom of Ruses won out simply because it was older. A couple of my nephews have specifically requested it for this year, though, and who am I to say no to them?
So, without further ado, I present to you the preview summary (with lovely title plate!):
Evil witches, cursed royalty, heroes by happenstance, and happily ever after: Duncan does not believe in fairy tales, but when he runs away from his father's farm, he tumbles headlong into one. Old Dame Groach recruits him as caretaker of her crumbling estate, where he must tend her poisonous garden, beat her white horse daily, and keep far away from the mysterious closet beneath the stairs--and that's only the start of his fantastical troubles! A retelling and shameless embellishment of the French-Canadian folk tales, "Scurvyhead" and "Sir Goldenhair."
I still have a couple of minor edits to perform, and then I have to recruit some poor patsy willing soul to perform a final read-through for grammar/typos. After that there's the formatting, typsetting, table of contents, and cover to worry about. (The above doodle is just for giggles, and because I like doodling.)
My deadline's the same as always, of course. Expect it sometime around June-ish. (Why does that suddenly seem so much closer than it really is?)
And no, this is not an April Fools announcement. I'm not that funny. (Although, if I miss my deadline I could claim...)
3 comments:
Cool! I am willing to play the poor patsy - er, willing soul - if it means I get to read it again! You probably want to pick someone else, though. I'm not a very reliable editor, because you write such great stuff and I get caught up in the story and forget to edit. (So it's your fault.) ^_^
I like the plate, especially the G that looks like golden tresses.
Oh, I can't wait until June!
@Kristen
It's my fault. Nice. You're already on my poor patsy list, you should know. (In a good way. I should make badges. They'll be collectors' items some day.)
"You're already on my poor patsy list, you should know."
Oh, good. Whew!
Waitin' for my badge. ^_^
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