Fairy tales and outrageous wishes

Last Thursday I took part in Story Scavenger's free creative writing workshop @ Waterstone's cafe, on the topic of 'resolutions and outrageous wishes.' A lot of people turned up, and we had great fun writing down names of good and bad fairy tale characters, resolutions and crazy dreams, tossing them into the middle of the table and then selecting a combination to write about. Some of our group's included: 

• The Ugly Duckling wants to own a VW camper van,
• The Wicked Witch wants to take more time for herself and treat herself better,
• The Snow Queen wants to record music, and
• One of the three little pigs wants to run away with a travelling funfair

by themicawber @ dA

I picked out 'Peter Pan wants to learn the piano' and 'Snow White wants to win the lottery.' I really enjoyed speed-writing the scenes from my stories - it has been ages since I wrote in a big group like that and felt relaxed and happy doing it. I didn't quite build up the confidence to share my work, but that will be my challenge for next month's workshop!


I will post my unusual fairy tale creations in the next few days once I have typed them up! 


To find out about the february workshop, visit Wendy's blog here.

Is Caerleon the real Camelot?

'Camelot' by bikerblue61 @ da

When I was growing up my parents used to take us to stay with a family friend who lived in Caerleon, in south Wales. It was a place that, to this day, I associate with an element of magic and mystery, which I probably sensed from the Roman remains, which included an impressive amphitheatre. Some of my strongest memories from that place are of trudging amongst the ruins, and drinking cranberry juice in the garden of The Hanbury Arms (I used to think it was funny that 'cranberry' sounds like 'Hanbury'...)

But the other day I discovered that Geoffrey of Monmouth, who wrote the fantastically inaccurate Historia Regum Britanniae, believed that Caerleon, an important town to the Romans...was also the court of King Arthur. Although I haven't read it for myself, (yet) apparently Thomas Malory even has Arthur crowned at 'Carlion' in his retelling of the legend, Le Morte D'Arthur. 

And, even more exciting for the girl who once sat there and drank cranberry juice, Alfred Lord Tennyson actually stayed at The Hanbury Arms while he was writing The Idylls of the King! 

Why are so many people flooding to Glastonbury Tor in search of Avalon when they could go to Caerleon for Camelot?!

Unsurprisingly, this has re-ignited the flame that I burn out of love for Arthurian legend! If anyone would like to recommend any Arthurian literature, TV, artwork, anything, then please leave me a comment with your suggestions!

And, if you're interested, you can read my earlier review/discussion of the TV show Camelot and thoughts on keeping Arthurian legends alive...

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas everybody! I hope that wherever you are, whoever you're with, and whatever you have planned...I hope you have a fun, relaxing and indulgent day~ x


If you want to read some Christmas themed folk tales to further engulf you in the spirit of today's festivities, you can do so here :)

fairy tale story scavenging

by Indigo-Ocean @ da

I can't wait to attend next month's Story Scavenger evenings at Waterstones...I have been lured in by the promise of writing based on fairy tale traditions, with the overall theme being resolutions and outrageous wishes. Little stars pinged up in my eyes when I read 'fairy tale'! I suppose I am predictable in this way, and will always have magpie tendencies towards anything promising myths and magic. 


More information about the workshops can be found here. I look forward to meeting more local writers, which will be a first for me after living and writing in Brighton for a year and a quarter. It will be exciting...but for now I have to focus on relaxing and getting over my illness and mentally preparing for Christmas! 6 days to go!

Book heaven

Today I took a trip up to the special collections section of the university library; surrounded by the comforting smell of old, loved books, I was privileged enough to hold in my hands some real treasures. 


I won't lie, I was petrified I would sneeze on them.


But there was something familiar, almost reassuring about handling a book with crisp paper pages, stained with age, and a hard-back, robust cover protecting the story within...


A 1611(!) edition of Edmund Spenser's The Faerie Queen.
A 1st edition(!) of Jonathan Swift's Gulliver's Travels.
A 2nd edition Shakespeare folio(!), undoubtedly the king of the room!


And the illustrations! Perhaps as a result of it being the title page to The Faerie Queen it had more of an effect on me, but I felt utterly transported and in awe - the drawings were intricate, alluring, and dominated the page in a way that book illustrations rarely do nowadays.


Everyone, I beseech you, if you can, hold an old, valuable book in your hands and experience what I have experienced, because it is a beautiful, inspiring feeling, and I cannot do it justice here!

A letter from the other side of the world

I received such a lovely surprise in the post last week - a card from Tahlia, of Diamonds and Toads! (Sorry it has taken so long to post my thank you!)


The card was thanking me for the donation I made towards start up costs for a new fairy and folktale magazine...a donation that wasn't a lot, that I thought wouldn't make a difference. But I suppose it still meant something - it meant enough to send a card and not an email - and that's what counts. 


It takes so little effort to do something for someone else, that could maybe make their day; a 'good morning', a smile, a hand getting a buggy on a bus...a small donation to a good cause, and definitely, definitely, a card through the letterbox from the other side of the world!

^chuffed!

Rejection is progress

Remember I was talking about a story I submitted to two magazines? I was discussing a moral dilemma about it here.


Well, I can now reveal that my story was...not accepted by the magazine that truly endeared me to them, but surprisingly my first reaction wasn't disappointment, as it has been up until now. In fact I found myself smiling when I received the email...


I've been on an emotional roller coaster ride with this story, I'll be honest, but somewhere along the way I realised that this time last year my writing would have been rejected straight away. Without a shadow of a doubt.


During the year I have progressed, getting to the 'honourable mention' stage of a competition, winning a small prize in a competition, winning second place in a competition, and now, being considered in the final round of publication for a magazine.  No, I haven't had a short story published without it being through a competition, and no, this wasn't my lucky break.


But looking back, I can see that if I keep working, keep learning, and keep putting myself out there, it won't be long until I've jumped over that hurdle as well.