http://www.cgpgrey.com, via Wikimedia Commons
I’m so glad to say that Enchanted Conversation made its fundraising goal! As I’ve said before, it’s a publication that I love, filled with all the magic of fairy tales, and offering short story writers a place to share our work! – which is a kind of fairy tale in itself! (Really! Remember to support your local, and not-local, artists!)
In celebration, I’m sharing the three stories I’ve had published there! I hope you’ll read the other wonderful stories and poems in each theme as well. It’s a real delight to see how different each tale, written after the same original, ends up!
John Soldier was inspired by The Steadfast Tin Soldier, which is a story I didn’t like in the least! It’s a story where everybody dies, and not even a feel-good story where everybody dies like In Bruges. I tried several different approaches to writing that one, it was a real challenge to get inside of and reimagine, and I’m happy with where it finally ended up.
John Soldier
The following contains a personal record relating to experiments performed by an unnamed scientist believed to have been in the employ of the British army at the time of the Crimean War. This journal was discovered among records of the 18– theater disaster in a private collection and was donated to the university library on condition of anonymity. The other documents mentioned in this text have not been located. Attempts made to discover the historic location of the Godwin or Goodwin Street Laboratory have thusfar been unsuccessful.
Read More
I had an easier time with Re-Covered, built around the story of the Emperor’s New Clothes. It’s one I’ve thought a lot about, in terms of power and fashion, and that everything in a culture – in our society – only is because we all agree on it. I’ve often thought about what would happen if society changed its mind about what it agrees to see and to allow.
Re-Covered
The king had stood naked and vulnerable before his people. The only person who acknowledged the exposure was a small child, and he was quickly hushed. There were rumors that to directly look upon a member of the noble family would render one a fool, or blind, or unfit for service; it would cause one’s deepest shame to be revealed, would cost one’s inheritance, or render one sterile and heirless. He exposed himself to them all.
Read More
Most recently I’ve been so pleased to share How He Found a Wife, about Godfather Death, who has long been one of my favorite figures in story. I wrote all about it here, so I won’t belabor the point. Suffice it to say, I’m glad to be adding my own shades to the psychopomp, and he also appears in Snow Fell.
