(Because even though there are only five winners, there are hundreds of stories written for each contest, and many of the contestants go ahead and publish their stories on their own. Case in point: my own CinderEddy, which wasn't actually finished in time to enter in the contest, granted)
Rooglewood Press is delighted to
introduce their third fairy tale novella contest—
Five Magic Spindles
a collection of “Sleeping
Beauty” stories
The challenge is to write
a retelling of the beloved fairy tale in any genre or setting you like. Make
certain your story is recognizably “Sleeping Beauty,” but have fun with it as
well. Make it yours!
Rooglewood Press will be
selecting five winners to be published in the Five Magic Spindles collection, which will be packaged up with the
phenomenal cover you see here. Maybe your name will be one of the five listed?
All the contest rules and
information (how to enter, story details, deadline etc.) may be found on the
Rooglewood Press website. Just click HERE and you will go right to the
page.
Rooglewood Press’s first
collection,
Five Glass Slippers is available for purchase, and our second
collection, Five
Enchanted Roses is scheduled to launch on July 27, and is currently
available for pre-order. Be certain to get a copy of each and see what
previous winners did with their wonderful retellings.
Cover Illustration
Credit:
This cover illustration
was rendered by Julia Popova, “ForestGirl.” You can find out more about this
gifted artist on her website: www.forestgirl.ru
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
And ... now for my own comments. First of all - called it. Maybe I never stated my guess online, but I was about 75% sure that we'd be writing about Sleeping Beauty this year (Other 25% was split between Rapunzel and the Little Mermaid)Second - I like the cover, though I was expecting more of a pink theme. I don't know why, but Sleeping Beauty is a very rosy fairy tale in my mind (May have something to do with her name - Rosamond/Briar Rose, and Aurora means "dawn" which is again, rather pink.) The gold's growing on me, though. It's quite pretty all the same.
Third ... I've already got a brilliant idea for my entry. (Is it my historical retelling I mentioned a few months back? No - I'm not quite ready to write that one yet.) Truth be told I didn't have the idea until I saw the cover two days ago - and suddenly a title popped into my mind and just grew. It's called Poison Kiss, and basically the jilted fairy decides that sleeping curses triggered by pricked fingers are getting a bit to common and switches things up - within her sixteenth year, she will taste true loves kiss and then die in her lover's arms. This, of course, leaves the youngest fairy a bit confused and after stating the mandatory dilution of "deathlike sleep," adds a unsure "perhaps a spinning wheel shall save her?" I'm not entirely sure how the story is going to resolve, though currently my idea involves Rumplestilskin, Puss in Boots, and the White Cat. It's going to be brilliant.
So there we go - Sleeping Beauty. What's your favorite retelling of it? Are you excited to see it sweeping the nation? I know I am!
I'll be back tomorrow with the character encounter.
Oh, this sounds interesting. I might just do it :D
ReplyDeleteAnd I LOVE your idea of the wicked fairy's curse. It's great because, instead of true love's kiss *saving* her, instead it's what will cause her death! I can imagine in a scenario like that, that the king would completely banish all men under a certain age from ever coming to the palace.
Well he doesn't completely banish them (because who else is he going to have for guards and servants) but he does try to keep her as far away from young men as possible.
DeleteYour idea sounds fantastic! And hilarious! "Perhaps a spinning wheel shall save her?" I love that and can't wait to read it!
ReplyDeleteMy brain + Fairy Tales = Humor. I don't know why, but I always make them as funny as I can.
DeleteThat sounds like a super interesting twist. And I just got an idea that sounds brilliant at the moment. I think it's somewhat influenced by Doctor Who, and I love it already. We'll have to see if it gets written.
ReplyDeleteWe'll see if I can keep my inspiration. In a mere five days, I've already developed the plot to (I think) it's full extent, with a crazy spiderweb of connections, and it's going to be great!
DeleteThis is so exciting! Maybe I'll actually enter this year... I made a half-hearted attempt at a Beauty and the Beast story, but it didn't work out.
ReplyDeleteGreat story idea!
I think I remember you doing a character encounter trying to weasel the name out of him. You got farther than I did last year!
DeleteI am so excited about this announcement! It's wonderful that you already have an idea, Kendra! In the past few days I have been reacquainting myself with the older versions of Sleeping Beauty, and taking a closer look at them has made me even more excited to get writing. I think I have an idea, but it's still stewing in my head. I want to make sure that it withstands the "time" test before I actually start writing it.
ReplyDeleteI normally make my ideas take the "wait and see" challenge, but this one just exploded into a plot (such as I haven't had a story do before), so I'm going to strike while the iron's hot.
DeleteWow, Kendra, I love this idea. This one sounds like it will be fun to read. And it sounds likely to make it into the anthology, don't you think?
ReplyDeleteThe way I'm writing it, it'd be perfect as part of a collection, or as a prequel to my Bookania Quests series (should I fail to win and/or enter).
DeleteBut yes, it's a brilliant idea, with a good potential for winning, provided I succeed in (a) getting it written by the deadline and (b) keep Puss and Katrina from taking over the plot.
Kendra, I read your section in Anne's Show-and-Tell. And, as I said in the comments, there's something about the way you turn everything upsidedown that makes me want to read and see what you do with the story. :D :D :D
Delete