THE DAY HAS ARRIVED AND I CAN’T STOP SCREAMING ABOUT IT. Fairy Tale Central is HERE!!!

I’ve been flailing on social media about this fairy tale site for over a month, and have been feverishly working with my amazing co-creators for many months, and it is finally TIME. That’s right. IT’S LAUNCH DAY. (Seriously, I can’t stop screaming.)

I have some super fun things to share here, but I’m too excited and just HAVE to go ahead and give you the link. Are you ready for it?

THE SITE

Introducing…

FAIRY TALE CENTRALhttps://thefairytalecentral.com/

 EEP. I’M JUST SO EXCITED!!!

Each month we’re going to be featuring one specific fairy tale to center our posts on.

For our first month we’ve chosen:

RUMPELSTILTSKIN

 We can’t wait to dive into this golden tale (lololol seewhatididthere?) with you for all of April!

  You can also follow FTC on:

• Facebook

• Instagram

• Twitter

• Pinterest

We’d love to connect with you there. Annnd if you want to share about the site on your own blogs, social media accounts, tell friends, family, your neighbor’s dog, etc. we would be eternally grateful and utterly honored!

So, explore the site, follow, leave a comment! We can’t wait to connect with all you fairy tale lovers there! But then come back here, because I have some more fun. *grins*

OKAY. Are you back? Don’t you just love it all? ‘CAUSE I SURE DO. It’s been a ride getting this thing together, let me tell you.

THE JOURNEY 

It was alllll the way back in August when I received an email from my dear “Lody” a.k.a Arielle Bailey with a proposition. She and Faith White had started dreaming up together an idea for a big fairy tale website with basically EVERYTHING fairy tale related you can think of, and they were looking for a third member to join on this beautiful venture. Cue me screaming (I do that a lot), because THIS WAS THE BEST IDEA EVER AND YOU CAN BET YOUR DRAGON GOLD I WAN TO BE A PART OF THIS.

And so the grand adventure began.

It’s been a lot of work. But good work. I feel so blessed to have two of the sweetest (and most creative!) co-creators to work with. These months of back and forth emails and chats, of squealing when we think of that perfect idea, and coming together to form a project we’ve all fallen in love with, has been a joy. I can’t wait for the years to come working with these girls.

INTERVIEWS

To celebrate launch day, we’re featuring each other via a short interview on our personal blogs! This way you guys can get to know us “Fairy Site Godmothers” a little more, and learn more on why we’re so passionate about fairy tales

I am THRILLED to have Arielle featured on my blog today. She’s got some utterly inspiring thoughts on fairy tales to share AND gives us a hint of her COMPLETELY AND TOTALLY EPIC fairy tale-centric WIPs.

Faith’s interview is over on Arielle’s blog and you DO NOT want to miss it. Her thoughts on fairy tales just make my heart soar and OH MY GRACIOUS, GUYS. Her WIPs! I needed them published like yesterday! Go check it out!

And you can find my own interview over on Faith’s beautiful blog. So honored to be featured there today!

 Without further ado…

ARIELLE’S INTERVIEW

Follow her:
Personal Blog | Writing Blog | Instagram | Bookstagram | Twitter | Pinterest | GoodReads

What draws you to fairy tales; what is it that you love most about them?

Fairy tales are sparks. They have kindled the imagination of millions throughout history, including mine. They remind me that hope and adventure and magic still remain in a world that might seem horribly mundane, stressful, dark, and wearying much of the time. And that there is always a deeper symbolism and significance to our lives, even if they can seem pointless.

What fairy tale theme/moral really speaks to you personally?

Scheherazade’s aka the framework tale of The 1001 Nights. She wasn’t just smart, she was intellectual. She’d read scores of books and put hours and hours into studying and reading, becoming one of the most learned people in her country but without turning into a snooty person who couldn’t engage with people on a normal level. (Plus, okay, yes, she was CUNNING and just all-around FUN.)

I’ve been a bookworm since I was a tiny tot, and labeled ‘intellectual’ by a lot of people, some negatively. Her story was always encouraging because, fairy tale or not, she owned her intellectualism. And eventually, she was able to use it to save the women (and the economy) of an entire nation.

Also, while most fairy tales feature instalove and focus heavily on being in love and ‘escaping your problems’, this one showed that sometimes there’s a bigger picture to be considered. Scheherazade wasn’t in love with the Sultan. Frankly, the man needed walloped upside the head and worse. She went to him out of love for the people of her kingdom, a view to preventing the ruin of her land, and saving her father from the endless grief and stress he was under. While love is hugely important and I would never downplay its importance in relationships, this tale is refreshing yo mr in that Scheherazade looked beyond herself and her problems to the bigger picture, to what was best for everyone, and sacrificed herself for that goal.

Selflessness, brilliant strategy, intellectualism, looking at the bigger picture, adaptability – there are a lot of reasons this tale speaks to me.

Other favorite themes: the beautiful sibling loyalty in The Wild Swans and the sisterhood in Snow White and Rose Red.

What fairy tale retellings are you writing or specifically planning to write in the future?

Oh my stars. Well, I’m planning a longer post about this on my personal blog, otherwise this could get REALLY long. The short version:

Pendragons and Pimpernels
(big series, lots of novels and novellas)

Modern (adult) Merlin AU meets old-style Mission Impossible with Celtic fae.

I’m about to finish the first book in this series (The Rowan Cipher), and later books will include fairy tale ‘missions’, including scenes written for our FTC monthly writing prompts!

 Queen Beauty and the Beasts
(trilogy)

Beauty and the Beast meets Phantom of the Opera and werecats in the world of modern Korean pop music.

I wrote this in three months a couple years ago, and later this year, I’ll be splitting it into a trilogy and polishing it for publication.

 Once Upon a Crime
(series of short novels and/or novellas)

The Princess Diaries meets White Collar meets noir detective agency.

Twelve Dancing Princesses partially written, will include most well-known fairy tales and a bunch of lesser known tales.

A pair of sassy female detectives has to solve white collar crimes in which the heroes and heroines of fairy tales are the main suspects. Featuring a Prince Charming who is an atypical lawyer and his bodyguard, who is usually 100% done with the prince.

Thank you for sharing, Arielle! I agree, Scheherazade is such an amazing heroine. And, GUYS. Can we just flail over those WIPs??? A Merlin Mission Impossible with Celtic fae? Beauty and the Beast meets Phantom of the Opera? Fairy tale characters as crime suspects? The brilliant originality of her stories blow my mind. I NEED HER TO BE PUBLISHED NOWWWW.

  Don’t forget to check out Faith’s interview and mine!

And, of course, if you haven’t yet, head on over to FAIRY TALE CENTRAL.

BLOG TOUR

We’re also hosting an official blog tour all this week to get the word out!

Huge thanks to these epic people for joining in:

Jameson C. Smith | Lila Kims  | Faith/Florid Sword  | Julian Daventry  | Kathryn  | Ariel Ramey/R.M. Archer  | Tricia Mingerink  | Kenzie  | Deborah O’Carroll  | Allison Tebo  | Ceci. E  | Sarah Cnossen  | Lia  | Savannah Grace  | Hanne T  | Shaina Frantz  | Kyle Shultz  | Serethiel (Liv K. Fisher)  | Charity Rau  | Kiri Liz  | Emily G  | Madeline | Hayden Wand | E. Kaiser Writes

All such amazing people! Do check out their blogs. So much goodness in that list. SO MUCH.

If you didn’t join the official tour, but still want to give FTC a shoutout on your blog, ABSOLUTELY GO FOR IT. Naturally we’d be thrilled!We’ve had a swell of enthusiasm from so many of you over this project. We’re ecstatic people are just as excited about it as we are. I can’t thank you all enough for the support. *HUGS ALL AROUND*

  So come! Let’s unlock the magic of fairy tales together.

LET’S TALK!

Are you excited? BECAUSE I AM EXCITED. SO SO EXCITED. I can’t believe it’s finally launch day! To celebrate, let’s talk fairy tales! What’s YOUR favorite fairy tale and why? I’d love to know!