GiraffeCrafts

  First off, what is the Frosted Roses Collection? You possibly already know, but in case you don't, here's the rundown. It's not an anthology. It's not even a series. It's a set of authors who are banding together and publishing their books together at the same time as a means of cross-promotion. And every book will be a retelling of the beloved fairy tale Snow White and Rose Red. And your book doesn't actually have to feature frosty roses, it merely must be recognizable  as  Snow White and Rose Red. Is this a contest? No, it is not really. It is a promotional opportunity with limited slots. I'm more like an agent than a judge. Okay, so how is that going to work? Every book in the collection will be a story that was written or worked on as part of t he Arista Challenge . Authors interested will send me their stories, and I'll choose up to ten of them to be released together at the end of September. I'll assign each author a day when their book will ...

First off, what is the Tattered Slippers Collection? You possibly already know, but in case you don't, here's the rundown. It's not an anthology. It's not even a series. It's a set of authors who are banding together and publishing their books together at the same time as a means of cross-promotion. And every book will be a retelling of the beloved fairy tale The Twelve Dancing Princesses. And your book doesn't actually have to feature tattered slippers, it merely must be recognizable  as  The Twelve Dancing Princesses. Is this a contest? No, it is not really. It is a promotional opportunity with limited slots. I'm more like an agent than a judge. Okay, so how is that going to work? Every book in the collection will be a story that was written or worked on as part of t he Arista Challenge . Authors interested will send me their stories, and I'll choose up to fifteen of them to be released together at the end of August. I'll assign each autho...

First off, what is the Golden Braids Collection? You possibly already know, but in case you don't, here's the rundown. It's not an anthology. It's not even a series. It's a set of authors who are banding together and publishing their books together at the same time as a means of cross-promotion. And every book will be a retelling of the beloved fairy tale Rapunzel. And your book doesn't actually have to feature a Golden Braid, it merely must be recognizable as  Rapunzel. Is this a contest? No, it is not really. It is a promotional opportunity with limited slots. I'm more like an agent than a judge. Okay, so how is that going to work? Every book in the collection will be a story that was written or worked on as part of t he Arista Challenge . Authors interested will send me their stories, and I'll choose 10-15 of them to be released together at the end of November. It will be a five-day event, and I'll assign each author a day when their bo...

Okay, first off, I would like to apologize for how late this post is. I really meant to have this up on the first - it just didn't happen, for a number of reasons: 1. I underestimated how much burn-out I would suffer after the writer's retreat that I attended at the end of April. I knew I would suffer burn-out after Indie e-Con, so my intention was to get as much done ahead of time ... but thanks to that burn-out, I barely got Indie e-Con going, and now I'm struggling to tie up all of its loose ends. 2. I'm dealing with some stress at home that is moving-related. Also house-hunting related. Basically, we need to change our housing situation, but finances are standing in our way. (I actually almost canceled Indie e-Con due to this stress, but knew that if I skipped the second year, it would be harder for me to follow up in the coming years) 3. I worked extra hours at my day job the week following Indie e-Con to make up for taking the previous week off. Including a fo...

Rapunzel. The one with all the hair. The best known of  Aarne-Thompson-Uther Type 310, The Maiden in a Tower .  This iconic story was the second of the Barbie movies, though it took until 2010 for Disney to finally produce the perfect note of Tangled. It's the tale that we're telling together in The Arista Challenge. So let's break it down, shall we? Basic Plot: Woman has pregnancy cravings and gets her husband to steal some greens from their (not-so-)friendly neighborhood witch. Witch demands the baby in return. Witch puts the girl in a tower, names her after the plant that was stolen from her. Girl has LOOOOOONG hair, which the witch uses as a ladder up to the tower room. Girl also has beautiful singing voice. One day, a prince happens by, hears her singing. Sees her in the window. Falls in love. Can't figure out how to get up there to her. Finds out that her hair is the ladder. Calls it down. She's scared at first, and then she falls in love. They plo...

Well hello, everyone! I imagine that most of you know about the Rooglewood Fairy Tale contests, where everyone scrambles to rewrite the same fairy tale in hopes that their story will one of the five selected for the coveted collection Five Something Something.  I wrote for three of the four collections, CinderEddy for Five Glass Slippers , Poison Kiss for Five Magic Spindles, and The Seven Drawers and Red as Snow for Five Poison Apples.  Unfortunately, The Seven Drawers  was the only story that I was able to finish in time to send it in (And I'm now waiting with bated breath to find out whether or not I won.) Unfortunately, Poison Apples was their last contest. So, we were talking in the Facebook Group about how sad we'd be to lose the community. And I had a thought. I can't offer a contest, but I can continue the challenge. The picking of a fairy tale and the writing together with fury. I can't offer a single collection with cash prizes, but I can offer a joi...