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In the midst of working on deadlines, I snuck in a few hours to read Academy 7 by Anne Osterlund. (The cover and blurb for it, by the way, are horrible representations of what's actually inside the book. They look like they're trying to appeal to the dark fantasy crowd -- when really, it's a science fiction story primarily of friendship and parental relationships. I'd also say it's like a boarding school novel in space, with really appealing main characters who have Issues that they have to confront -- together -- which may explain why I enjoyed it so much.)

Based on the cover, I couldn't figure out where I'd heard of it or why I'd put it on hold from the library, but once I started reading, I realized that the style reminded me very much of Sherwood Smith's (sartorias) in Crown Duel. Thus I *assume* someone on livejournal recommended it. Anybody want to take credit?

I really enjoyed it, and pass along the recommendation, whoever I got it from!

Now, back to more galley proofing...

If you read my short story on Baeg Tobar or have been following the Web comic, you've already heard a bit about the Black Queen. She reappears in this week's story, "Shadivengen" by Mark Adams, one of my co-writers on the Steampunk Musha d20 RPG (which is still in limbo somewhere). Mark is also working on the newest incarnation of Steampunk Musha, and "Shadivengen" is (I believe) his first published short story. It's exciting to see his work out there for everyone to read!

If you have a chance, please pop by, read Mark's story, and drop by the forums to say hello and let him know what you thought!

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On a completely different note, my wild selkie photos went up at Nicole Peeler's blog today. I had a lot of fun with the selkie hunt, and the shot I took of the selkie I found at Branford Point (near where I live) is one of my favorites.

I first discovered Seanan McGuire (seanan_mcguire) when she created some fan art for Anton Strout's Deader Still. He posted it up over at antonstrout, and I was intrigued enough that I thought, I should find out who this Seanan person is.

In short, she's amazing. She's one of those super talented people who is an artist, a musician, and a writer, all wrapped into one. She has three albums of her music available at CD Baby and she performs at conventions, seemingly all over the place. Her first novel, Rosemary and Rue, debuted last month to excellent reviews, and was recently the bookclub pick over at Genreville. I'm incredibly tickled that Seanan took the time to talk about fairy tales here at Myth, the Universe, and Everything.

Without further ado, I turn it over to her!

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CONFESSIONS OF A FAIRY TALE GIRL.

Hello. My name is Seanan, and I'm a folklore addict. I started small, like most addicts, with Disney movies and the Brothers Grimm, and branched out from there into the Colored Fairy Books, Child's ballads, the works of Shakespeare, and the fabulous scholarship of Katharine Briggs. It didn't take long for me to lose my way completely, falling into bad company, like the hero with a thousand faces, and the princess of the glass mountain. Pushers were everywhere, and I was weak.

I'm not sorry.

The urban fantasy of today is built atop the folklore and fairy tales of yesterday. True, a lot of it draws on archetypes that we've classified as "horror," but if you look at the roots of those stories, you'll find that witches and werewolves originally appeared next to pixies and elves. The divide between fantasy and horror is a modern construction. We're just getting back to our roots. Our bloody, bloody roots.

The gradual blanching of all the blood from the fairy tales is responsible for a lot of crimes against folklore, not the least of which is the relegation of the fae to cute nursery illustrations and CGI movies featuring Tinker Bell and her friends. Most of the traditional fae would kick your ass for even suggesting that they might be "cute," and they definitely aren't the sort of people you want in your nursery. The irony of decorating childrens' rooms with the very creatures we used to protect them from with horseshoes and rowan wood has not escaped me. (It's also not a good thing to explain while standing in the Disney Store.)

So what is folklore? At its simplest, it's the oral or written tradition of a culture. Tall tales, fairy tales, ghost stories, urban legends, they're all folklore. Every human culture has its own folklore and its own folkloric traditions, and no one is completely familiar with absolutely all of them. Folklore changes constantly. The old-school Cinderella may have sent pigeons to peck her stepsisters' eyes out, but there's room in the tradition for the Disney Cinderella, too; as soon as little girls started to retell the story of the movie, she became just as valid (if a lot newer).

As urban fantasy becomes more and more established, tropes and concepts go from "fresh and new" (and five hundred years old) to "been there, done that," which is especially comic when you consider that it's all been done before. Everything old is new again once it gets old enough. Even the fairy tale girls.

There's a lot of freedom in the urban fantasy playground, and a lot of history still waiting to be remembered. We've found our roots. All that remains to be seen is what we're going to plant this time.

I don't know about you, but I'm planting myself a pumpkin patch.

My phone has been ringing and not getting answered. My e-mail is building up. I'm falling behind on my facebook games. I haven't blogged in a week.

I'd like to say I've figured out how this happens, but it seems to sneak up on me all at once!

I was out of town last weekend (Saturday through Monday) visiting family in Michigan, and it was really wonderful to see everyone. The cause was sad (my grandmother passed away after a long illness), but the memorial service was really beautiful, reminding me what an amazing woman my grandmother was. I'd forgotten that she used to call her granddaughters in the morning sometimes to let us know if the prisms she had hanging from her windows were making rainbows, or if we'd have to create some rainbows for ourselves that day. I'm thinking about getting a prism for myself to hang in my kitchen and think of her.

The trip sadly meant that we missed most of the Halloween festivities, but I do have a quick photo of me in my airplane-friendly costume to share.

(I'm posing with Anton Strout's books, as part of his Halloween costume contest. That's a bun in the oven on my shirt, in case you can't make it out.)

While on the trip, I read three review books and Tempest Rising by Nicole Peeler, which is not only an awesome debut, it's an awesome mythie novel. (You can get a sneak peek here at Nicole's site.) In between catching up on work assignments (two down since I've been home!), I'm trying to get my library pile down a bit, as well as tackling my TBR pile. And also, there's writing to be done. It is November, after all, and I did say I'd write 30,000 words (and while I wrote four essays this week for a freelance assignment, I'm not really counting those toward the full goal).

Anyone read anything good lately that I should have on my TBR pile? Anyone make a writing goal so far this week? Inquiring minds (seen below) want to know!

Hey everyone,

I hit a deer on the way back from NY last night with my girlfriend. We're fine, but the car's totalled, and we're stranded at a mechanic's office in Harriman, NY. It would be completely amazing if someone would be willing to give us a ride back to campus, and I'll gladly pay for your gas, dinner, and trouble if you want to be that someone. We are fun company--intensely into music, kind, and given to strange claims and exciting tales, or austere silence if that's what you prefer--and we would cherish your kindness forever. Please call me at (512) 913-6281 if you're interested.

Yours always,
Zack A.