Angela Slatter's Blog, page 115

And lo, I do the Dance of the Happiest Author in Authortown

In the mail from Jo Fletcher Books, the hard cover and the trade paperback. Huzzah!

The Tallow-Wife

Godfried Schalcken

And so, after much planning and plotting, note-taking and scribbling on things, The Tallow-Wife and Other Tales has begun.

Here is the first draft of the opening page:

 

The Tallow-Wifeby Angela Slatter

 Cordelia does not think about the things she has lost.

She does not think on the children, or her husband,
Read more...

Christopher Fowler: The Ash-Boy

Photo snurched from The Guardian

Please welcome Mr Christopher Fowler, he of (among MANY other things) the Bryant & May books, to chat about “The Tinder Box”, transgressions, Quasimodo, and the effect you want to have as a writer.

Oh, and fairy tales.

‘ONCE UPON A TIME in
Read more...

Michael Marshall Smith: Look Inside

As well as being in the running for the Most Intriguing Opening Sentence Award, Michael Marshall Smith is one of the Fearie Tales authors. Today he chats about Little Red Riding Hood, the eternal verities of human nature, and what fairy tales offer readers.

I’M GOING TO tell a little
Read more...

Brian Hodge: Anything to Me is Sweeter, Than to Cross Shock-headed Peter

Please welcome the delightful Mr Brian Hodge, who fills us in on cages, cannibalism, Der Struwwelpeter, and fairy tales for today’s Fearie Tales post.

CONCERNING THE BROWNSTONE building where they were housed, it was said that the sun had never once shined on the place in all the days and
Read more...

Garth Nix: Crossing the Line

Photo snurched from the Keys to the Kingdom site

Master storyteller Garth Nix shares his experience of and thoughts about fairy tales today as part of the lead-up to the launch of the new Fearie Tales anthology, edited by Stephen Jones.

IT WASN’T
Read more...

New collection

I seem to have agreed to do a collection with Mr Johnny Mains of Noose and Gibbet fame.

It’s scheduled to be out in 2015 and will be called Lemarchand’s Dictionary of Tenuous Connections and Other Tales – because apparently The Girl With No Hands and Other Tales wasn’t a
Read more...

Tanith Lee: Open Your Window, Golden Hair

Tanith Lee is one of the finest writers you could ever have the joy of reading. Her accolades and achievements are legion – and you can read about them here in the Lair of the Evil Drs Brain. Today she’s been kind enough to talk us through how she
Read more...

Of much interest …

… is this great interview from Fata Libelli with the esteemed Mr Reggie Oliver.

He ranges widely across subjects of craft and genre, but I particularly like his comments on the nature of Horror fiction.

However, to me the supreme ingredient is atmosphere and all those other elements must be contributors towards it. This is not necessarily about being directly
Read more...

BWF Perks

So, this was one of the perks of being a panelist for BWF: getting books to read as prep.

And this particular tome was an absolute gift. You know I loves me a fairy tale and James Bradley’s deliciously dark take on Rapunzel was a treat.

An absynthe-flavoured treat to be sure, but
Read more...