Heidi Anne Heiner's Blog, page 35

Bargain Ebook: The Snow Child: A Novel (Pulitzer Prize in Letters: Fiction Finalists) by Eowyn Ivey

The Snow Child: A Novel (Pulitzer Prize in Letters: Fiction Finalists) by Eowyn Ivey is on sale for $2.99 from a usual $10 price range in ebook format in the US.

The novel is in part inspired by a Russian snow child tale available on SurLaLune at The Little Daughter of the Snow. If you read it, you will recognize the book described here.

This tale shouldn't be confused with The Snow Child ATU Type 1362 which deals more with a wife's questionable loyalty to her husband. This tale is much more bittersweet in which a couple longs for a child together and create one out of snow. It is a bittersweet tale, especially for the childless.

Book description:

A bewitching tale of heartbreak and hope set in 1920s Alaska.

Jack and Mabel have staked everything on making a fresh start for themselves in a homestead 'at the world's edge' in the raw Alaskan wilderness. But as the days grow shorter, Jack is losing his battle to clear the land, and Mabel can no longer contain her grief for the baby she lost many years before.

The evening the first snow falls, their mood unaccountably changes. In a moment of tenderness, the pair are surprised to find themselves building a snowman - or rather a snow girl - together. The next morning, all trace of her has disappeared, and Jack can't quite shake the notion that he glimpsed a small figure - a child? - running through the spruce trees in the dawn light. And how to explain the little but very human tracks Mabel finds at the edge of their property?

Written with the clarity and vividness of the Russian fairytale from which it takes its inspiration, The Snow Child is an instant classic - the story of a couple who take a child into their hearts, all the while knowing they can never truly call her their own.

And here is a book trailer:

Bargain Ebook: The Cinderella Pact by Sarah Strohmeyer

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The Cinderella Pact by Sarah Strohmeyer is on sale for $4.99, down from its regular $9.99 in ebook edition.

Book description:

Soon to be a Lifetime movie called "Lying to be Perfect" (Edit: The movie was released in 2010.)

When Nola Devlin is turned down for her dream job because she's overweight, she decides to become thin-or, at least, pretend to be. The alter ego she creates-the thin, British, hip, and did we mention thin Belinda Apple-is a smashing success who is offered movie proposals, national television appearances and even dates...though no one's met her in person, of course.

Then Nola takes Belinda a bit too far, and is forced to join "The Cinderella Pact" and drop the pounds. As the weight comes off, however, Nola's problems begin to mount.

Call for Papers: International Conference of Mythology and Folklore

CFP: International Conference of Mythology and Folklore

The 3rd International Conference of Mythology and Folklore will take place October 15-16, 2016, in Bucharest, Romania.

The series of specialized conferences of mythology and folklore continues in Bucharest this year as well, under the patronage of The Faculty of Foreign Languages and Literatures.

The conference organizers propose the following themes:


Ancient mythology and its reverberations in modernityFolklore and authored literatureThe actuality of myths

The abstracts should contain the titles of the presentations, written in English (max. 200 words), followed by 5 keywords, a bio-note of approx. 7-8 lines, and an email address. Abstracts must be sent no later than October 1, 2016, to mythology.folklore16 at gmail com.

The languages of the conference are: Romanian, English and French.

If approved by the scientific committee, you will be notified no later than October 5th.

In extenso papers (max. 10 p.) will be sent to the email address of the scientific board by July 1, 2017. These will be published in the conference volume.

The participation fees are the following:


Professors, associate professors, CSI, CSII: 20 euro;Lecturers, assistants, CSIII, research assistants, PhD holders, pre-university teachers: 15 euro;M.A. students and PhD students: 10 euro.

Information concerning payment, as well as the board of the scientific committee will be communicated in the second call for papers which will be sent after September 25, 2016.

The style sheet will be communicated to the participants after October 16, 2016.

Organizing committee:

President:

Lector univ. dr. Maria-Luiza DUMITRU OANCEA

Vice-president:

Prof. univ. dr. Ramona MIHĂILĂ

Programme administrators:

Prof. univ dr. Ana-Cristina HALICHIAS
Prof. univ. dr. habil. Ileana MIHĂILĂ

Secretaries:

Drd. Nicolae-Andrei POPA
Dr. Mihai SALVAN

Bargain Ebook: The School for Good and Evil by Soman Chainani for $1.99

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The School for Good and Evil by Soman Chainani (Author) and Iacopo Bruno (Illustrator) is on sale in ebook format for $1.99 as a Kindle Daily Deal. It is usually in the $6.99 range and goes on sale periodically, but usually for $2.99 so this is a dollar less.

Book description:

At the School for Good and Evil, failing your fairy tale is not an option.

Welcome to the School for Good and Evil, where best friends Sophie and Agatha are about to embark on the adventure of a lifetime.

With her glass slippers and devotion to good deeds, Sophie knows she'll earn top marks at the School for Good and join the ranks of past students like Cinderella, Rapunzel, and Snow White. Meanwhile, Agatha, with her shapeless black frocks and wicked black cat, seems a natural fit for the villains in the School for Evil.

The two girls soon find their fortunes reversed—Sophie's dumped in the School for Evil to take Uglification, Death Curses, and Henchmen Training, while Agatha finds herself in the School for Good, thrust among handsome princes and fair maidens for classes in Princess Etiquette and Animal Communication.

But what if the mistake is actually the first clue to discovering who Sophie and Agatha really are . . . ?

The School for Good and Evil is an epic journey into a dazzling new world, where the only way out of a fairy tale is to live through one.

Press Release: The Brainery Workshop Summer 2016 Registrations Now Open Including Science Fiction Fairy Tales

Press Release: The Brainery Workshop Summer 2016 Registrations Now Open
Press Contact: Jilly Dreadful, jillydreadful at gmail.com
The Brainery Workshop, which hosts online creative writing classes focused exclusively on speculative fiction, is pleased to announce that Summer 2016 Workshop registration is now live. We're offering two classes this summer—Sci-Fi Fairy Tales and Short Fiction—as well as two Master Class Roundtable Sessions with John Joseph Adams and Silvia Moreno-Garcia. Workshops for Science Fiction Fairy Tales begin the week of July 3 and the workshops for Short Fiction begin the week of July 10. Class meeting times are based on student availability. Visit  http://www.transmography.net/brainery/syllabus-schedule/  to learn more and sign up.
Workshop DetailsScience Fiction Fairy Tales, taught by Jilly Dreadful, Ph.D., and Carina Bissett, is a hypoxic-style workshop designed to push students to challenge themselves as writers and to question the conventions and limits of what it means to remix fairy tales in modern ways. This is a generative writing workshop where students consider a different fairy tale and science theme pairing—such as Donkeyskin and biohacking—and remix it using experimental methods. Students will write (on average) 750-1500 words weekly, as well as discuss each other’s work.URLhttp://www.transmography.net/brainery/syllabus-schedule/scififairytales-summer2016/
Short Fiction, taught by Valerie Valdes, and Jerome Stueart, Ph.D., is a workshop designed for speculative fiction writers looking to produce submission-ready short fiction in the form of flash fiction, short stories or standalone novel excerpts. Participants will deepen their theory and practice through the discussion of course readings, a continually evolving feedback loop from the instructor and classmates, as well as the kind of accountability that a community of peers can provide. Writers work on three submissions during the program: two new and/or original works, up to 7500 words in length, a revision of one of the two previously submitted pieces.URLhttp://www.transmography.net/brainery/shortfictionsummer2016/
Master Class Roundtable SessionsEvery writer enrolled in The Brainery will have the opportunity to attend 60 – 90 minute roundtable sessions and ask questions of special guests. All Master Classes are recorded and made available to students. This semester's speakers include:
John Joseph Adams, two-time Hugo Winner, is the series editor of Best American Science Fiction & Fantasy, as well as the editor and publisher of the digital magazines Lightspeed and Nightmare.
Silvia Moreno-Garcia's novel, Signal to Noise, is a Locus finalist and Aurora nominee, and she has edited several anthologies, including Dead North and She Walks in Shadows, and Nightmare's POC Destroy Horror October 2016 issue.
About The Brainery
The Brainery is an online creative writing workshop focused exclusively on speculative fiction--magical realism, fantasy, science fiction, horror, weird tales, slipstream, steampunk, and the like--as an artistic discipline worthy of theory and practice. The courses offer an intense practicum in speculative fiction similar to a traditional graduate-level quality fiction workshop. Instruction concentrates on understanding and implementing writing craft, such as characterization, point of view, narrative structure, style, and voice, in the specific context of spec-fic.
All of the Brainery's courses are designed for new and early career writers. People who are ready to make writing a part of daily life, ready to give themselves permission to give their writing space and time to develop, and who have a desire to publish fiction in professional markets. Although classes are designed with a flexible schedule in mind, students are expected to commit to the same standards as expected of graduate-level creative writing courses, including: deadlines, feedback, and accountability.
Students participating in The Brainery must also be committed to a spirit of community development and support.
URL
http://www.thebrainery.net

Bargain Ebook: Shadow and Bone (The Grisha Book 1) by Leigh Bardugo

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The highly recommended--by other readers--Shadow and Bone (The Grisha Book 1) by Leigh Bardugo is on sale for $2.99 in ebook format. It is not a retelling of a particular fairy tale but uses many folklore elements, primarily Russian folklore to build its world and story.

Book description:

Surrounded by enemies, the once-great nation of Ravka has been torn in two by the Shadow Fold, a swath of near impenetrable darkness crawling with monsters who feast on human flesh. Now its fate may rest on the shoulders of one lonely refugee.

Alina Starkov has never been good at anything. But when her regiment is attacked on the Fold and her best friend is brutally injured, Alina reveals a dormant power that saves his life—a power that could be the key to setting her war-ravaged country free. Wrenched from everything she knows, Alina is whisked away to the royal court to be trained as a member of the Grisha, the magical elite led by the mysterious Darkling.

Yet nothing in this lavish world is what it seems. With darkness looming and an entire kingdom depending on her untamed power, Alina will have to confront the secrets of the Grisha…and the secrets of her heart.

New Book Bargain: Roses and Rot by Kat Howard for $1.99

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Roses and Rot by Kat Howard is on sale in ebook format for $1.99 for a limited time, down from $7.99.

From my earlier post about the book a few weeks ago:

Roses and Rot by Kat Howard is a new May release. This isn't a fairy tale retelling, but a faerie book. I don't track all of those on the blog, but when one gains my interest and notice, I share it here. This one reminded me a bit of Tam Lin and has an interesting premise but I haven't read it myself yet. It is also getting some considerable hype.

Book description:

Publishers Weekly Best Sci-Fi/Fantasy/Horror Novel of Summer 2016

“Captivating, fiercely smart (about sisters, artists), utterly transporting. I read it so consumingly, it was more akin to swallowing it whole. Not to be missed.” —Megan Abbott, Edgar-winning author of The Fever and You Will Know Me

“Kat Howard seems to possess a magic of her own, of making characters come alive and scenery so vivid, you forget it exists only on the page. Roses and Rot is both beautiful and dark, lovely, and haunting." —Anton Bogomazov, Politics and Prose Bookstore

“A contemporary dark fantasy full of dark magic, the hidden traps of fairy tales, and painful humanity. I loved every page.” —Christopher Golden, New York Times bestselling author of Dead Ringers

Imogen and her sister Marin escape their cruel mother to attend a prestigious artists’ retreat, but soon learn that living in a fairy tale requires sacrifices, whether it be art or love in this haunting debut novel from “a remarkable young writer” (Neil Gaiman).

What would you sacrifice for everything you ever dreamed of?

Imogen has grown up reading fairy tales about mothers who die and make way for cruel stepmothers. As a child, she used to lie in bed wishing that her life would become one of these tragic fairy tales because she couldn’t imagine how a stepmother could be worse than her mother now. As adults, Imogen and her sister Marin are accepted to an elite post-grad arts program—Imogen as a writer and Marin as a dancer. Soon enough, though, they realize that there’s more to the school than meets the eye. Imogen might be living in the fairy tale she’s dreamed about as a child, but it’s one that will pit her against Marin if she decides to escape her past to find her heart’s desire.

New: Beauty and the Beast by Mahlon F. Craft and Kinuko Y. Craft

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Beauty and the Beast by Mahlon F. Craft (Author) and Kinuko Y. Craft (Illustrator) is officially released next month on July 26, 2016. Yay! A favorite illustrator illustrating my favorite tale. Yay yay yay!

I have illustrations to share, which are from the book, but these images are from the 2017 calendar--Beauty and the Beast 2017 Fairy Tale Wall Calendar--derived from the book which is available right now and may sell out since these calendars tend to do so. So I am sharing the book and the calendar now. In case you want both.


Book description:

Award-winning team Mahlon and Kinuko Craft bring us a gorgeous and vivid retelling of the classic story of Beauty and the Beast in this stunningly illustrated picture book.

The tale is as old as time: A man steals a rose from the garden of a beast. His beautiful daughter sacrifices herself to a life in the beast’s castle to protect her father. The beast and the girl fall in love and live happily ever after…

This beloved tale is captured with lyrical prose and lavish illustration. In the spirit of the Crafts’ previous collaborations, their acclaimed fairy-tale retellings of Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty, this timeless tale is brought to life with sumptuous paintings and ornamental detail in this lush picture book to be cherished at story time again and again.

Bargain Ebook: Winter by Marissa Meyer for $2.99 TODAY ONLY

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Winter by Marissa Meyer is on sale in ebook format, today only, for $2.99. This is the first time it has been on sale at this low of a price. It is well worth the full price I paid for it, but if you don't have it yet, this is your chance to get it for a great price!

Book description:

The #1 New York Times Bestselling Series!

Princess Winter is admired by the Lunar people for her grace and kindness, and despite the scars that mar her face, her beauty is said to be even more breathtaking than that of her stepmother, Queen Levana.

Winter despises her stepmother, and knows Levana won't approve of her feelings for her childhood friend--the handsome palace guard, Jacin. But Winter isn't as weak as Levana believes her to be and she's been undermining her stepmother's wishes for years. Together with the cyborg mechanic, Cinder, and her allies, Winter might even have the power to launch a revolution and win a war that's been raging for far too long.

Can Cinder, Scarlet, Cress, and Winter defeat Levana and find their happily ever afters? Fans will not want to miss this thrilling conclusion to Marissa Meyer's national bestselling Lunar Chronicles series.

Bargain Ebook: The Great Hunt by Wendy Higgins for $3.99

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The Great Hunt by Wendy Higgins is on sale for $3.99 in ebook format. This was just released a few months ago and was priced about double this previously for ebook.

From my earlier post upon its release:

I am really excited with this one--I haven't read it yet, don't even have a copy--but it retells a lesser known Grimm tale, The Singing Bone.

The Singing Bone falls into ATU 780 and has several variations. I haven't annotated this on SurLaLune although it has been on my consideration list for years. The tale has been retold by modern authors a few times in short fiction and poetry in the last three decades, but not often--if ever--in novel length.

You can see a list of folklore variations of ATU 780 on D. L. Ashliman's site at The Singing Bone, too.

The book will be part of a duology, The Eurona Duology, so there will be more to come, too from Higgins.

Book description:

Wendy Higgins, the author of the New York Times bestselling Sweet Evil series, reimagines a classic Brothers Grimm fairy tale with The Great Hunt, a dramatic, romance-filled fantasy with rugged hunters, romantic tension, and a princess willing to risk all to save her kingdom.

When a monstrous beast attacks in Eurona, desperate measures must be taken. The king sends a proclamation to the best and bravest hunters: whoever kills the creature will win the hand of his daughter Princess Aerity as a reward. The princess recognizes her duty but cannot bear the idea of marrying a stranger—she was meant to marry for love—until a brooding local hunter, Paxton Seabolt, catches her attention. And while there’s no denying the fiery chemistry between them, Princess Aerity feels that Paxton’s mysteriousness is foreboding, maybe even dangerous.

Paxton is not the marrying type. Nor does he care much for spoiled royals and their arcane laws. He is determined to keep his focus on the task at hand—ridding the kingdom of the beast—but the princess continues to surprise him, and the secrets he’s buried begin to surface against his wishes.