Publication News: "Mr. Fauntleroy's Flying Family"

Admittedly, I haven't been struck by the blog muse this month. The only part of my life that seemed even remotely blog-worthy was that the summer rainy season has hit Florida - but I talk about the weather all the time. Surely you don't want to hear about how, for two weeks straight, the rain clouds stalked my car and unloaded only when I was one street away from reaching home.

I starting watching Dominion  if only for the world-building and Tom Wisdom's portrayl of everyone's favorite archangel, haha. Catching up with Sherlock, Doctor Who, and MST3K as well. And slowly making my way through the stack of books stacked underneath my bedside table. Then there's work. My job's been getting pretty exciting, but until I get comfy with my new role, I've been buried in manuals and training.

After a month of not much writing, not much blogging, and itchy eyes from staring at the computer at work (oh, and one paper cut), I'm thrilled to say that Gingerbread House, an online literary magazine that publishes poetry and fiction with magical elements, has just launched their 7th issue today... and one of my stories is in there: "Mr. Fauntleroy's Flying Family."

The coolest part about being published in Gingerbread House is that each piece is accompanied by artwork. Even cooler? The artwork used for my story was specifically created for the magazine by artist Natalia Pierandrei. Natalia's artwork is gorgeous; I can't express how honored and fangirly I felt when I first clicked on my story's page and saw a mysterious, melancholic harpy guarding her eggs (Georgina, for sure).

"Mr. Fauntleroy's Flying Family" is a favorite of mine. I have a thing for birds as a writer - I'll never get sick of writing about them, same as with stars, hearts, and other ethereal (and kind of creepy) things. Mr. Fauntleroy's quiet hope for a human child, despite loving the family he has, struck home with me the minute he tentatively stepped into my head. After a few years of trying to find this story a home, I'm so happy that Gingerbread House was the right place.


How has June been treating you? Any epic thunderstorms?  

My Hair Looks Just Like Starlight

No more cakes.

My birthday came and went. I’m another year older, and have surely accumulated grey hair. I’m one step closer to my goal of looking like Sophie from Howl’s Moving Castle.

Since I have a job, my poor friend, the Wii Board, has been missing my company. I didn’t get to weigh-in and receive my birthday congrats like last year. My work day had been pretty exciting though, because some sneaky friends left a small balloon on my desk, alerting everyone in the vicinity (and here I thought it was going to be an uneventful day!). I ate enough sweets to lose my appetite for my birthday cake when I got home, just barely managing a sliver of it.

My birthday marks the beginning of summer here in good old Florida. And that means thunderstorms. I spent Friday evening in my beloved velvet chair, listening to the rain run down my window. A stack of books at my side. The lights from my tree-like IKEA lamp casting a gentle glow on the otherwise darkened room.

I savored the quiet. In mere moments, Misty would come running in with her chew toy, begging for a tug-of-war battle. The cake would emerge from the fridge, the birthday cards all on display on the kitchen table, and a wish burning underneath my tongue.

All of that happened. And I swore off dessert of any kind.

Okay.

For at least a few hours.

Now that I’m a year older and wiser… well, I feel much the same, actually. But underneath it all, part of me knows that there are new doors to be opened. New opportunities. New friends. New experiences.

Isn’t that what birthdays are for? They mark the time Before and After, and the After always looks brighter when you’ve celebrated with the people you love.

Frozen, Retellings, and Mother's Day

As the grand finale to an entire weekend celebrating Mother’s Day, Mom and I sat back and watched both Frozen and Tangled. The two movies, paired together, made perfect sense, especially because I love the theory connecting Anna, Elsa, and Rapunzel together. I don’t really care if it isn’t true. It’s fun to think about.  

Anywho, I love both movies. I think that Tangled’s animation is more polished, but the music in Frozen is delightfully addicting.

However, I’m also a huge fairy tale fan and some things just sort of… bother me. I’m always in search of new retellings, whether in film or book form, and when I was poking around Goodreads, looking at Snow Queen retellings, I found a review that said something like this:

“… if you want a good retelling of the Snow Queen, watch Frozen.”

WHAT.

I cannot agree with this.

Because I think it’s fairly obvious that Frozen is not a retelling.

When rumors of the new movie were floating around, all signs pointed to the news that Disney was going to retell Hans Christian Andersen’s fairy tale, “The Snow Queen.” And I was thrilled. It’s a long, strange tale full of danger, longing, and hope trapped in ice. Gerda is one of the strongest fairy tale characters I’ve ever read, and I wanted badly to watch her entire journey unfold on the big screen.

But as (most) of us know, the movie took a completely different turn and is, truly, its own film. Frozen is Frozen. No retelling in sight.

Even with a time crunch, clever editing, and the combining of minor characters, it would be difficult to fit “The Snow Queen” into a feature-length film. That’s why most retellings for “The Snow Queen” come in mini-series form (I’ll get to that later).

If you’ve never read the original, what are you doing? You’ll need some time, but it will be well worth the read.

There are a few characters that you’d need for a legit retelling of “The Snow Queen.” I was about to make a list, except that I while I was surfing the internet during my lunch break, I found some great articles… and someone who said it better than me, by far:

"There is the Snow Queen herself, a formidable villain who’s power is treated with respect. There is Kai’s grandmother, who provides an essential catalyst to Gerda’s journey. There is the old witch woman with the enchanted garden who functions as a threshold guardian for Gerda while being characterized in a respectful manner that serves as a good subversion of the old witch trope. There is a female crow who knows how to sneak into palaces, a helpful princess who heads a side plot in which she will only marry a prince as intelligent as her (!!!), a robber and her daughter, head of a band of robbers who kidnap Gerda. The daughter is a spunky, knife wielding girl who befriends Gerda and aids her on her way. And finally, there are two women, the latter of whom helps Gerda understand the inherent power she has always had within her, a power that will ultimately save her friend, and the world."

The only characters The Feminist Fangirl fails to mention in here is Kay / Kai and the reindeer. With good reason. The point of her article is much different than my blog post. If you know me, you know I love a good story where a boy needs rescuing. My heart pounds every time I reach the moment when the Snow Queen steals Kai away. He's already damaged by then, after having absorbed poisonous shards in his eye and heart, turning him into a cold, cruel boy.

(SOUNDS LIKE HANS. MAYBE. I need to stop with the theories that may or may not make great Frozen sequel ideas).

Danger looms in the world because people have absorbed the mirror shards (mistaken for snow), but Gerda’s journey takes her beyond her home and into a place where crows talk, princesses read newspapers on pearl-thrones, and robber-girls can be persuaded to help you if you know what to say. Gerda’s love for Kai never wavers, even though she is severely tested by those she meets.

I could probably keep going, haha. Depending upon the ages picked or a retelling, Gerda and Kai’s love may just be friendship, or blossoming into something more.

Frozen is more about sisterly bonds, not marrying the first guy you meet, learning to embrace what makes you unique instead of hiding it away. While all fine lessons and great story material, it cannot be compared to Gerda’s journey.

Now then, before I switch gears, I’ll share my two favorite film adaptations of “The Snow Queen,” in case you’re looking for something that actually follows Anderson’s tale (you should). 

The Snow Queen (2002)

My most favorite adaptation. Yep. Hands down. And Hallmark Entertainment made it. This is a mini-series, allowing us plenty of time to get to know Gerda, Kai, and even the Queen herself. Four things I love about this series:

1)        Gerda and Kai’s relationship is romantic. What can I say? I’m a shipper. They are both teenagers in this version; Kai loves Gerda, but she’s still mourning over her mother’s death to notice her own feelings for him. But just as they start to come together, the Snow Queen strikes.

2)       The mini-series follows both Gerda’s journey and Kai’s, which is a first. Instead of being stuck doing nothing, Kai searches for a way out of the ice palace, tries to fend off the Snow Queen and avoid completing the mirror puzzle, and strikes up a shaky truce with the Snow Queen’s guard – a polar bear.

3)       The world Gerda travels through is sectioned off into seasons. There’s the Spring Witch (the same one, in the original, that tries to trap Gerda in her cozy cottage), the Summer Princess (a new version of the pearl-throne princess), and the Autumn Robber (the old robber woman, mother of the robber-girl). All three are the Snow Queen’s sisters, desperate to maintain their respective seasons despite the Snow Queen’s growing dominance.

4)       Most of the characters have interesting backstories, filling out Anderson’s fairy tale without distorting it too much. Everyone’s motivations are clear. Their actions have purpose. My favorite, of course, is finding out what drives the polar bear’s loyalty to the Snow Queen.

The Snow Queen (2005)

The second is, uh, pretty bizarre, but even more accurate to the original.  Made by the BBC, The Snow Queen is a blending of operatic songs with major CGI tricks that form to create disorienting and beautiful settings. Truthfully, this was a hard one to watch the first time (I mean it when I say the style is disorienting), but it grows on you. Certain scenes exude magic, and the showdown between Gerda and the Snow Queen is exciting. 

It’s hot outside. Freezing inside (I think I’m sitting underneath five air vents in my cubicle). Despite wishing I could wear a parka at work, my mind isn’t on the cold. 

Or so I thought. 

I've got my own retelling of "The Snow Queen" languishing on my computer. At 45k, just short of a novel-length manuscript, Tread Softly had been on Figment.com for a while before I took it down, polished and sent it out, etc. Thinking about Frozen started a chain reaction, I suppose, and I started skimming Tread Softly for my own versions of the princess, Gerda, the crows, and the reindeer. To see exactly what I did with Andersen's beautiful fairy tale.

Brrr. Now I really need to burrow under a blanket. Too bad it's May. 

Publication News: Cantilevers

For me, April was like trying to stuff sweaters into a dresser drawer. You hope for space, for future sweaters, but the current ones you own won’t have it. Your sweaters expand their chests and stretch out, refusing to let you close the drawer all the way.

I’m typically not a busy person in the sense that I have to get in the car and go do things. Weeknights are for exercising and relaxing. Weekends are for catching up on sleep, plotting stories, and the occasional outing. But not this month.

April grabbed me by the shoulders and sang loudly in my ear, declaring that my life this month would be full of adventure. When my MFA pals read their theses in a small graduation ceremony, I was there, trying not to sniffle with pride in the audience. I got autographs from voice actors and bought way too much Sailor Moon merch at a local anime convention. A new friend from work whisked me away on a Friday afternoon for Hibachi, the both of us ignoring the traffic jams and crazy drivers for the sake of good food and a show.

But probably the most epic event this month had to be going to my alma mater, Florida Southern College, as the Guest Author for their literary journal.

You might remember the post I wrote a while back about what I learned by serving as a fiction editor on two literary journals. In my undergraduate years, I climbed from being a staffer to the literary editor of Cantilevers: Journal of the Arts.

Being invited back years later as Guest Author was surreal. Something like coming full circle. My days of introducing Cantilevers’ Guest Authors and Poets are over. Being on the other side was just… amazing.

The Unveiling Ceremony took place on a Tuesday night. I was in the basement of the new English building, one that I hadn’t had the pleasure of using before graduating (though, as nice as the new building is, I’m glad I took my classes in the old one. It had undeniable character, haha).

Getting to see some of my old professors was amazing. And a little tearful. Going to college was my first time being away from home, and FSC’s English Department was like a second family to me. Even though my old friends and fellow students had long since graduated, the current students were delightful. I loved the energy and excitement at the event. I can’t explain, even now, how immediately comfortable I felt when I walked up to the podium to read my published short story. It was like being at home. I guess this is what school spirit feels like, haha.

Being Guest Author meant that I got to judge best poetry and best prose in this year’s issue. It also meant submitting a story of my own to be published. I had written a new story for Cantilevers called “Elsewhere,” inspired by Victorian post-mortem photography and mermen.

You’re probably not surprised.

I was actually inspired by a particular photo of two sisters. The one standing in the photo is dead. I was curious about the dead sister, of course, but the story only came when I considered the living sister’s feelings. How did it feel to pose next to her dead sister? What did she think of her sister when she was alive? But there always has to be some magic, so you’ll find stolen pearls and a fishy vagrant thrown into the tale.

Cantilevers is only printed and distributed for FSC students at this time, but I’m sure you can see this story again. One day… or else squint really hard at the picture to see the beginning, haha.

The best part of the night was getting to talk with the students. Honestly, hearing that they loved the story, along with sharing some healthy geeking out about magical realism and Eisley, kept a smile on my face for the rest of the week.

Having studied the craft of fiction in grad school, I find myself at war with the lessons I learned in academia and what the “real world” is looking for in good (sellable, perhaps) fiction. Even as I was reading “Elsewhere,” my MFA brain was chattering and poking holes wherever it could. So when I got to talk with the students afterward, I was both in awe and thrilled by their kind words and enthusiasm for my story.

The goal is always to become a stronger writer, to tell my stories better. While my MFA program did wonderful things for me and my growth as a writer, the truth is that lessons come from everywhere.

Some lessons lead you to a better way of writing, while others are here to remind you that, yes, you’re doing it right. Relax. Fall in love again with whatever you’re writing and don’t let your inner editor rob you of that.

In other news, April’s minutes and hours have been sucked up by moving. Every evening, I’d come home from work, pack more stuff from my old room into boxes, and shuttle it over to the new house. Me and ‘rents have chosen to move into a cozier house; it’s much smaller, but has a lot of character and charm – something that the old house lacked, for all its space.

The movers finally came this week, so the past two days have been a whirlwind of shifting furniture around and finding new places for everything. Since I couldn’t rest unless all my books were shelved (or on the floor next to my bed – I’m not that neat), I tore open our boxes and ended up getting all my books shelved during the first night in the new house. And then my mom and I finished reshelving her books in the library the next day. Nothing says “finished” like books all back where they belong. Once that was done, the rest of the house came together.

When I said the house has character, I meant it. My parents are obsessed with non-colors and I had been living in a sea of eggshell-white for far too long. So my new room is my favorite shade of blue: a powdery, hazy lake-like blue. And with my white furniture, the combined effect makes me feel like I’m stepping into some enchanted space. I can’t wait to write stories here.

Disney's Flower & Garden Festival 2014

There's nothing more rewarding after finishing a big project than celebrating its completion in style. Thankfully, Disney always has something fun planned this time of year: Epcot's Flower & Garden Festival.

Epcot typically has a lot of flowers all year round, but the festival paints the entire park in vibrant colors (and mosquitoes, due to the sudden change to hot weather).

The topiaries are the stars of the festival, though they usually remain the same every year (which is why I only have the Muppets one pictured here - in honor of the epic movie that just came out, Muppets Most Wanted).

The newest addition to the festival is multiple tiny gardens throughout Epcot, each with a different theme - either from a Disney / Pixar movie or learning experience. I took a photo of the Gardener's Palette on the bottom left, focusing on color theories and language. It was probably my favorite of the gardens.

The Festival Center was abuzz with presentations from gardeners and plant life geniuses, including HGTV stars (in theory. I wasn't there on those days, haha). The four photos on the right were taken in the Festival Center; in the space where the Food & Wine Festival shows off chocolate sculptures, this festival presents a pint-sized history of Disney Horticulture. Not as interesting as chocolate, but still pretty cool.

Another new thing: the Flower & Garden Festival has FOOD. Guys. Guys. Guys. Instead of booths, they're called "Outdoor Kitchens." And the food, as a whole, was fantastic. Apparently, Disney started the outdoor kitchens last year... and I somehow missed it. WHAT. I chalk it up the stress of my impending graduation last year. March-May is always a weird time.

And where there are booths / outdoor kitchens, there will be passport stamps. And I collected them all! HERE WE GO:

(Left to Right: Festival Center; Gardener's Palette; Mater's Parts, Plants & Play Garden; Garden Retreat; Mike & Sulley's Monstrous Garden; Water Wise Herbs and Vegetables; Pineapple Promenade; Merry Meadows Outpost; Buttercup Cottage; English Tea Garden; Fleur de Lys; Backyard Play Garden; Taste of Marrakesh, Hanami; The Smokehouse: Barbecue and Brews; Primavera Kitchen; Florida Fresh; Lotus House; Jardin de Fiestas; Urban Farm EATS) 

Food I Ate:

The food was great for the strange fluctuating weather as Florida jerkily transitions into its usual intense hot weather. The food offered stayed on the cool size, either chilled or naturally refreshing with fruits and veggies. Ever since I heard about the outdoor kitchens, I'd been dying for violet lemonade - I can't describe how perfect it was. The candied strawberries peppered with sesame seeds made candy apples pale in comparison. And the Shiso violet sauce used with the Hanami sushi is divine. To the point where I'd fight an army of bridge trolls for a bottle (ohhhh, I hope Disney sells it someday. It seems to be an exclusive festival creation).

The only real disappointment was the Caprese push-up pop... because it was tiny/ Even Oleander from Flour House wouldn't be able to make a meal of it. Yikes. 

Ghost Pepper-Dusted Tilapia with Crisp Winter Melon Slaw and Mint Oil

Urban Farm EATS

Shrimp and Stone Ground Grits with Andouille Sausage, Sweet Corn, Tomatoes, and Cilantro

Florida Fresh

Beijing-Style Candied Strawberries

Lotus House

*My Favorite*

Hanami Sushi (A flavorful combination of salmon, scallop, and beef topped rice balls served with a Shiso Violet Sauce)

Hanami

*My Favorite*

Popped Rice Cakes (Japanese puffed rice cakes with green tea whipped cream and azuki)

Hanami

Freshly Baked Potato and Cheddar Cheese Biscuit with Smoked Salmon Tartare

Buttercup Cottage

*My Favorite*

Frozen Desert Violet Lemonade

Pineapple Promenade

*My Favorite*

Caprese Push-Up Pop (Tomato, mozzarella, and balsamic)

Intermissions Cafe, Festival Center

Pork and Apple Sausage Roll with House-Made Piccalilli 

Buttercup Cottage

Macaron a la Fleur d'Oranger (Orange blossom macaron with white chocolate ganache)

Fleur de Lys

*My Favorite*

Little German Village:

German's little train village is usually decorated a bit for each festival, and the Flower & Garden Festival is no different. The main area has lampposts with festival banners hanging from them.

You can see the flower stands and people either relaxing on benches or busy doing... things. Like walking. 

Okay. So not as exciting as the mini booths during the Food & Wine Festival. BUT I'm sure that the decorations will be expanded in the future. I expect to see a lot more little flowers and gardens throughout the village next year. 

I keep a special eye on one corner of the village, where a church sits on top of a hill. The figurines throughout the village do change from time to time, but I've grown attached to the characters in this section because they've changed the most over the years I've gone to Disney. So imagine my surprise when I saw the nun, fallen on the pathway still in her sitting position! She's never been dislodged before. Which led me to wonder exactly what devilish thing has caused her to collapse (maybe the push-up pop, haha!).