PSA: Fairies are scary, not cute.
Feb 18, 2024 1:52 pm
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Dear reader,
As you know, it was Valentine's Day last week, and (like any self-respecting high school teacher) I did my darnedest to spoil the whole hormonal affair for my kids.
We discussed its pagan roots to Roman Lupercalia (you should look that crap up), and I mentioned the origins of a very familiar symbol to the stylized silphium pod stamped onto the ancient coins of Cyrene (definitely look that up). You know. Important stuff like that.
But, all my efforts to turn the cute and romantic into something awkward and horrifying were grossly over-shadowed. You see, as fate would have it, a traveling troupe a Shakespeare enthusiasts came to our school that same week. And what did they perform for Valentine's Day? A Midsummer Night's Dream.
I understand it's probably been a hot minute since you last imbibed the Bard's archaic prose, but you should give Midsummer another glance. It is absolutely horrifying. It's got kidnapped children replaced with changelings, despotic kings threatening execution for refusing to marry, and a capricious fae court stripping mortals of their wits and will.
It's freaking righteous.
So righteous, in fact, that it's got me craving some more scary faerie tales. I'm not talking about that sugar plum, Tinkerbell, Fern Gully stuff. I'm talking Pan's Labyrinth, or the gentleman with thistledown hair from Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell.
Shoot me an email with your best recommendations. Once I finish Sum of Ages: Book Four, I think I'm going to take a quick palette-cleansing break to finish up my own fae novel. I need to do a scary faerie deep-dive to study up.
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We have a couple of free short stories this month: The Boy and the Dragon and Trollsbane, available when you subscribe to their respective authors' newsletters.
And for our Amazon readers, check out The Watcher Tower by Troy Hooker:
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Thanks for reading, friends! I hope you had a charming Lupercal--I mean Valentine's Day,
Ben Schwarting
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My Books:
The Sum of Ages Series is available from a variety of retailers
Kindred Straits is available from a variety of retailers
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