'The Book of Lost Princes' and Oscar Wilde

I once owned a collection of Oscar Wilde's short stories, which were primarily his original fairy tales. It was one of those books I loved to pieces (still do, really) despite collapsing in a puddle of tears after every story. 

this wasn't the volume I owned, but you get the idea

"The Happy Prince", "The Selfish Giant", "The Nightingale and the Rose", and "The Birthday of the Infanta" were the ones that tore me up again and again, yet I couldn't help (still can't, really) going back to them repeatedly because of how different they were from the older folktales we're all so familiar with. They're complex, they dive much deeper, and they deal with more adult themes in several ways -- "The Nightingale and the Rose" and "The Birthday of the Infanta" are examples of the last item. The other two stories are more child-friendly, if you will.

I was inspired primarily by that collection of stories, wondering if I could write my own fairy tales in a longer form. I wanted to do something that one-ups The Winter Garden and Other Stories, which is a collection of short stories that are also original fairy tales. 

The stories in this book were originally published individually when I was still working with a small press, and then three of them were bound into an anthology. Ansel of Pryor House was published way after that, and when I got my rights back, I decided to re-release everything in one volume. 

I heavily leaned on symbolism and metaphor in these stories, which all deal with self-acceptance, confidence, and courage. Similar themes as those tackled in my other fairy tale anthology, but I gave myself way more room to explore them here as these stories are all novelettes and short novellas. My original plan was to write a series of fairy tale anthologies containing longer forms but never got around to doing that. 

Only one story -- Benedict -- received the musical treatment, if you will. I listened to Carl Orff's "Gassenhauer" repeatedly when I wrote this story. 

It does have a fairy tale-esque quality to it. 

The Book of Lost Princes is currently 50% off in digital format through the end of November. Go here for a list of stores for a copy. 

Double Whammy: 'The Twilight Lover' Now Available and November Backlist Bonanza

New month, new stuff! Also a couple of not-quite-new stuff, hey! So firstly, it's finally out:

In the fairy tale-like and colorful town of Glossop lies a small graveyard guarded by an ancient yew. Residents have long resigned themselves to its existence, with the poorer ones forced to trek through its dreary space just to get to work each day.

For little Rowan Linville, the mysterious graveyard is both a necessary ordeal for his parents and a strange place where something in the shadows whispers after him. Something that might also be behind a number of personal items Rowan's lost in his occasional walks through the graveyard in his mother's company. As he grows older, those whispers follow him, and boys his age intent upon courting him suddenly fall victim to all kinds of misfortunes. Illness, broken bones, sprained limbs, and odd accidents plague hopeful suitors until Rowan is saddled with the reputation of a cursed youth.

Hope stirs at the arrival of the Akker family and their younger son, the dashing Tennyson, who is immediately drawn to Rowan. A couple of chance glimpses of the lonely boy stir Tennyson's artistic muse and lay the foundation for a future courtship that seems to come straight out of a Shakespearean comedy—and tragedy, for that matter.

That is because the entity that has attached itself to Rowan is not at all pleased with this new suitor, and it will do anything to keep him away. Unfortunately for the ghost of an embittered man, it appears it has met its match in a determined and ridiculously smitten rival. 

I had way too much fun writing this book, and with any luck, I'll be able to enjoy another dip in the nutty pool in future books. For a behind-the-scenes look, go here for the book's gallery page. The Twilight Lover is available for 99 cents in e-book format and $9.00 USD in print. Go here for the main book page and the links to bookstores. 

This book also marks the end of my 4-month release calendar. From 2026 onward, I'll be publishing two books a year following a 6-month calendar to ensure I don't burn myself out (especially given the ridiculous pace I've been following for years now). Time to slow down and take care of those gray cells and keep inspiration going. 

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And secondly, we have a couple of books on the block for this month's Backlist Bonanza:

The Book of Lost Princes

"Outside, on the bough of a tree, sat the living nightingale. She had heard of the emperor's illness, and was therefore come to sing to him of hope and trust. And as she sung, the shadows grew paler and paler."

- Hans Christian Andersen, "The Nightingale"

A marionette, a weeping willow, a house shade, and a lonely, abused boy - there are more to them than what meets the eye.

Written in a style reminiscent of classic European folktales, the four original fairy tale novellas in this collection explore a gay teen's coming-of-age in settings steeped in magic, wonder, romance, and infinite possibilities.

In Benedict, a marionette is given a strange puzzle to solve during the king's quarter dance. A cursed tree finds salvation in the love of a homeless, ragged boy in The Weeping Willow. In Grave's End, a house shade learns what it means to be human. And in Ansel of Pryor House, a boy rescued from his abusive father discovers the darker fate marked for those whom Nature refuses to forgive.

Rose and Spindle

Boy meets boy. Boy hates boy. Each swears never to have anything to do with the other, forever after.

Unfortunately for Prince Hamlin and Prince Edouard, history has a bad habit of repeating itself, and worse, each time the two boys run across each other, things get a touch muddier as well. Destiny and free will go head-to-head, the princes' dilemma echoing the more baffling curse that's been placed on Edouard's young cousin, Princess Roderika. Doomed to prick her finger on a spindle on her fifteenth birthday and fall asleep for a hundred years as a result, Roderika's rapidly dwindling time becomes an inescapable tapestry into which Hamlin and Edouard's own fates are woven.

With the help of a magician princess and a crotchety talking raven, Hamlin and Edouard not only have to outgrow prejudices, but also find the courage and the will to define their destinies, even if it were to take them a hundred years.

Both books are 50% off in e-book format for the month of November. Click the book titles to go to their respective pages for online stores. And if you do purchase copies for yourself, I hope you enjoy them! I'll be posting more about these two in the coming weeks.  

 

 

Shifting Gears (the Usual)

After writing 10K words on Doppelgänger, I had to rename the file, store it for possible later use, and start over. It happens. It sucks when it does, but I've learned not to fight it.

I couldn't make it work in a contemporary setting despite all of the notes I've amassed while working on the previous book. It's likely (most likely) a case of overthinking on my part because no matter what I did, I couldn't make events work in a contemporary setting while keeping things realistic within reason. 

And this is why I admire writers of contemporary fiction: I find that I keep resisting reality when I try, and I know it's not going to sit well with readers if none of my characters or cause-and-effect events are believable. My imagination takes flight, and when I go back and reread whatever sections I've written so far, my "modern day" side would point out places that won't work in the real world. 

Ignore the fact that since I write gothic horror, there'll be several things in the story that'll be highly implausible. However, what's happening is the way all those elements bleed into the rest of the scene / setting / characters. My plan was to make it something like "domestic gothic" or something along those lines, so the horror elements are supposed to be subtle and scattered. 

But I can't make it work because I'm me. 😑

So!

New file opened, new version started, and I'm back to square one with one chapter written. I'm sitting on it for the rest of the work week and checking it here and there to see if I'll still feel satisfied with the results, which I am, btw. So we're back to a historical fantasy with some subtle hints of magical elements worked into the story. I mean -- I love the idea of hexed lamps or hexed this and that (see: the Curiosities collection). You can say that I'm still mourning the loss of Eidolon and wishing I could do more for the series, but it is what it is, and I should keep moving forward. 

The story's the same as the original draft, but there are (of course) subtle tweaks because of the sharp change in setting. As with my other historical fantasy books, this one will be a mix of historical fiction and folklore, but (with any luck) it'll be closer to a straightforward historical.  

'Henning' (Omnibus) and a Love Letter

Henning was originally released as a two-volume series but is in an omnibus in its final edition. This book was one of my most sentimental projects, I'll have to say. One of my former co-workers had died from cancer -- this happened way after I left the company -- and he was, hands down, my favorite co-worker at that place. 

When I learned about his death, it took me a while to wrap my head around it considering the time gap between that and the last day we worked together. He was one of those people who left a lasting impression in me that I still cherish to this day. Herbert was one of the kindest and humblest people I've ever known, and he was a ridiculously talented artist to boot. 

A lot of his mannerisms found their way in the book, scattered among the characters. And as I write Doppelgänger, I'm finding myself leaning once again on the memory of my time working with him, this time inspired by the really tight bond I didn't realize I needed then. He was like the quiet and quirky but super cool uncle you always want to hang out with at a family reunion. He had so many great stories to tell, and I practically hung on to every word.

Tangents aside...

Another reason for the sentimental label I just gave this book is the fact that this was also a kind of a love letter to Berkeley, CA, where I worked for a good part of my years (frame shop just off Telegraph Avenue near UC Berkeley and then the art store just off Gilman Street and San Pablo Avenue). That said, I wrote the book sometime between those two jobs, which didn't really affect my memories of the fun times.

The most vivid and fondest memory I'll ever have about Berkeley involves the yearly holiday fair on Telegraph Avenue. There were also weekend booths popping up outside the holidays back then (not sure if they still do today), and I've bought a few things from local artists through the years. I've always loved strolling down the street, checking out booths and their one-of-a-kind merchandise, eating food from local restaurants, and just enjoying the hell out of myself. 

There are scenes in this book that take place in events like what I've described. Even writing those scenes were almost magical. 

Henning is currently 50% off in e-book format through the end of October. For a copy, go here to the book page and the list of online bookstores.  

'Arabesque' and the Cynic

This book was my first immersion in a satirical take on a fairy tale (or fairy tales in general). I was still in college and stumbled across a book required for an English class I wasn't taking and thought the blurb and some of the text I sampled looked pretty damned good, so I bought it.

And I was right. 

The book was Briar Rose by Robert Coover, an American writer who wrote a good number of fairy tale retellings with a postmodern angle. This book was a really short one, but its approach to reimagining the Sleeping Beauty fairy tale caught me completely off-guard once I started reading it.

It was, by far, the most cynical take on a beloved fairy tale I've ever read, and I'm glad I took that chance in the university bookstore. I loved the book. I loved its weirdness, its satire (not the gentler Horatian satire, either, but more along the lines of my preferred kind: Juvenalian like Jonathan Swift's kind of satire), and especially its non-linear storytelling.

Since the focus was on the sleeping princess, the book was a long immersion in the princess's dreams. And they were alternately dark, hypnotic, horrifying, and sensual. I've seen readers react to the book and criticize it as misogynistic, but to me it read more like an anti-fairy tale. No HEA except in dreams.

And the writing style, being postmodern, was distant and aloof -- cold, almost. I LOVED IT. The POV was one most readers nowadays loathe, which was the third person omniscient, so the perspective is wide-ranging and all-encompassing in order for the slightly bitter tone to make a full impact.

It was the main inspiration for my own attempt at writing a cynical take on Snow White while also weaving a number of other fairy tales and myths into the plot to create my own version of entrapment and manipulation. The difference between Arabesque and Briar Rose is that the princes do find their HEA in the end. 

I remember working with an editor back in the day after JMS Books accepted the manuscript, and I apparently confused him with the mix of fairy tale samples -- especially in the woodland scene. We went back and forth over those, and I ended up trimming a few things that I thought were too much while he suggested removing them entirely. 

But I didn't write them into the scene for no reason, though, and needed to show how disillusionment was beginning to grip Alarick after years of being taught happy endings for virtuous characters in those childhood tales. Also I wanted to maintain that dream-like feel that escalates inside the cottage. 

As the blurb notes, this book was all about homophobia, misogyny, and conversion therapy, which I explored via Roald's ordeal and even Ulrike's descent into madness via metaphors and analogies. Even symbolism, i.e., the strange flowers being hawked at the open air market.

I really enjoyed writing this book, and I'd love to write something like this again down the line (now that I'm much older and even more cynical). I guess this would make my only attempt at writing something postmodern-ish, and now I'm jonesing to get another book by Robert Coover (like Pricksongs and Descants). 

Arabesque is currently 50% off in e-book format through the end of October. For a copy, the book page is over yonder.