The Girl with Glass Feet Review

It is sometimes in the confounding of our expectations that a story can slip past our defenses, and so it is with The Girl with Glass Feet. The story centers on Midas Crook as he deals with family tragedy by mediating every interaction save a few through the lens of a camera. “I cope [. . .] with photography,” he explains early in the book. When he meets Ida, who has come to the remote archipelago of St. Hauda’s Land in search of a cure for an invasive metamorphosis of flesh to glass beginning with her toes, he is placed on a delicate journey back into his own body. Midas serves as a good fulcrum for the story, his own pain at the shifting of the story arcs apparent and well-drawn. Mr. Shaw draws Ida’s adaptability and determination as finely. Her response to her unexplained illness imposes upon the fairy tale elements a human dimension, linking with others mentioned in the story—and demonstrating that “why” questions are ultimately unanswerable and less important than those of how you will cope with the unexplained and painful events in life.

The Girl with Glass Feet is a thoughtful and interesting novel that brings some of the depth of feeling that old fairy tales had, when witches and curses were alive in the mind. As Mr. Shaw drains most of the colors from the land around them, the main characters dazzle in their sudden vividness. Ida’s irises gleam “titanium gray” and Midas chases a “golden ribbon” of light that dangles just out of his reach and then turns out to be resting beside Ida. A creature roams the forest that turns whatever glimpses it to stark white, the slow bleaching process both beautiful and eerie. Ida’s increasing physical pallor mirrors this transformation. The enchanted aspects carry sadness in addition to their beauty, echoing in the delicacy of the glass transformation in the way in which illness is shown to push and deform the family and personality of everyone around the sufferer. And yet, Mr. Shaw doesn’t ignore the beauty. When Midas and Ida find themselves become hills for one of the character’s herds of moth-like cattle, the sense of their looking out across eternity like the hills themselves and finding in this view a deep joy was as fulfilling a scene as any I’ve read lately.

While the answers that come from Ida and Midas sorting through the stories of their families and their tentative relationship were not what I had expected, I found myself reading hungrily and hopefully as the story moved toward the conclusion. I would recommend this for anyone who enjoys traditional fairy tales that leave a bit of mystery in their weaving.

SFT thanks Henry Holt and Company for providing the review copy for this novel.

Good reading,
Chrissa

Love: Supernatural Fairy Tale Style

There are so many ways to enjoy fairy tales. You can read one of the classics or a new novel inspired by one. You can take their essence and use it as inspiration to write your own story or to inspire your art. This month it’s all about how we love our fairy tales.

Fairy Tale Books:

They come in all different doses of fairy tale: from children book retellings to novels like Garden Spells by Sarah Addison Allen—a fairy tale of sorts with an enchanted apple tree, envy, edible spells, love and a happy ending.

This month Chrissa will be reviewing the fairy tale novel, The Girl with Glass Feet by Ali Shaw. Be sure and check out the list of Chrissa’s fairy tale book reviews on the side bar for more suggestions.


Fairy Tale Movies:

My all time favorite fairy tale movie is “The Brothers Grimm” starring Heath Ledger, Matt Damon - This movie has all the elements I look for in a movie and in a fairy tale; it was moderately dark, quirky, and supernatural. The cast was terrific, and it is a rare movie that I can watch over and over again.

Here are my top 5 favorite fairy tale inspired movies: Fav Five Fairy Tale Movies

BTW - I’m so excited about the upcoming Disney Movie, “Alice in Wonderland.” Awesome!


Fairy Tale Art:

Recently, I was introduced to a very unique form of fairy tale art; The Filigree is a Fairy Tale Quarterly, which combines fairy tale art and writing. I will post a gallery this month featuring this artistic husband and wife (Celena Cavala & Martin Obakke) team’s fairy tale creatures.

Supernatural Fairy Tales:

Don’t get me started… :) You know how I love using fairy tales as inspiration for stories and mixing them with a supernatural element. This month, since it is Valentines month, I will be posting my fun, sexy romance: Jorinde & Joringel + mind reading = Quiet on the Nightingale.

There are so many ways to enjoy fairy tales. No wonder we love them so much. So how do you love your fairy tales?

Dorlana

The Faeryman by Otilia Tena

The Faeryman
by Otilia Tena

When I was a little girl, I used to go with my friends deep in the woods every day. Our favourite place was the glade, where we would play hide-and-seek and blindman's buff.

“Daisy! Daisy, where are you? You can't hide too long, we'll find you anyway.”

“Here! Here! I lost my way! Here! Where are you?”

Their voices faded away slowly, one by one. It was getting dark and the leaves rustling under my steps was all I could hear. I put my arms around me and sat on a pile of branches. I don't know if I was awake or asleep, I thought I heard the faint sound of a flute. I looked up and I saw him. He was very fashionable, dressed from head to toes in green and with gorgeous kaki boots.

“What's your name?”

“Daisy. I've lost my way. Can you help me, please?”

“Daisy… you mean… daisy like the white flower? The frail daisy?” Nobody had ever said my name like he did.

“Young man, please, show me the way home!”

He took me by the hand and led me out of the woods.

“Thank you. Who are you? You're so beautiful! Do you live in the woods?”
He put his finger on my lips and said: “Sshh!” And I stood there, watching him go back, listening to the music of his flute.

I looked for him whenever we went to play in the woods but I didn't meet him again. I would fall back and put one hand to my ear like a funnel, hoping to hear the distant flute again.

“It's me, Daisy, take me away! Take me! It's me, Daisy, come, take me away!”

I used to weep and curse him and missed him so much. Then I grew up and learned to put up with my grief. I looked forward to my wedding day as the beginning of a more responsible life. The old women in my house were sewing my bride dress and I sat among them, watching them work and listening to their stories. One of them moved her finger to me to come closer and whispered in my ear: “This will be your every day dress, Daisy.”

“What do you mean?”

“You won't change it any longer.”

The day before the wedding I went into the woods again. There he was, as if he had never left. “Come with me, I've been longing for you for so long!”

“I can't. I will marry him.”

“Then take this belt as a wedding gift. Put it round your waist and remember me and be happy.”

It was a long wedding party, from noon till dawn and we ate and danced, then we dozed off and ate and danced again. I was so tired… suddenly I remembered him and put the belt round my waist. I stood right beside him again.

“Welcome back! You're not Daisy any longer.”

“I am Daisy, your frail Daisy.”

“You are sweet and frail, but you're one of our kin now and we, the faeries, haven't got names, nor home, nor anything. We hide most of the time; and we love dancing.”

“Let me say good-bye to them!”

“Too late.”

My life was a shadow. He killed our children because they were hideous and replaced them with stolen babies. He treated me badly. I stole buttermilk and they ate it all up. Our favourite shelter was a shattered cottage in the woods, where we used to dance the days away. One day an old man saw us and we all dashed off. I forgot my belt and came back for it.

“Give me the belt!”

“Only if you tell me your name!”

“We haven't got names. Give me the belt!” I said.

“You once knew me. Come back home! Your parents died and I'm an old man. I loved you so much! Why did you leave like this? We thought you died.”

“I don't know who you are. I'm not coming back! It wasn't my choice but now it's too late!”

He gave me the belt and left. I watched him going down a path I used to walk on when I was a child. I didn't know where it led to any longer.

The End

About Otilia Tena: I'm a 29 year old Romanian teacher and I graduated the Faculty of Foreign Languages in 2003. I've been teaching English and German in different highschools in Bucharest during the last years. I've been writing stories and poems since childhood and I published a poetry volume a few years ago. I write fantasy stories and fairytales but sometimes I also write about normal people in real situations. I even wrote a few Sci-Fi stories. I love dancing a lot and I couldn't live without it. One of my greatest wishes is to go to Ireland one day and visit all its mysterious places. Here are a few links where you can find my writing:

http://www.authorsden.com/visit/author.asp?authorid=111560

http://www.scribd.com/LadyOtilia

Supernatural Fairy Tales

Tam Lin Inspired Poem by Ian Hunter

JANET REMEMBERS HALLOWEEN
BY IAN HUNTER

My skin looks normal
but it wasn’t always so
Once, it looked as if
I had dipped my face in the sun
Eyebrows burned away

You said look for the white horse
and I did, but was too scared to move
towards those fabulous creatures
Until something pulled me forward
Perhaps our unborn child
drawn to you

I dragged you down
and held you fast
Through all your transformations
The roar of the beast
The roar of the fire
Tugging against the Faerie Queen
Until there was nothing left,
but you
No more changes
yet I was left changed forever

I never tell you, Tam Lin,
when we lie together
how I long
for the feel of your claw and teeth
your bites and scratches

The reflection of the rippling river
is kind to my ruined body
but I do wonder
when I look at the sorrows of my skin
If it was worth it
If you were worth it


Ian Hunter lives in Scotland, and is a member of the British Fantasy Society (and poetry editor for their magazine “Dark Horizons”), as well as being a member of the Glasgow Science Fiction Writers Circle and the Ghost Story Society. He is author of three children’s novels – “The Dark Knight’s Blade”, “Lipstick Lass” and “The Magic Mousehole”, and the guide to the alternative Glasgow they didn’t want you to know about “Fantastic Glasgow”. His poems and stories have appeared in magazines and anthologies in the UK, the USA and Canada.

His website is http://www.ian-hunter.co.uk/, and he is a founding member of the Scottish writer’s collective Read Raw, http://www.readrawltd.co.uk/

Review of Frieda Warrington's Elfland - (Reviewed by Chrissa Sandlin)

Frieda Warrington's Elfland draws the reader into an English landscape full of ancient mysticism, hidden magic, the Aetherials, who appear human but whose blood comes from Elfland. Rosie Fox, who is just beginning to respond to her Aetherial heritage in the beginning of the book, draws the reader into the corners to peer in wonder at the creatures revealed. It is this heavy and slantwise view of the Elfland of the Aetherials that first catches the attention. As Rosie shifts in age and perception, however, the secrets become less marvelous as they are revealed.

It's the beginning of the second introductory piece in which I found the heart of Elfland. Rosie Fox is rejecting fantasy--in this case the fantasy of unconditional love--but within this rejection is also that of the fairyland that has proved a cheat for the characters who have lost it or never knew it. While Rosie and her younger brother Lucas grow into their heritage without understanding it, the author takes some of the wonder that would normally have been given to the Aetherial world and gives it generously back to the human one.

In fact, it is Rosie's fascination with love that sets the tone for the tale. Is love the final revelation of who you are? The reward for bravely accepting yourself, despite your heritage, your fears, or your desire to fit in? Is it, in fact, sanity in the abode of madness? As I was trying to puzzle out what I could take from a story that was well-told but left me empty--one that took my expectations and shook them out, one that seemed to be laughing behind its hand at my looking for a fairy story in this day and age, it seemed that love and its betrayals were the only path through the narrative.

Although the prose is a delight, the multiple beginnings didn't serve to ground me in the narrative so much as to make me look for were they belonged within the larger story. Readers should be prepared for a story limned from Gothic tales by way of Peyton Place. There is wonder to be found here, but it is found in sharing a good cappuccino and gossiping about familial escapades rather than in the shimmering forests and arching bridges of Elfland. Between the chained angels, family secrets, and dark otherworlds overwriting the human one, Elfland itself embodied the idea of multiple worlds (or in this case narratives) existing and intertwining. As the story came to a sudden stop, I found myself in the sympathy with the characters: dazed and bereft.

Alice in Natural Light: An Interview with Photographer Matthew Nicholson

Hi Matthew! Please tell us a little about yourself and your studio, Dim Horizon Studio.
To begin with an overly simplified, down and dirty description of myself, lets begin by saying, I’m a driven creative soul with a background in a whole slew of geeky pursuits. I’ve always had a passion for the surreal and creative expression. Dim Horizon Studio began as a humble dream and a method for me to help illustrate to the world my perception of the world around me. Ultimately, this passion has blossomed into is a creative photography firm based out of Woodstock Georgia with a wide range of clients where the specialization is in truly serving the client in all creative aspects.

How did you get into photography, and how long have you been a photographer?
I began shooting roughly 7 years ago while struggling through a rather obnoxious college & work schedule. It’s truly amazing what sleep depravation (at the time, I was sleeping roughly 4 hours a night) and a passionate spirit will do for a creative pursuits.

I really love your Steampunk and the Fairy tale prints. Can you tell us a little about these photos and what inspired you to shoot them?
Steampunk has truly had an explosion of attention over the past couple of years and I’d expect the fairy tale theme to do much the same with the upcoming focus on Alice in Wonderland (even if that theme in particular is quite common within the novice photography model circuit). As for my images, I was quite lucky to interface with a local Steampunk troupe that is truly a powerhouse of talented individuals. After speaking with them and illustrating my abilities with natural light we set out to capture their rich characters in unique environments. My biggest goal when planning and executing all of my Steampunk shoots is to really bring out the characters that the models typically have extensive background information on. A picture really should be worth a 1000 words and when given such elaborate costuming and talent, it’s easy to turn it into a small novel.

The same can be said for my Alice inspired shoot; again, I was quite lucky to catch a local fashion student with an eye for the surreal and unique. With only a little direction on wardrobe the rest as they say is history. I utilize my post processing techniques to breathe an extra level of life into my photographs as well as bring that to that surreal beauty that can only be conceptualized by the mind and imagination.

How would you describe your style?
My style has always been difficult to describe in my own mind. I’d have to say its a little dash of candid photography with creative flair and an attention to natural light with all its glorious uses.

Which photographers do you admire and how have they influenced your work?
I think it would be impossible to actually list all the photographers I admire. In most case though, I find that my work is always influenced by images that capture you in both an emotional sense as well as an intellectual sense.


What advice would you give a person wanting to be a professional photographer?
My greatest advice to anyone starting on the road to become a professional photographer would be to always be true to yourself above all else and always accept free advice. There will be a million and one people in the industry that will tell you how you do things wrong, take it with a grain of salt because so long as you remain true to your passions and goals, the industry will one day catch up to you.

Thank you so much for stopping in and for sharing your creative and captivating "Alice in Wonderland" photographs!








To find out more about Dim Horizon Studio, please check out any of the following links:

Facebook - http://www.facebook.com/DimHorizonStudio

Twitter - http://twitter.com/DimHorizon

Main Site - http://www.dimhorizonstudio.com/

Images Copyright Dim Horizon Studio. All rights reserved.

An Eclectic Lineup for Supernatural Fairy Tales

Hi Friends!

The beautiful part of hosting this blogazine is that I get to post the work of so many different types of artists and their creations. This year I’m looking forward to showcasing a diverse pool of talent. I want to thank Duotrope for helping me in this endeavor by listing Supernatural Fairy Tales on their site. I’m scheduling for 2010 so if you are a fantasy/fairy tale writer, poet, or artist in any medium, please take a look at the guidelines.

I am very excited about the guests this month. Their creations are all fairy tale/fantasy inspired and their artistic methods are unique:

• Interview with photographer Matthew Nicholson of Dim Horizon Studio – You can take a peek of his fantasy work here: http://www.dimhorizonstudio.com/
• Author and poet, Ian Hunters, poem “Janet Remembers Halloween” inspired by the legend of Tam Lin.
• An original fairy tale, “The Faeryman” by Otilia Tena
  

Also, SFT reviewer, Chrissa Sandlin, will be posting her review of Elfland by Freda Warrington. We just added all of Chrissa’s reviews from last year to our new page on Goodreads. We would love to compare books if you are a member.

And a bit of personal news: My book, Death: Passage to Mesentia and Jaclyn’s Ghost is now on Amazon’s Kindle. (BTW - Even if you don’t own a Kindle, you can download Kindle for PC for free.)

Happy New Year!

Dorlana