Taking the Time To Say Thank You

A 1939 WPA poster done by Kenneth Whitley, featuring the image of Little Red Riding Hood encountering the wolf

Almost

A while back I submitted a short story to the Bette Noire Anthology that was publishing a collection of short stories based on fairy tales from the Grimm Brothers, Jacob and Wilhelm. Though only a select few of the intriguing tales are widely read, this popular 19th century collection features over 200 fascinating fables, collected straight form the hinterlands of Old Germany.

For my submission, I chose one of the most popular, Little Red Riding Hood. My short story ran almost 2500 words and featured a grown-up heroine with a Chinese name living in a vast forest estate owned by a not-so-benevolent king. After many weeks of no response I finally received an e-mail stating that my story had made the final round, but alas it fell short of being included in the anthology.

Many Thanks

Though very disappointed, I was surprised and excited to finally hear from the publisher. Most unexpected was the detailed two paragraph letter that the editor wrote explaining what he did and  didn’t like about the story. Right away, I e-mailed a thank you note but unfortunately that was returned as spam. Since this was my first rejection for the story, I hope to find a place for it somewhere else. Modern take-offs of classic fairy tales are always a good bet, so maybe I can locate a home for it yet….if not it will probably end up on Kindle and/or Smashwords.

Not Fade Away

Does anybody remember the “Fractured Fairy Tales” from the old “Rocky and Bulwinkle Show“. I do because at the time it was one of favorite TV shows. Furthermore, I think that in a subliminal way I was trying to re-create my own fractured fairy tale when I re-wrote the Little Red Riding Hood story.

New Movies

Going back to old classics has always been a valid Hollywood tradition, but most recently, the guys and gals from Southern California seemed to have re-discovered some of the old Classics of European storytelling. This can be easily in such releases as The Brothers Grimm, Beowulf and Snow White and the Huntsman. Perhaps the Snow White story retold as an epic adventure was most successful at the box office and as a result I would expect some more of the same in the near future.

So long for now.

Henri

Charlize Theron as Snow White

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