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
Perhaps you should have change the story of Red Ridding Hood ….instead of what you did you should had the wolf served as a babarbeque to Red Ridding Hood and her grandmother. …cookies for desert….lol
Correction barbeque. …lol
Thanks for the nifty idea about the wolf. Actually, I included something similar (the wolf was killed by hunters, chopped up and sent to a dog food factory). I would enjoy posting the story, so everyone could read it, but that would be considered official publication and greatly diminish my chances of finding a market for the tale.
Lol….poor wolf …he didn’t have a heck of a chance did he ?