“Your descriptions are so creepy! Do you watch a lot of horror?” – submitted by F-BOM member Thank you! It’s always a good day when I get a compliment on descriptions because I have always found them SO hard to write! Usually in the first draft I say what is boring and obvious: green trees,… Read More
Anita Valle On Writing & Magic
“How did you decide what to keep and what to change? Did you read a lot of versions of Cinderella before writing?” – submitted by F-BOM member I did not read a lot of versions of Cinderella immediately before writing, but I have been exposed to many different book versions and movie versions over the… Read More
Anita Valle Interview Three: Spoiler-FULL Interview
It’s time for a deep dive into the world of the Dark Fairy Tale Queens. In this spoiler-full video, we’ll hear about the shadowy original dark queen and how Anita’s characters add “a more human side” (read: a little petty, vindictive, or evil side), to the original fairy tale characters. Do not watch if you… Read More
Anita Valle Interview Two: Writing and Publishing
“Write what you love to write about, not what you think other people will want to read.” Anita Valle talks about balancing art, writing, and a life full of distractions, as well as shares advice for up-and-coming writers, in Part Two of our video interview series. See Part One here. See Part Three here. Did… Read More
Anita Valle Interview One: Icebreakers
Welcome to our interview series with September/October author partner Anita Valle! Who is Anita’s favorite fairy tale princess? Why does she want to travel to Europe? And how did her enduring love of fairy tales lead her to create a Cinderella who “doesn’t always take the high road”? In Part One, we ask Anita a… Read More
Spinning Silver: A Feminist Book Review
I don’t own any of my favorite books. As soon as I finish them I press them into the hands of others, desperate to pass their brilliance along. This is how it went with Spinning Silver. I read Naomi Novik’s first fairy tale retelling, Uprooted, a few years ago and thoroughly enjoyed it. For whatever… Read More

