Science Fiction, Fantasy, & Feminist Blog
Hopeful, magical, and empowering — fairy tales live on in the popular imagination through their timeless characters and imagery. Three previous F-BOM author partners, Anita Valle, Fiona J.R. Titchenell, and Intisar Khanani, have each taken on the challenge of writing a fairy tale retelling. We were lucky enough to get all three together to discuss… Read More
“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
“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
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
“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
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
Her Story Arc 