Tattered Slippers Tour: Guest Post!: Worn Out Shoes but Not Worn Tales ft. E. J. Kitchens!

 

Hello, everyone! Welcome back to the Tattered Slippers blog tour! Today's release Wrought of Silver and Ravens by the lovely E.J. Kitchens, a truly impressive epic of a novel with very classic Twelve Dancing Princess vibes, yet many new twists. I have more thoughts over on my other blog, Light and Shadows, but here at Dreams and Dragons, I'm sharing a guest post from the author that I think you'll all enjoy. But first, a little about the book and author.

About . . .

Wrought of Silver and Ravens

Of Magic Made #1
The rarest magic is the most dangerous.

Athdar Owain is a hunted wanderer, one determined to keep his secrets and the treasure he carries safe at all costs. When he rescues the Kingdom of Giliosthay’s prince from raiders, he’s rewarded by being forced into the king’s elite Silver Guard. While this gives Athdar a temporary home and some protection from those hunting him, it also makes him responsible for the young prince, who still bears curses from the raiders, and seven enchantress princesses with curses as mysterious and dangerous as their brother’s.

Princess Thea of Giliosthay is a Realm Walker. Betrayed by a trusted guard, her rare gift of enchantment is used to curse her brother and trap herself and her six sisters into a nightly dance with dragons in a secret Realm. The Realm’s prince has the ability to take and twist her magic for his own purposes, and Thea fears what those might be. For when one dances with a prince, a kingdom might be at stake.

Athdar alone can save them, but to trust enchanters is to risk exposure. And Athdar isn’t sure where his loyalties lie.

Wrought of Silver and Ravens is a clean adventure-romance retelling of The Twelve Dancing Princesses set in The Magic Collectors story world.

Find it on: Retailers || Goodreads

E.J. Kitchens

E.J. Kitchens loves tales of romance, adventure, and happily-ever-afters and strives to write such tales herself. When she’s not thinking about dashing heroes or how awesome bacteria are—she is a microbiologist after all—she’s taking photos, reading, or talking about classic books and black-and-white movies. She is the author of the historical fantasy series THE MAGIC COLLECTORS and of several fairytale retellings. She is a member of Realm Makers and lives in Alabama.

Find her online at: Website || Blog || Goodreads || Facebook || Newsletter || Amazon 

 

 

 

The Tattered Slippers

The Tattered Slippers are six retellings of the Twelve Dancing Princesses fairytale, each one fantastical and magical. You don't want to miss any of them! You can learn more about the books and find the full tour schedule on the tour page.

The Tattered Slippers are the result of the 2019 Arista Challenge. The Arista Challenge is hosted by Kendra E. Ardnek; it invites fairy tale authors to come together in community as they work on unique retellings of a selected fairy tale.

Worn Out Shoes but Not Worn Tales

When I was young, my sister shared an illustrated fairytale with me that, though there was no Disney movie to go with it, I’ve always remembered. It was of “The Twelve Dancing Princesses.” There was no dragon to slay or evil stepmother to escape, just a mystery to solve as we followed an old soldier—one gifted an enchanted cloak and wise advice from an old woman he’d helped—in his attempt to discover why the twelve daughters of a king had worn-out dancing slippers every night. The tale was intriguing and the illustrations beautiful.

I don’t remember exactly which version of the story I read, but the "The Twelve Dancing Princesses" (also called "The Worn-Out Dancing Shoes" or "The Shoes That Were Danced to Pieces") is a German fairy tale collected by the Brothers Grimm and published in Grimm's Fairy Tales in 1812. As with many other fairytales, there are similar stories from other regions, including French, Russian, and Scottish versions (it’s a prince who dances every night in this version).

Also, as with other fairytales, it has many modern retellings. It’s a strange thing in a way to love something and then redo it, but I guess redoing something is another way to spend time with, so it makes sense in a way. Some aspects of fairytales are disturbing, however, and that gives us another reason to re-write them—to make them more acceptable or fun. In “The Twelve Dancing Princesses” the princesses are actually not very nice. They drug the princes trying to solve the riddle of the dancing slippers even though they know the men will die if they don’t solve it within the three-day limit set by the king. Not exactly the kind of heroines I’d want in my story.

One of my favorite retellings of the story is Lea Doue’s Firethorn Crown. She changes it up so that the princesses are kind and are forced to dance every night against their will. I preferred that approach, and so in my story, the princesses (only seven of them to make it easier to keep track of all my many characters) are cursed and forced to travel via magic to a mysterious Realm of Caves where a prince is stealing their magic and their kingdom dance by dance.

Remembering the illustrated story’s focus on the soldier rather than the princesses, however, I wanted him to be a major part of my book. Fairytale retellings tend to focus on the female character, in general, but I wanted the soldier in this one. I made him young and changed how he got the cloak. As I started writing him, I really fell in love with him and the story became a lot more about his adventures and his relationship with the Silver Guards as these older men take him—a wanderer who doesn’t trust others easily—in and give him a home and family. It has romance too—don’t worry—it’s just that I wasn’t expecting the other relationships to be so important.

My retelling, Wrought of Silver and Ravens, is part of a larger story world that I have other books set in, so that background also influenced the way I retold the story. For one thing, it’s set in a place like Ancient Greece, so instead of slippers, the girls have sandals, and instead of them simply being worn through, they are burnt because of how the prince is stealing their magic.

So retellings are often another way to enjoy something we love or an attempt to make it better, and there are lots of ways to change things—our character of interest, that character’s character, the setting, the overarching storyline—it is mostly the fairytale or is the fairytale simply a part of it?—and the aspects of the story we choose to pull out. So while dancing slippers (or sandals) may wear out, a fairytale rarely does.

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Wow! Thanks for sharing that story, E. J.! I really enjoyed hearing about your journey with this fairy tale.

Are you excited for Wrought of Silver and Ravens? Do you prefer your 12DP retellings to focus on the princesses or the soldier-character? Please tell me in the comments! And don't forget to check out the rest of the tour stops!
Thanks for reading!

August 25 Tour Stops

Five Reasons to Read:
Knitted by God's Plan

Light and Shadows

 

Author Interviews:

Abby's Blog

 

Guest Posts:
Erudessa's News Blog: Favorite Fairytale Dances
Dreams and Dragons: Worn Out Shoes but Not Worn Tales
Rachel Rossano's Words: The Writer Who Pricked Her Finger
Reality Reflected: A Dance through Time

 

Reviews:
Live. Love. Read. + Mini Interview!

A Synethete Writer

Blooming with Books

TJ's Musings

Paper, Ink, & Lizard 

Selina J. Eckert + Mini Interview!
A Backwards Story

The Message Spider

Recently I was given the assignment to write a folktale for school. I had a lot of fun with it, and since the result turned out well, I thought I'd share it on here. As a note, this story does not signal a change in my attitude towards spiders. I still think they're creepy and am thoroughly disturbed by how many I've seen in my house lately. Anyway, enjoy the story!
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The Message Spider

            Long, long ago, in the time when people and animals had not yet forgotten how to speak to each other, there lived in the very smallest of villages a brother and sister. The brother and sister kept sheep, whose wool the sister spun and knitted into the softest, warmest sweaters you could imagine. Every month, the brother would take these sweaters and some of the extra produce from their garden and go to the great city for market day. Each time before he left, he’d say to his sister, “Well, I’ll see you in a week!” and each time he would return exactly as he said.

            One month, however, a week passed and he did not return. The sister began to worry. “Perhaps,” she said to her sheep as she herded them out to pasture, “he is lost! Or perhaps he’s hurt, or he’s been robbed, or all three! I should go look for him.” 

            The sheep, being sheep and mostly unconcerned with the affairs of any human, ignored her. The sister thought about leaving her home and searching for her brother. The more she considered it, however, the more she realized that she couldn’t possibly go alone. Not only did she not know the way to the city, but the dangers that might’ve taken her brother would be far greater for her. 

            She decided that she had better go to her neighbors and see if any of them would help her. First she went to her next-door neighbor, a woodcutter, thinking “He is strong and brave! Surely he’ll help me!”

            But when the woodcutter heard her request, he shook his head sadly. “Sorry lass. I’d love to help, but I’ve a wife, a new baby, and three other children to take care of. I can’t leave them.” 

            The sister said “Thank you anyway, sir,” and went to her other next-door neighbor, a farmer. “He is generous and patient; he’ll help me, I’m sure!” she said to herself.

            So she found the farmer in his field and told him of her need, but he, like the woodcutter, slowly shook his head. “’Tis planting time, lass. I’ve no time for a journey. I’ll be glad enough to keep an eye on your sheep while you’re gone, but I can’t be going with you.” He sent her off with a pat on her shoulder and an apologetic, “Sorry about your brother. Hope you find him.”

            The girl, though disappointed, thanked him. She then went to the shopkeeper, thinking “He is shrewd and experienced; perhaps he’ll help me!”

            The shopkeeper, however, did not even apologize when he shook his head. “I’ve a business to run, girl,” he said, barely looking up from his account books. “A business to run and a living to make. I can’t go off on a wild chase after your brother, or anyone else’s for that matter. Besides, it’s your business, not mine.”

            Heavyhearted, the girl left without a word. One by one, she visited each of her other neighbors in the town, but not one of them could help. All were too busy, or had a sick relative, or were ill themselves, or simply wouldn’t come. 

            The girl, however, refused to give up. “If my human neighbors will not help me,” she said to herself, “perhaps my animal ones will.” So, she set out to ask the beasts and birds to help her.

            First she asked the dog, thinking, “He is keen and loyal! No doubt he will be glad to help!” 

            The dog listened to her, but when she’d told her tale, he barked sharply and shook his head so his long ears flapped about. “No good! No good!” he growled. “I’m bound to guard my master’s house! I can’t leave! Not for anything! No good! No good!” 

            Disappointed, the girl next tried the horse, saying to herself, “Surely he will help! He is swift and powerful!”

            The horse, however, shook his mane and turned away when he’d heard her plight. “I’d love to help,” he said, in a way that meant quite the opposite, “but I can’t. I’m a noble beast. I’ve the affairs of my own herd to take care of; I can’t get involved in outsider’s problems. Goodbye, maiden, and good-luck.” And with that, he galloped off before she could say another word.

            The girl was quickly losing hope, but she continued her search for help anyway. This time, she went to the cat, thinking “He is patient and cunning; perhaps he will help.” 

            The cat, however, ignored her altogether, pretending to be asleep on the hearth. Try as the girl might, he would give her no response, and she went away more dismal than before.

            After that, the girl went to each of her other animal neighbors and asked them for help. Like the humans, every one refused her. Now the girl could think of no one to ask for help at all. Tired, disappointed, and quite out of hope, she curled up in a corner of her house and cried.

            As she wept, she heard a voice, smoother than silk and so small that it was nearly lost before it reached her ears. “Why are you crying, maiden?”

            The girl did not recognize the voice, but she was too distraught to look up. Between sobs, she explained what had happened, how her brother had disappeared and no one would help her search for him.

            After she finished, the voice said sympathetically, “That’s too bad. I’ll help you if you like, and I’ll ask my friends to help as well.”

            “What?” The girl looked up, astounded that she’d missed anyone in her search for help. What she saw made her give a little shriek. Dangling from a near-invisible thread was a spider, fat and black with two sun-bright yellow splotches on its abdomen. “You’re a spider!”

            The spider climbed up a short ways on its web, safely out of smacking distance. It knew what humans were like. “Yes, I am. I’m a message spider, to be exact. I write messages in my webs so all the spiders and insects can read them and hear the latest news. I can write about your brother in my next web- see?” And the spider began busily spinning a small web in the fireplace-corner. The girl watched and saw that there were indeed words in the spider’s web, though they were in a language she didn’t know.

            The spider finished spinning and sat contentedly in the middle of his work. “It says ‘Lost- a maiden’s brother. Please help.’ When I make the real message web, I can add in what he looks like, and all who read it will know to look for him. We insects and spiders are everywhere, you know, and if we haven’t seen him, he’s disappeared off the face of the earth. Once he’s been found, one of us can simply guide him home, or if he’s hurt, send a message to you. 

            “You’d do that?” the girl asked, amazed that a creature who’d undoubtedly lost many relatives to her broom and shoes would help her. “Really? Oh, thank you!”

            “Of course,” the spider replied courteously. “It’s only right.” Then, having listened to the girl describe her brother, he scurried out the window to begin his work.

            The spider was every bit as good as his word. Each day, he wove a new web telling of the girl’s lost brother and instructing insects and other spiders to keep as many eyes out as they could and to spread the word. A week after he’d begun, the brother, who’d been lost during a thunderstorm, was found. Three days later, he returned home safe and sound, having been guided back to the road by several friendly bees. And they all lived happily ever after.

The end.

Photo Credits:

"Medieval Village 9" by Dragoroth

"Messages" by Anna Goodling (the original inspiration for message spiders)