Search Results

Editor’s note: Some of you may be familiar with Kristen’s brilliant refrigerator magnet poetry. I’m a huge fan, and am excited that Kristen is hard at work creating a chapbook of these astonishing poems—which FTM will be promoting! Enjoy this taste of her work. The image is by Kristen. (KW) Kristen Baum DeBeasi’s poetry has appeared iBlue Heron Review, The Muleskinner Journal, Menacing Hedge and elsewhere. She is a Best of the Net nominee and was Moon Tide Press’s Poet of the Month for July 2021. When she isn’t writing words or music, she loves testing new recipes and collecting leaves or twigs for her fairy garden.

Jess Armstrong’s novel The Curse of Penryth Hall, is a complete delight for fans of folklore, fairy tale, and murder mysteries! The story follows Ruby Vaughn, an American socialite living in England after World War I, who is asked by her boss, a rare book shop owner, to deliver a box of books to a folk healer in the Cornish countryside. Ruby uses the errand as an excuse to visit her old friend Tamsyn, the wife of Sir Edward of Penryth Hall. When Edward is brutally murdered, it appears he has become the victim of an ancient family curse, and Ruby must stay at Penryth Hall to investigate the true cause of his death in the hopes of protecting Tamsyn’s life. The folk healer who receives Ruby’s box of books is Ruan Kivell, a Pellar who serves the town with his insights, visions, and herbal remedies. There is both competition and attraction between Ruby and Ruan, and their tumultuous relationship sizzles as they uncover clues to help them solve the murder. Ruby, a woman who hates the past and appreciates science, believes the killer is human, but Ruan, the seventh son of a seventh son born in the superstitious Cornish countryside, must investigate the supernatural angles of the crime as well. The Curse of Penryth Hall is filled with exciting action, luscious Gothic detail, and fascinating Cornish legends and folklore. The landscape is both startlingly realistic and haunted by giants, witches, and Merfolk. The description made me feel like I was visiting an ancestral mansion, and the expertly drawn characters, each with a past full of secrets, kept me turning pages. I couldn’t put this one down! I highly recommend this story to fans of classic mystery novels. You can find the book here. Thank you to NetGalley for a free copy of the book in exchange for a fair review. Kelly Jarvis works as the Assistant Editor for The Fairy Tale Magazine where she writes stories, poems, essays, book reviews, and interviews. Her poetry has also been featured or is forthcoming in Blue Heron Review, Mermaids Monthly, Eternal Haunted Summer, Forget Me Not Press, The Magic of Us, A Moon of One’s Own, Baseball Bard, and Corvid Queen. Her short fiction has appeared in The Chamber Magazine and the World Weaver Press Anthology Mothers of Enchantment: New Tales of Fairy Godmothers. You can find her at https://kellyjarviswriter.com/

Editor's note: Happy St. Patrick's Day! We know you'll enjoy this imaginative take on leprechauns. It is midnight on March 17. Tellie’s eyes widen as she peers up into cloud-like puffs of shamrock green floating around her room. There is an aroma of fresh mint. She shakes her head back and forth, turns to her side, and is astonished to see a tiny person sitting on the edge of her bed. He is less than a foot tall, with red hair and dressed in green. A top hat sits snugly on his head and rests at the top of his eyebrows. “Aye,” he says, "‘tis time you woke.” She places her hands over her eyes, blinks rapidly and opens them. He is still sitting on the edge of the bed, watching her. “I…what…who?” “I am your little people representative, Shorty.” “Interesting hat,” she comments, giving herself time to contemplate. It’s about adding height,” he quips. He gives her a serious look. “I am here beckoning you to join me on a trip to meet our people.” Tellie’s eyes widen in fear and excitement. The two feelings aren’t all that far apart, she thinks. “You needn’t be afraid, I am friendly.” Shorty dances to an unheard rhythm with random, short hops. Tellie laughs but she hesitates. She considers Shorty’s twinkling eyes, and finally nods. “Now, close your eyes.” Shorty counts to ten. “Now, open.” Tellie, to her wonder, is Shorty’s height, "in ruffled elf design clothes,” she thinks to herself. She clicks her new turned-up-toe mint green shoes together, takes a few steps, and finds that she cannot keep from taking short hops. She laughs at her odd, gleeful feeling. Shorty takes Tellie’s hand and hops onto a cloud-like puff of shamrock green. She is leery, but they float easily through the open window. They travel upward, to the Milky Way. “The stars are much further apart when you see them up close,” Tellie says. Next, they stop on top of the moon. Turns out the man isn’t home. Their cloud-like vessel accelerates and skates around the rings of Saturn, and they fall about, laughing. The vessel scoots into the atmosphere and begins to slowly descend. Tellie’s eyes widen. “The stars are so bright, so crystal clear up here. Shorty nods. "'Tis true, it's a wonder." They both gasp as a group of stars shoot into the night air, like playful dolphins, acknowledging their presence. The vessel lands gently in a lush green meadow, where a large pack of Little People have gathered. A spokes-woman steps forward. "We have been looking forward to meeting you." "I… this surprise… why me?” Tellie stutters. “We have been watching you for years as you celebrated St. Patrick’s Day in honor of your grandfather’s birthday. You held parties, filled your house with green and purple shamrock plants, and acknowledged St. Patrick, our hero." Tellie raises her eyebrows in question. "Legend has it that he drove the snakes out of Ireland. This was a great relief to us. The snakes thought of our people as delicious tidbits, ripe for eating. They could creep up on our people, what with them being so quiet and slinky. The snakes closed their throats around thousands of our people, suffocated and ate them. St. Patrick ended all that by pitching the snakes into the sea.” Tellie’s face inches upward and into the shape of a large hunter green exclamation point. “That stung,” she says, after her face snaps back into shape. The spokes-woman continues. “People often discount us because of our size, and we are sometimes spit upon. You, on the other hand, have many times toasted us as ‘little people with big hearts.” In unison, they place their hands on their chests, and the sound of a babbling brook rolling over stones fills the air--a dynamic sound, given the size of the crowd. “You also speak of us as gentle people, not mischievous tricksters, as is often told.” The spokes-woman steps forward and holds up a tiny shamrock-shaped mirror made of gold. “Made especially for you with pieces from our pot of gold. We can stay in touch through the mirror, and you can access the power it can bestow.” “How will I know how to…?” The spokes-woman interrupts. “You will know how to use it intuitively, if the need arises.” Suddenly, a menacing creature appears. It has a large square head, and prongs of thick striped skin extend from its wrinkled, rough body and short end-tail. It growls, shows long dagger-sharp teeth, chomps down on the golden mirror, and disappears into the woods. The spokes-woman cringes. “I must recover the mirror to stop that vile creature from transmitting evil, hypnotizing messages for its own gain.” She runs toward the woods, and the group follows. They rush through the trees, and ram into a dense, eye-watering fog. “The creature is using the mirror’s power to try and stop us,” the spokes-woman mutters. She tells everyone to lock arms and stay close together. “If we work in a united front, we can conquer this evil.” Her face is set as she moves further into the woods with them. The trees pull up roots and follow. They stare with carved, distorted faces, open-mouthed and menacing, and push to surround the crowd. Shorty pulls out a bit of leftover magic dust from his knapsack and throws down an invisible barrier. The trees reach out with knife-sharp branches in protest but cannot break through. The group proceeds further into the woods. Suddenly Tellie points a shaking hand at the striped end-tail of the creature in the distance. Remembering the quietness of the slinking snakes, she lays down, stretches out, and twists her body forward, moving toward the creature. The group follows her motions. They slither up without notice and form a circle around the creature. It reacts quickly, wraps its tail around the magic mirror, and crashes through the circle. The group watches as the creature races into the clearing. Tellie remembers the Peter Pan fairy tale and how he taught others to fly just by wishing they could. She wishes and pleads with an unseen force, and then sputters, and soars upward. The creature looks up, distracted by the soaring and sputtering. It arches its back and uses all its force to leap in the air and concentrates on annihilating Tellie. It fails to see the steep, hazardous cliff a short distance away—and plunges to its peril. Cringing, Tellie watches the creature fracture into pieces. Striped skin, cartilage and stomach contents crash down the cliff and explode on the rocks below. The creature’s severed head moves about in wild, zig-zag thrusts like that of a beheaded rooster. Tellie catches her breath, and when the movement stops, she swoops down and recovers the coveted mirror. When she walks into the clearing, the crowd shouts, and whistles with all their might. The elation echoes through the woods and softens the distorted faces of the trees as they sink back into their roots. Everyone dances back to the meadow led by Tellie, who holds the magic mirror tightly in her hand. The spokes-woman smiles, tips an imaginary hat, and nods at Tellie and Shorty. Graceful, like an orchestra conductor, she turns toward her people, and extends her arms. The air fills with a soft, light fog. When it clears, the little people are gone. Shorty and Tellie look at each other, surprised at the abrupt end to their adventure. The cloud-like poof sputters with impatience. "'Tis time to go," Shorty says. When they land at Tellie’s home, she climbs out, and looks at Shorty, teary-eyed, and her lips trembling. “Aye,” Shorty says, his voice shaking.They stand together in meditative silence until the vessel relays its impatience.Shorty faces Tellie and bows."Interesting hat," she says.Shorty chuckles, and floats into the night air. The next morning. "What an exquisite dream, a surreal adventure," Tellie says aloud. She turns to her side, and in awe, sees the tiny, gold shamrock-shaped mirror lying on her pillow. “I will look into this,” she whispers. She smiles as the aroma of fresh mint wafts through her room. Bio: Cheryl Israel captured family dialogue as an early attempt at storytelling. She self-published a novella entitled About Chessie. She wrote faculty and alumni profiles for the Dance Department, Kinesiology, and the Center for World Performance Studies at the University of Michigan before retiring. She holds an MFA from DePaul University.

Today we officially welcome Lissa Sloan as a Contributing Writer at The Fairy Tale Magazine. It feels a bit funny to do that, as she’s been a friend to the publication, and in real life, for a long time! Anyway, we feel very fortunate to have her on the team, and welcome aboard Lissa! (KW) So, I have a confession to make. I write recipes on old envelopes. My mom would occasionally lament that she wasn’t the housekeeper her mother was (and had not passed those skills on to me and my sister). My grandma was neat and tidy, an accomplished seamstress and excellent baker. I have a few of her recipe cards, written in her careful handwriting. My mom used recipe cards too, but she also improvised, as did my dad and especially my mother-in-law. So in my house today, our recipes, while sometimes printed out or saved as a document, are other times written out on tiny bits of notepaper, receipts, and envelopes. Here, then, is a print-out and an envelope that frequently come out this time of year: Sloan birthday cake with butter icing. You see, all four of us in my household have our birthdays within three weeks, and Mother’s Day is not far behind. These days we may only make it once during that time, and we may only make half the recipe because it’s so rich. But the cake (adapted from the Cook’s Country recipe for Hostess-style cupcakes) is moist and dark, and the butter icing (from my mother-in-law) is creamy and a tiny bit salty, and all together it’s just so devilishly good! For 24 cupcakes, a 9 x 13-inch cake pan, or two 9-inch round layer cakes: Cake: 2 cups all-purpose flour 1 tsp. baking soda ½ tsp. salt 1 cup hot coffee (decaf is fine if you don’t want to be up all night) 2/3 cup cocoa powder 2/3 cup semisweet chocolate chips 1 ½ cups sugar 1 cup sour cream 1 cup vegetable oil 4 large eggs 2 tsp vanilla extract Butter Icing: 1 ½ cups milk 7 ½ T. flour 1 ½ cups sugar 1 ½ cups salted butter 1 ½ tsp. vanilla Make the cake: Heat oven to 325 degrees. Grease and flour cake pan. Combine dry ingredients (flour, baking soda, and salt) in a bowl. In a second bowl, whisk together hot coffee, cocoa, and chocolate chips (this melts the chocolate) until smooth. To the chocolate mixture, add sugar, sour cream, oil, egg, and vanilla, and mix until combined. Then bake until a toothpick comes out with few dry crumbs attached, 35-45 minutes for 9 x 13-inch oblong or 2 9-inch rounds, 18-22 minutes for cupcakes. While cake is cooling, make the icing (we often make the cake the day before the icing): Whisk together milk and flour (or shake in cup with a lid). Then heat in a saucepan, stirring constantly, until mixture thickens. Remove from heat and refrigerate until very cool. When mixture is cold, soften butter, then cream butter, sugar, and vanilla with an electric beater until fluffy. Blend with the thickened milk mixture until thick and smooth. Spread on cake and eat immediately or refrigerate it to set the icing a bit. IF there is any left, keep refrigerated. These days, we make half a portion (just one 9-inch round), so we cut the cake recipe in half and make 2/3 of the icing (or you could make the whole batch and get in some graham crackers to help you finish off the extra). If you are a fan of dark chocolate, give our recipe a try. I think you’ll love it! Lissa Sloan is the author of Glass and Feathers, a dark continuation of the traditional Cinderella tale. Her fairy tale poems and short stories have appeared in The Fairy Tale Magazine, Niteblade Magazine, Corvid Queen, Three Ravens Podcast, and anthologies from World Weaver Press. Visit Lissa online at lissasloan.com, or connect on Facebook, Instagram, @lissa_sloan, or Twitter, @LissaSloan.

Hello Enchanted Friends: If you’re new to FTM in the last two years, you may not know that we were called Enchanted Conversation: A Fairy Tale Magazine, for many years. That’s where all of our Throwback Thursday material comes from. Today, I’m sharing the link to the archived site for those of you who’d like to check it out and explore. Here is the link. Why haven’t we shared the link before? Because by doing so, we will drive views away from this site, which is where we actually now live online, to the old site. The old site was on Blogger, owned by Google. By sending people to the old site, we may very well be pushing this site further down on search results. This site is on Wix; Google privileges Blogger over Wix. However (and I really have resisted saying anything about this, but realize I have to), the many inquiries by writers about the old site and/or Throwback Thursday (some of them very pointed and demanding) have finally pushed me to provide the link to the EC archive. A work per week through Throwback Thursday is what we can manage. I can only plead that we don’t have the womanpower for more than that. We can’t just merge the sites. We’ve tried. And I also need to give an announcement, that I previously thought would have been obvious: This site will not go on forever, and it too will be archived or maybe disappear. I don’t own the Internet. In fact, it will no longer be an active site after the end of 2026, unless someone else wants to run it. That’s just before I turn 65. There are many reasons why, but the fact is, I’ve been at this for well over 15 years already, and I’ll definitely be willing to pack it in by then. I enjoy the work, but it’s very time consuming, and I have fantastic help from Kelly Jarvis, Kim Malinowski, Madeline Mertz and Lissa Sloan. Even with their truly stellar efforts, the site is a lot of everything. (But they really are an awesome bunch.) There are many moving parts to this effort that most readers and writers never see. That’s because I want you to just enjoy yourselves. But the pressure of writers’ expectations over the last two years has become too much. Hence this post. I do want to make it clear that most writers are lovely to work with! If they weren’t, I’d quit. But as with any endeavor, the malcontents really bring down the vibe. Asking polite questions is fine! I encourage them, I promise. But if you do have questions, email them to me. Don’t put them under this post or on another public forum. My email is in many spots on this site, and it’s the official email for the entire enterprise, but here it is, again: katewolford1@gmail.com. One last thing: A shoutout to the Fairy Godparents Club. Your suppprt, in every way, helps make FTM better. Thank you! The Club is closed for this year, but will open again in January. Best, Kate Wolford

Fairy tale readers expect reversals. Princesses are exiled, tailors become kings, poor children become rich. But Rebecca Buchanan takes reversal to a whole new level in her searing poetry collection Not a Princess, (But) Yes, There Was a Pea & Other Tales to Foment Revolution. You know the fairy tale about the girl who arrives at the palace in a storm and gets a heck of a lot of scrutiny from the queen before she proves herself to be a princess by having a really thin skin? What if that rain-soaked heroine, instead of going from a down-on-her-luck princess to scoring an advantageous marriage, had a far different reversal in mind? This is only one of many “what ifs?” in Buchanan’s inciting arsenal. Not a Princess’s Content Warning page is more than an alert about potential triggers; it is a call to arms. It prepares the reader to expect the traumatic elements of both the fairy tales to follow and the real world we inhabit (ecological destruction, murder, abuse, and much more). But it also warns of the rewards of action and speaking up against injustice—things like hope, compassion, and courage. Like her titular poem, Buchanan’s other chosen tales will be familiar to most readers, making her pointed commentary all the more striking as she deftly pivots to examine stories from multiple angles. For instance, one Frog Prince poem features a princess who’s more than a little spoiled and entitled, while another’s heroine just isn’t okay with having a creepy stranger in her bed demanding kisses. Taking aim at greedy rulers and abusive parents as well as sexism, economic inequality, and injustice, Buchanan confidently invites readers to join her revolution or consider their own. Her voice is sharp, authentic, and filled with hope, and her words never miss their mark. Not a Princess, (But) Yes, There Was a Pea is heartbreaking, bold, and breathtaking. You can find it here. Lissa Sloan is the author of Glass and Feathers, a dark continuation of the traditional Cinderella tale. Her fairy tale poems and short stories appear in The Fairy Tale Magazine, Niteblade Magazine, Corvid Queen, and anthologies from World Weaver Press. Glass and Feathers appeared as a serial in The Fairy Tale Magazine last spring. Print and ebook release from The Enchanted Press was on March 26, 2024. Visit Lissa online at lissasloan.com, or connect on Facebook, Instagram, @lissa_sloan, or Twitter, @LissaSloan.

Yes, you read the title correctly. I really am recommending an over-the-counter pain relief cream that's similar to one the Amish traditionally use. I live a few miles away from a large Amish community--Northern Indiana is home to one of the largest populations of Amish in the world. Amish and Old Order Mennonite women clean our house and men from the same communities framed our house 18 years ago. I also used to teach a unit about the Amish in writing classes at a regional university. So, for an Englischer, the term the Amish and Old Order Mennonites use for all non-Amish people, I know a bit about the Plain People--which is not much, as the Amish and Old Order Mennonite people are far more diverse in their habits and customs than most people realize. But I'm not here to explain the Amish, which I am unqualified to do anyway. Instead, I'm here to recommend a cream for sore muscles that actually works. It's called Amish Origins Deep Penetrating Pain Relief Cream, and while I couldn't find a definitive origin story for it, the company that makes it claims the simple traditions of the Amish inspired this product. Here's what you need to know: I had the most epically debilitating lower back pain of my life last week. It. Was. Excruciating. As is often the case when I need comfort, I read some Regency and Amish romance novels. In one of the latter, a salve was mentioned as a sovereign remedy for muscle pain, arthritis, body aches, etc. Curious, I went to the Google machine and ordered Amish Origins cream (the ointment alternative is said to be very greasy and hard on clothes). The cream's ingredients are in this picture I grabbed from Amazon, where I bought it. Well, it worked. Within two days, I was able to move a bit, and last weekend I actually got out and about! So I'm using the cream I ordered on Amazon and giving it a strong recommendation to readers. I'll bet Cinderella would have used it! Kate Wolford is the publisher of FTM and The Enchanted Press. The press published its first book, Glass and Feathers, by Lissa Sloan, on March 26. You don't want to miss this engrossing continuation of Cinderella's story.

I gave an old woman two dollars, Meant for my morning coffee, And then handed her my coat, For spring is coming, But she looked so cold, Standing in her rags on the corner of the street. She looked at me and whispered; “You have a good heart, May God bless you.” We both smiled, And I went on my way. In the evening after work, It was cold, So I bought a coat, at a second-hand store. When she saw it, My aging mother cried; “We aren’t made of money!” Later, I discovered, Five hundred dollar bills, Stashed in the pocket, Of my new old coat. The next day I got a promotion, It came with a raise, And my mother was delighted. In the coming weeks, I found; Two hundred dollars on the streets, A winning lottery ticket forgotten on a bus seat, And a diamond earing, Strewn on the floor, By a bench where I sat. Before a month had gone by, A distant relative passed away, Leaving us a house, Along with a small fortune, And we gladly moved, As fast as we could, From the two-bedroom apartment, We had called our home, And lived like kings. Late for work, I pushed passed an old woman, Knocking over her cup of coins, And hurried along, Barely noticing, The familiar shape of her coat, Or hearing the words, That chased me down the street; “Damn you.” I lost my job, By the end of the week, And when I came home, I found the big house, Overridden with pests, Roaches and rats and toads. My wallet fell, As I sat on the bus, Those who found it, Emptied my account, And when I finally went, To exchange the diamond earring, I was told it was worth, Nothing more, Than shining plastic. Aliza Faber loves reading, writing and anything to do with fairy tales. She hopes one day she will have enough time to continue introducing less well known fairy tales on her blog taleaday.blogspot.com. (Editor's note: This is Aliza's bio from 2017. Her blog is still up even Thor she is not active on it. But this dark poem was irresistible for Throwback Thursday! KW) Art by Amanda Bergloff.

Marry Me By Midnight is an enchanting romance novel that twists the pattern of a Cinderella story. Isabelle Lira, a Jewish heiress living in London, 1832, is looking for a husband. Because her father, a prominent businessman who occupied a seat on the community Commission, has recently passed away, Isabelle must find a partner who will allow her to retain control at work. Instead of relying on a matchmaker as her family tradition dictates, Isabelle decides to host a series of festivals that announce her desire to marry, and she invites all eligible Jewish bachelors. When she meets Aaron Ellenberg, a poor synagogue custodian, she enlists his help to spy on her potential matches to ensure she will find a husband she can “control at work and enjoy in bed.” The romantic tension between Isabelle and Aaron fuels the plot of the book. Both characters are much deeper than their surface images imply, and their dynamic and spicy relationship will keep readers turning the pages. Grossman manages to both recreate and subvert a Cinderella tale by giving readers a woman who longs to be a prince because “princesses are gazed at and act as ornamental elements of desire.” Isabelle and Aaron’s relationship is a traditional one, but they manage to come together as equals despite their gendered and economic differences. In addition to being a fun romantic fairy tale retelling, Marry Me By Midnight offers excellent representation of the Jewish culture in 19th century England. Fans of historical romance, the Regency era, and fairy tale retellings will find much to love in this gem of a book! I enjoyed it! You can find the book here. Thank you to NetGalley for a free copy of this book in exchange for a fair review. Kelly Jarvis works as the Assistant Editor for The Fairy Tale Magazine where she writes stories, poems, essays, book reviews, and interviews. Her poetry has also been featured or is forthcoming in Blue Heron Review, Mermaids Monthly, Eternal Haunted Summer, Forget Me Not Press, The Magic of Us, A Moon of One’s Own, Baseball Bard, and Corvid Queen. Her short fiction has appeared in The Chamber Magazine and the World Weaver Press Anthology Mothers of Enchantment: New Tales of Fairy Godmothers. You can find her at https://kellyjarviswriter.com/

People who know me know I am a dedicated meditator. I began doing it in 2016, when I had a feeling things were about to go a little crazy in the world, and it helped keep me sane through the deaths of both my parents, the pandemic, the increasingly bizarre political situation in the US and some dreary health problems. Eventually, I took an online course to become a teacher--a rigorous course that took me 16 months to complete. It opened up my life to exploring a variety of meditation practices, and not just the mindfulness I've had the most training in. Nonetheless, mindfulness meditation is what I do most to this day, and I consider it the foundation of all of my other practices, including reiki. How does meditation help my home life? First and foremost, if I'm dreading a task, I find a few moments of taking deep breaths and focusing on them will calm me enough to get most jobs done. Second, I find that after I've meditated, if I need to, say, clean my refrigerator or do laundry, I get it done faster because my mind isn't distracting me with negative chatter about how awful I am at the task. Finally, I find that if I meditate first, I can move on to another task more easily. If you've never tried to meditate or tried and "failed," don't let that deter you. First of all, you can start by just doing one minute a day, and anyone can work that into a daily routine. That's literally how I started. Secondly, every single person's mind wanders when they meditate--usually every time they meditate. There is no "perfect" in meditation. It's not even an expectation or a goal. Meditation is like water smoothing out a rock, as it flows over it, year after year. Over time, even the most jagged stone will become smoother. With meditation, even the spikiest, most scattered mind will be smoother and calmer over time. So give it a try, and see if it improves your life just a bit. You only need to work yourself up from one to 10 minutes a day, and you can take as long as you need to do reach that goal. even if it feels like it's taking as long as Sleeping Beauty's nap! Confused as to how to start? Just go to YouTube and watch this video from the Calm app. You can close your eyes or watch the water. Just breathe deeply and enjoy. You'll be surprised how much it helps. Kate Wolford is the publisher of FTM and The Enchanted Press. The press published its first book, Glass and Feathers, by Lissa Sloan, on March 26. You don't want to miss this engrossing continuation of Cinderella's story. Second image from Pixabay.

Books about the fae have been all the rage recently, and Emily Wilde’s Encyclopaedia of Faeries is truly a standout among them. If you’re a fan of the fae, or any type of fairy tales or fantasy, this is absolutely the book for you. I found this book absolutely impossible to put down. The world building of this story is fantastic, with unique and tricksy fae breeds, and plot surprises around every corner. Dr. Emily Wilde travels north in this tale to uncover more about types of fae that no one has seen before, but she meets a problem when her enemy and academic rival (and suspected fae) Dr. Wendell Bambleby puts a hitch in her plans. If only he weren’t so handsome and charismatic, he would be a lot easier for her to ignore. It’s up to Emily to uncover more about the fae so she can continue her work at Cambridge and get the position she wants. All she needs to do is steer clear of Wendell Bambleby, but that is proving more difficult than she expected. I will always be a fan of swoon-worthy romance and nerdy male leads, and this book has both in spades. It’s the perfect blend of interesting fae facts, shocking reveals, and charged moments. I would absolutely recommend that this book be an addition to your spring reading list! You can find the book here. Madeline Mertz is FTM's editorial intern and is a Truman State University student with literary journal experience.

Book-loving introverts: Are you ready to escape the world and snuggle in with a sweet treat, a hot cuppa and an absorbing book? We at The Fairy Tale Magazine have discovered the subscription service for you. Introverts Retreat is a monthly book box offering “Everything you need to avoid people.” Here’s what’s included: "A BRAND NEW NOVEL OF YOUR CHOICE. You'll get to choose your own paperback novel (including brand new releases) from our bookstore. Or we'll send a surprise novel in your choice of genre. Plus we'll send a cute metal bookmark. CANDLE, BATH SALT SOAK AND SCENTED SOAP. Each set has an introverted theme and the candle will be custom poured according to your fragrance profile. Think 'Love Me Enough To Leave Me Alone' or 'I Came. I Saw. I Left Early.' Not a bath person? Choose a shower steamer instead of bath salt soak. DELICIOUS SWEET TREAT. Expect chocolate, delicious baked goods, caramel corn, and more, plus a serving of your choice of hot cocoa, loose leaf tea, or ground coffee." If that’s not awesome enough, we are delighted to announce that Introverts Retreat has included Glass and Feathers as one of its April picks! So if you need a gift for a book-lover who craves some alone time, or if you were waiting for the right time to pick up my Cinderella continuation novel, here’s a perfect opportunity! Editor's note: Images are by Introverts Retreat. Contents displayed in box are examples only. Lissa Sloan is the author of Glass and Feathers, a dark continuation of the traditional "Cinderella" tale. Her fairy tale poems and short stories have appeared in The Fairy Tale Magazine, Niteblade Magazine, Corvid Queen, and anthologies from World Weaver Press. Visit Lissa online at lissasloan.com, or connect on Facebook, Instagram, @lissa_sloan, or Twitter, @LissaSloan.