fairy tales

Leave a comment Posted on announcements, children's fiction, fairy tales, new editions, Publication day, republications, YA fiction

Publication week for new edition of The Green Prince and The Firebird

Absolutely delighted to announce that this week marks the publication of the new print editions of two of my earlier fairytale novels, The Green Prince and The Firebird, published by Brio Books in the Untapped Australian Classics list. The Green Prince was originally published in 2000, was shortlisted in the Aurealis Awards, and also turned into a stage play. It was chosen to be republished as an ebook in the wonderful Untapped Australian Literary Heritage Project, and from there was selected for inclusion in the print republication by Brio Books. The Firebird was first published in 2001, and was produced as an audio book in 2005. It also was chosen to be republished as an ebook by the Untapped project, and from there selected for inclusion for a new print edition by Brio Books. Aren’t both covers gorgeous!

It’s so wonderful to see these books back in circulation, both as print and e-editions, and hopefully they will find their way into the hands of a new generation of readers, as well as earlier fans whose previous copies might have worn out :-)Thank you so much to Untapped and to Brio Books for keeping the books alive, available and accessible!

Later, in late October, will come the new print edition of Cold Iron. Watch this space!

Leave a comment Posted on announcements, Creative work, fairy tales, fantasy, novels, Publishing business, YA fiction

Republishing in print of three of my fantasy novels

I’m very pleased to announce that Cold Iron, The Green Prince and The Firebird, my three YA fantasy novels that were originally selected for the fabulous Untapped project and republished as ebooks available to buy and borrow, will now also be republished in print, by Brio Books/Booktopia. The books were originally published in the late 90’s and early 2000’s, and were popular with readers, so it’s wonderful to see them acquire a new lease of life in both print and e-editions. And just look at their striking new print covers, below! (You can also see a link to the page for each book, under its cover.) The novels are being published over July, August and September this year within the Untapped series, which includes lots of other wonderful, previously out of print books by a large range of fantastic Australian authors, both for adults and young adults. You can check out the whole series here. All books are available to be pre-ordered now.

Out July 26th. Originally published 1998. Also published in the US as Malkin. Short blurb and more details here.
Out August 30. First published in 2000, shortlisted for the Aurealis Awards. Adapted into a stage play in 2001 (script for play available for purchase at Australian Plays Transform) Short blurb and more details on the book here.
Out September 27. Originally published in 2001. Shortlisted for the Aurealis Awards. Short blurb and more details here.
Leave a comment Posted on adult fiction, anthologies, crime fiction, fairy tales, Readings, short stories

My reading from The Silver Apples of the Moon

In this short video, I read an extract from my short story, The Silver Apples of the Moon, which was published in the superb illustrated anthology, South of the Sun: Australian Fairy Tales for the 21st Century, released earlier this year by the Australian Fairy Tale Society and Serenity Press.

The story is a mix of fairytale, crime thriller, and the supernatural. Hope you enjoy the reading and that it stimulates you to want to read it all and seek out the anthology, which is packed full of extraordinary stories, poems, lyrics and illustrations from both established and emerging Australian writers and illustrators. (By the way, this is very much an adult book, not one for kids.)

Leave a comment Posted on announcements, creative activities, Creative life, fairy tales, Multi arts, Music

Lovely trailer for album inspired by French Fairy Tales

It’s always wonderful when fellow creators working in other art forms are inspired by your work, so I was delighted when French Fairy Tales, my book with the wonderful illustrator Lorena Carrington (Serenity Press 2020), became the inspiration for talented musician and composer Reilly McCarron’s new album, Il était une fois (once upon a time in French). The album will be released in April by Serenity Press, and it features Reilly’s haunting compositions and soundscapes, brief readings in French translation by Cathy Abadie of snippets from my own retellings of the stories, and evocative singing by Cathy of the beautiful old song, A la claire fontaine. It’s amazing, actually, to hear Cathy’s translation of my retellings of the tales, because I created the English translations directly from the French originals, and now they’ve cycled back into French, but using my words!

You can read more about the album in this post by fellow fairy tale aficionado Louisa John-Krol, and watch a gorgeous trailer for the album below.

Leave a comment Posted on Authors, Celebrations, fairy tales, Illustrators, launches, Publishers, Videos

What a lovely launch of French Fairy Tales!

It was such a wonderful launch last night, so much enjoyed it! Below you can find a link to the video of the launch(which was live online)

To get a copy of the book, visit the Serenity Press website. Here’s a link to the print edition: https://www.serenitypress.org/product-page/french-fairy-tales

And here’s a link to the flipbook edition(like an ebook, only better!): https://www.flipsnack.com/…/french-fairy…/full-view.html

Leave a comment Posted on author talks, collaborations, creative process, fairy tales, forthcoming books, illustrated talk, Inspirations, video resource

Video on the inspirations and sources behind French Fairy Tales

I’ve made a video presentation about the inspirations and sources behind my retellings in French Fairy Tales, which includes both personal and family connections, as well as information about the tales themselves. Hope you enjoy!

And by the way, on November 7, at 2-4 pm(Australian Eastern daylight saving time) I’m running an online creative workshop for the New England Writers’ Centre, via Zoom, on how to retell fairy tales and how to adapt them for your own fiction. You can check out details here.

Leave a comment Posted on announcements, fairy tales, workshops

My fairy tale workshop

I’m very pleased to announce that I’ll be running a two-hour online fairy tale workshop, Once Upon A Time, for the New England Writers’ Centre on Saturday November 7. It will fit in with the publication of French Fairy Tales, my book with Lorena Carrington, which is being published by Serenity Press on October 30. In the workshop, I will look at the tradition of the fairy tale and how writers can use these wonderful old stories as inspirations and sources for their own fiction. Whether you want to retell fairy tales in your own unique way, or create novels based on fairy tale, this workshop will show you how to create enchanting and imaginative storyworlds.

The workshop is open to anyone around Australia, but numbers are limited. More information and how to book here.

Leave a comment Posted on Book talk, fairy tales, Inspirations, sources

Fairytale-tellers: post on my fairytale blog

Over at my fairytale blog, I have a post which is part of a series about some of the great classic French writers of fairytales, from whom I’ve drawn my sources and inspirations for my own retold tales in my forthcoming collection with Lorena Carrington, French Fairy Tales (Serenity Press). You can read the introductory post here. More to follow later.

Leave a comment Posted on Art, Book talk, collaborations, Creative life, fairy tales, forthcoming books, Illustrators, Travel

French fairy tale travelling, by Lorena Carrington — Sophie Masson’s Fairytale Country

Today I’m welcoming my wonderful co-creator, Lorena Carrington, to this blog, to write about the travels in France that helped to inspire her glorious illustrations in French Fairy Tales. All photographs in this post are by Lorena. French fairy tale travelling, by Lorena Carrington In late September last year, I touched down in France with […]

French fairy tale travelling, by Lorena Carrington — Sophie Masson’s Fairytale Country