Inspiration from Fairy Tales

Here are two great reference webpages for Fairy Tales. The first, Sur La Lune, I found while doing research during my first year at varsity and it has remained a favourite since.

Sur La Lune Fairy Tales

“SurLaLune Fairy Tales features 49 annotated fairy tales, including their histories, similar tales across cultures, modern interpretations and over 1,500 illustrations. Also discover over 1,600 folktales & fairy tales from around the world in more than 40 full-text eBooks.” Need I say more?

Online Books Page: Fairy Tales 

by John Mark Ockerbloom of the University of Pennsylvania consists of many electronic texts, is easy to navigate and also references other tertiary institutions – which is always a good sign. 

Cinderella by Eleanor Abbott

Last week I looked at mythology and legends, focusing on Germanic myth and tales. Find it here.

Firebird by I. Bibilin

The beautiful illustrations and the quoted paragraph are from Sur La Lune Fairy Tales. 

Interesting reads and sites of the week, part 1:

Welcome to the first “interesting reads and sites” Thursday; where I share some of the stories or sites I came across during this week.[1]

World Enough, and Time – a new series of articles on The Friday Challenge about "finding the time to write and to publish." I enjoyed the style this was written in and will definitely keep my eye out for the new ones!

Some more good writing advice from Rachelle Gardner:  Story vs. Craft. 

I have to mention SpecGram’s new June 2011 issue - as always, it’s a hoot to read. This month I especially love the “linguistic love song”... I do not have an article in this issue, but I am (slowly, but surely) working on another one which I am sure will rock the linguistics world! 

Something for the eye: 

I stumbled across this wonderful gallery by Gold-seven on DeviantArt – one of my favourite web haunts for inspiration. 

The Choice of Luthien by Gold Seven

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[1] These articles, stories and sites are chosen by me, I do not receive any remuneration for any of these mentions. 

Still Worldbuilding Dragons… Sort Of

After a lull in posting (mostly to do with me being on leave), I’m glad to be back in my normal routine – even though I will miss the lovely afternoon naps! I had a wonderful, relaxing and creative week and a half and had a chance to recharge my batteries.

Current Writing

I’ve spent a lot of the time at home building a WikidPad file on Airthai. (Warning: This program is extremely addictive!) will not only make it easier for me to find those elusive notes I’ve so far kept in many notebooks, but also make it easier to post pieces of Airthai fiction and worldbuilding on the blog. Have a listen to this episode of Writing Excuses for some other good Story Bible ideas.

I’m also hard at work on a big rewrite of “The Guardian” which was posted a while back. With the details of the world being filled in, I decided that the short piece, as it was, does not do the story line justice. Here’s just a small teaser of the new and improved "The Dragon Seeker":

The Dragon Seeker

Liuter made his way from the ruins of the city, following the charred land to the ridge the dragon had made its temporary home. He did not try to sneak up to the beast – its sense of smell was far too good. But he did start to sing in the tongue the Dragon Guardians were gifted to communicate with the great dragons, the diuzis-winnan. He started singing for calmness and rest, one of the oldest songs the Dragon Guardians knew: “Aftra aflinnan aírthái, aftra aflinnan afdumbna, afslagan bileitha, afdobnau slépan, slépan nachts diuzis-winnan!”

The poor thing must have been through hell; probably one of the first wild dragons of the Midlands. “Láusei uns af þamma ubilin,” he prayed under his breath.

Liuter stepped up to the rock overhang underneath which the dragon laid stretched out and apparently asleep. He fervently hoped that the song had been strong enough to bind the dragon in place.  The Dragon Seeker saw that the dragon was entirely scarlet in colour, instead of the sapphire hue of the sea or the green of new spring leaves. If the dragon had fallen too far or had become completely wild, they would not be able to communicate with the language. “What is your name?” he asked the dragon.

A wonderful illustration called “Fearsome Drake” by Ben Wootten; one of my favourite artists. 

Until next time,

Á Agrai tellarias or s'agrélar silássa.

My Personal Guide to Keeping Sane

I’ve decided to make this week’s post about links that I use or which keeps me sane. This can be through giving me a good laugh when I need one, helping me to better my writing, getting me in touch with others in my field or simply providing some beautiful art to look at.


When writing…

As an inspiring writing, I’m always looking for hints and tips about writing better. I am a big fan of Brandon Sanderson (Elantris, Mistborn, Way of Kings) and Howard Tayler (Schlock Mercenary) and I also listen to their weekly podcast called Writing Excuses. Not only do they give great advice, but it also focuses on speculative fiction!

When working…

As a full-time Language Practitioner, I love to hear what other people in my field have to say and there are quite a few blogs out there by very talented translators and editors which is delightful to receive in your RSS feed. Rantings of a sub-editor had me and my fellow language-people at work in stitches last week – and just goes to show how a small error can go terribly wrong… Also check out Musings from an overworked translator and Translating is an Art.

My love of language also gets fed by Anatoly Lieberman’s weekly blog over at Oxford University Press. Check out the OUP Dictionary and Lexicography RSS feeds if you love language. The Western religion RSS feed is also fascinating.

A ray of beauty every day…

I stumbled upon Gennine’s Art Blog about two months ago and find her art an inspiration every day.

A good laugh a day keeps the doctor away…

There are two daily web comics which I follow and which makes me have a good laugh. The one is Schlock Mercenary and the other is Surviving the World. Check them out, but beware – they are addictive!