October, Princesses, and NEWS

If you hadn't already heard, October is Twelve Dancing Princesses month over at Fairy Tale Central. I've already posted a short story/opening scene snippet on a new 12DP retelling that I DARE NOT go back to with NaNo so close on the horizon. There's just so much about the original fairytale that people overlook sometimes; it's just cool to jump straight in and pull things out to twist in your own way.

Ahem. So, yeah, I'm definitely NOT thinking about that other story. Especially since I'm planning on working on my OTHER 12DP mammoth novel for NaNo. The Twelfth Kingdom is currently 118K words, and I'm really hoping to be able to finish a first draft by Christmas. Maybe. We'll see how November cooperates with me.

But I'm talking of 12DP-- and Fairy Tale Central. Because this month, guys, I had the honor of writing up two book reviews as well as participating in a film group review. It was so much fun! You would think by now that I'd be sick of 12DP, but I'm still feeling ready to jump into more retellings.

Review here on Fairy Tale Central.

First off, I soooo enjoyed getting to read Suzannah Rowntree's The City Beyond the Glass. Set in Venice (which was too cool with gondolas and the works!), this story follows the adventures of three sisters (instead of twelve), but the fairytale vibes are super strong and extremely well-worked. It gets a bit darker at times, but I would definitely recommend this for any fairytale enthusiast. It was absolutely lovely and perfection.

Review here on Fairy Tale Central.

I also reviewed The Night Dance by Suzanne Weyn for FTC. That one... hmmm. To be honest, I wish that author hadn't written it. The whole premise is such a cool idea with a King Arthur and 12DP mashup. IT WAS GLORIOUS. But the execution of the plot, the characters, the legends... it all came across VERY WEAK and it was almost too disappointing to bother with. I struggled with putting this review on FTC only because I wanted so badly to LOVE this book, only to be able to say, "It was a meh retelling." Urgh. PEOPLE. Arthurian legends and 12DP were MADE for each other. Someone do this idea justice, PLEASE.

Review here on KiriBeth.

Besides those two books, I did an extra 12DP reading and reviewed The Girls at the Kingfisher Club by Genevieve Valentine on my book blog, KiriBeth. THIS BOOK. I'm still kinda bitter over it. Again, a fantastic idea of setting 12DP in the Roaring Twenties and the speakeasies. I mean, where better historically for a group of sisters to dance the night away? HOWEVER, there was a lot of moral content that I had big issues with. I won't go into detail here, but you can read the full review on KiriBeth. I was super bummed. In all honesty, I don't think I could really recommend the book to anyone.

Group review here on Fairy Tale Central.

But let's end this list of reviews on a bright note, shall we? I mentioned above I'd participated in a film group review for FTC? Well, the lovely ladies and I had tons of fun writing up our thoughts on Barbie in the Twelve Dancing Princesses, one of my favorite Barbie movies/kid fairytale films to date. I'm still very much a kid at heart, and this movie shall always be a favorite.

Oh, yes, and I did promise you a bit of news, didn't I?

(My apologies for just an ultrasound pic, but I'm not extremely comfortable with sharing pics of my kiddos on a public blog at the moment.)

Many of you know that our son was due to be born here early in November. Well, he's no longer a November baby since he took it upon himself to arrive a full two weeks and two days early. Baby Joey is doing well, eating like the growing boy that he is, and his older sister absolutely adores him. If my writing at all seems garbled, that's probably because I'm not getting a full night's sleep every night. But he's totally worth it.

I'm still a little in shock that he's already here. It's difficult to look at him and not feel a sudden, overwhelming sense of blessedness. God truly has been gracious to our family -- first, with the birth of our daughter back in April of last year, and now the birth of our son. Every life is precious, and when it's your own kids, somehow, it's only that much more precious. I wouldn't trade them for the world.

Joey will be making NaNo VERY interesting, though. Kiddos come first, obviously, but I'm hoping to get some writing done.

How about you? Any plans for NaNo? Or shout-outs for other 12DP retellings I need to read? Let me know in the comments below!

God bless!