I woke in the night thinking about fairy tales and an email I’d received years ago from Stephen Fraser, a literary agent with the Jennifer De Chiara Literary Agency in New York. I’d sent him my novel Curva Peligrosa, hoping he’d represent it. Since he was the agent I was hoping for, I was delighted that he loved it.
After Stephen had read the first 50 pages, he emailed me, claiming my writing has the potency of folk or fairy tale. I was pleased that he picked up on that aspect of Curva Peligrosa since I think of it as an adult fairy tale. From the time I’d learned how to read, fairy tales, the world of mythos, nourished me and fed my curiosity about life and the world.
My parents had purchased a set of the Books of Knowledge, wonderful, fat red volumes that I browsed whenever I had the chance. Nursery rhymes, folk, and fairy tales held court at the center of each book in a special section. They were the heart of each encyclopedia, and I believe they continue to be the heart of literature. The heart of civilization in fact. The Books of Knowledge contained much of the everyday, mundane world (not that there aren’t amazing things in the everyday world as well), but at their core, these marvelous stories waited, nuggets to fuel the reader’s imagination and propel him/her forward.
They inform much of what I write.
7 thoughts on “How fairy tales feed my writing!”
Lily, you are such a good writer that I always await your notes on different issues and after reading them I broaden my vision and mind
with your wonderful and amazing thoughts. Kuodos to your untireing efforts to educate your countless readers all over the world!!
Thanks, Ahmed, for taking time to read some of my blog posts. I don’t hear from many readers, so I particularly appreciate hearing your kind words!
I am grateful to you for kind words about me which will certainly give me a boost in reading your future articles/notes and those I missed. No doubt you are an extremely good writer author and editor etc. I always feel pleasure to encourage and appreciate you. Kuodos with love and hugs!!
Credit goes to your parents for inculcating the habit of reading in you. I salute them!!
It actually was my grandfather who got me started with reading. He had been a Scots schoolmaster in his younger years!
Interestingly both of my paternal and maternal grandfathers were also school teachers. Paternal was headmaster and maternal a drawing teacher but both of them were well read and always gifted us books for reading. I really and really miss them!!
How fortunate you were to have these teachers in your formative years!