Posts

A Snippet from To Rival a Reflection

-
Image
  To Rival a Reflection A Snippet from my Draft in Progress “Perfect,” she said over the red gown as she admired herself in her mirrors before heading over to the magic mirror to ask the question, to which she had no doubt what the answer would be. She reached for a tiara from her vanity and opened a drawer to retrieve some gloves, adding some rings overtop. The shoes she donned last added a few extra inches of height, which gave her the sensation that she towered invincibly over the world. She passed several other mirrors on her way, and her smile grew wider and wider as she progressed down the hallways and continued to see her beautiful, perfect face in each glass. “No one could be fairer than I!” she breathed to her reflection. “Except you,” she added with a wink. Then she walked with an air of confidence and poise to the room wherein stood the Enchantress’s magic mirror.  The room was reserved solely for the purpose of displaying the magic mirror. Having once been her father’s stud
Post a Comment
Read more

The Shattered Tales

-
Image
When the princess isn't who she says she is, roles are reversed, the kingdom is at stake, glass breaks, and reflections are wrong, can happily ever after still happen? Twelve beloved and new authors have banded together to answer that question! The Shattered Tales is a collection of twelve fractured retellings of your favorite fairy tales. They can be enjoyed in any order, so fall in love with the swoony sweet romance, magical adventures, and tale-shattering twists one happily-ever-after at a time! Want to read the first chapter of every book early? Between now and the end of July, if you preorder every book and forward the receipts to kendraeardnek@gmail.com, you will be sent a PDF with all twelve chapters on August 1st. What if Snow White wanted to be the fairest of them all? Chosen by an Enchantress to receive gifts of perpetual youth and beauty, Snow White is confident she’ll continue to hear the words of the magic mirror: “You are the fairest one of all.” But when her reflecti
Post a Comment
Read more

Something is coming this Fall/Winter!

-
Image
 Hello! If you have been following me on Instagram or Facebook, then you know I am part of a multi-author fairytale novella series releasing this upcoming fall and winter!  Right now until June 12, you can pre-order the ebook for 99 cents. That means you can get the whole series for just $12! Order them here: https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B0C46HX3PG From June 1-12, we will be revealing our covers on social media, so be sure to follow me at @selinawriting to see our shiny new covers. This is my first book - my debut release - so I'm very excited to share it with you! You can also help us with the cover reveal. Check out Kendra E. Ardnek's blog for the series info; within her blog page there is a link to a Google doc, where you can sign up to participate in our upcoming cover reveals. Click here to read about our novellas and sign up to be part of our cover reveal team!  https://aristasdirectory.blogspot.com/p/the-shattered-tales.html What if Snow White wanted to be the fairest of the
Post a Comment
Read more

Evening Song

-
Image
This is my second submission to the Literary Taxidermy competition. The first and last lines are taken from Edgar Allen Poe's story, "MS. Found in a Bottle".  Photo by stein egil liland on Pexels EVENING SONG Of my country and of my family I have little to say. Neither of my two former homes sparks even the tiniest flame of longing or love. I have no memory of my origins before the Winged Ones came in the night and whisked me off to live with them. My parents must have presumed me dead, but they neither prayed for me nor prayed to me, and they did not pursue finding me – or so the Winged Ones said.  I had, they told me, the Voice of the Sky; even as a little one they heard my small voice singing in the wind, and they came for me, scooping me up in their arms and soaring off into the endless dark of the early morning sky before the tip of dawn could witness their flight. The human child with the Voice of the Sky was now theirs. There would be nothing to go back to in the h
Post a Comment
Read more

A Thousand Sparks of Ember

-
Image
This story is one of my submissions to the 2022 Literary Taxidermy writing competition. The first and last lines are taken from the poem As I Grew Older by Langston Hughes (as per the requirements of the competition). These first and last lines have been reimagined into a new story, titled: A THOUSAND SPARKS OF EMBER Image by Adonyi  Gábor on Pexels It was a long time ago when I last saw or felt a smile. We naively went about our lives in the shadows then. If we were happy, our happiness was bound up by our ignorance; and if we were unhappy, it was the brief unhappiness of an everyday inconvenience, or the bittersweet sorrow of the passing beyond of a loved one whom we knew we would see again tomorrow.  It was not yet our time to step into the sun, and we knew nothing of what lay beyond. We knew nothing of what it was to suffer, or to be caught under the slaughtering arm of an enemy. What was an enemy? How were we to know? We lived isolated and alone, carefree and content. All we knew
Post a Comment
Read more

Bread Crumbs

-
Image
Reimagining Hansel and Gretel in Microfiction:   Three microfiction pieces submitted to a Fractured Lit competition using the prompt "bread crumbs"  Escape      Each breadcrumb was manna to our hungry eyes. Our own shadows pushed us onward; any one might be the enemy close behind.      We had walked right into their illusion, drawn like children to sweets.       “Go back!” I had screamed. “It's a trap!”       Too late. Gloved fingers reached, silver instruments tormented, sharp minds probed, and our silence slipped into spoken secrets. We were powerless against those who could lure us into their hidden stronghold in the woods.       And was this escape just another mind trick? we wondered, as the crumbs marking our way turned to drops of blood in the snow.  Thanks, but No Thanks      Before learning to burn bridges, I did Thanksgiving at my Dad’s.       “A plump turkey just for you, Gretta,” my stepmom crooned.      It’s plumper than I ever was, I thought, remembering Tha
Post a Comment
Read more

Pale as Ashen Snow

-
Image
A flash fiction fractured fairytale also submitted to the Fractured Lit competition.   Pale as Ashen Snow My tears blurred my needlework as I stitched another blanket for another new mother in the village. The snow and ice around me was gray and barren, and I felt the emptiness in my soul. Still I didn’t dare go inside, where my husband would mock me for my tears and any errors on the embroidery that might ensue. I wept, for my own desire to have a little one to wrap in a blanket such as this proved fruitless winter after winter. I sucked in a cold breath as I pricked my finger. My tears, blinding me, had led to this mistake. Foolish woman! I chided myself.  A single drop of blood beaded on the crystal snow, and as I looked at the stark contrast of colors, I prayed for a baby with skin as white as snow and lips as red as ruby blood. Little did I realize, you do not make prayers with curses on your breath. For curse I did: cursing my mother and father for marrying me off late; cursing
Post a Comment
Read more