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Author
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Comment
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Jane Yolen
Unregistered User
(1/23/03 10:55:13 pm)
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again my books
I know, I know--you are all tired of my saying, "I already wrote that book!" But honest, it's true. This spring (maybe March or April) my book MIGHTIER THAN THE SWORD: World Folktales for Strong Young Men will be out from Philomel/Putnam. Fourteen folk stories retold by moi, in which the hero never picks up a sword but wins by his wits, by his compassion, or with the help of his friends.With full notes on the stories. A companion to NOT ONE DAMSEL IN DISTRESS: World Folktales for Strong Young Women. B&w pictures by Raul Colon.
Jane
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Nalo
Registered User
(1/28/03 1:55:54 pm)
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Re: again my books
But, Jane; I love it when you say that.
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Nalo
Registered User
(1/28/03 2:16:11 pm)
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Re: teaching stories for young men
One more thing to say on this topic: I just received in the mail a copy of _The Best American Erotica 2003,_ edited by Susie Bright. In it is a story I found absolutely enchanting, as well as being very sexy, and I think it might be worth looking into. It's called "The Erotic Adventures of Jim and Louella Parsons," and it's by Bertice Berry. [SPOILER ALERT]
In the story, Jim and Louella Parsons are a couple (black, I think)
who have been married for 26 years. They're in their fifties. They're
working class folks. Louella describes them as a "country couple."
They've been going along fine for almost three decades, have built
quite a satisfying marriage, when Jim Parsons stops being able to
have erections. Louella knows what she needs to do when she doesn't
know the answer: she needs to call on her ancestors. So she goes
to sleep to request some advice from her dead mother, grandmother
and great-grandmother. She figures the women will be the most use
to her in this situation. And the juicy, honest, down-to-earth advice
that these women give her sets Louella and her husband on a voyage
of sexual self-discovery that is one of the sweetest, hottest, most
romantic things I've ever read. Neither of these folks is into anything
fancy, athletic or kinky. They just find their way back to each
other and re-inject some spice into their marriage. And the presence
of the dead women ancestors in the story means that I'm still on
topic!
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DonnaQ
Registered User
(1/29/03 12:04:17 am)
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Bring back that loving feeling....
Nalo - thanks for the recommendation. Have you read Midori Snyder's "Tattercoats" in <Black Thorn, White Rose>? It has a similar theme...
PS - Congrats on the compliments in this past week's book section in the Inqurier!!!
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Nalo
Registered User
(1/29/03 10:47:05 am)
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Re: Bring back that loving feeling....
Yes, I do remember Midori's "Tattercoats," now that I think of it. That one made me smile, too.
You don't mean the National Enquirer, do you?
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Judith
Berman
Registered User
(1/29/03 11:13:54 am)
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In/Enquirer
I assume the Philadelphia Inquirer is what Donna means, but I haven't managed to read the paper in a week, so I missed the review if that's where it was!
But you might be able to find it at their online site.
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DonnaQ
Registered User
(1/30/03 12:31:11 am)
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Re: In/Enquirer
Thanks Judith, I do mean the Phila. Inquirer. There's a review of - Conjunctions:39 - New Wave Fabulists - in the book section and it speaks quite highly of the contributors, including Nalo...
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spideri
Registered User
(1/30/03 9:14:12 am)
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teaching stories for young men
Late to the board, I know, but I suggest "Connla and the Fairy Maiden" in Celtic Fairy Tales collected by Joseph Jacobs. Prince Connla, son of 'Conn of the Hundred Fights,' catches the fancy - and a magic apple from - a fairy maiden. In a month's time she reappears and Prince Connla departs - despite the pleas of his warrior father and the efforts of the druid high priest.- with the maiden for Tir Nan Og - the apple orchard island of Eternity "where there is neither death nor sin," says she. So off they go in a crystal canoe and were no more seen.
Can't wait to read the Henry VIII!
Beatrice
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enchantmentweaver
Registered User
(1/31/03 10:32:46 pm)
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teaching stories for young men
Jane, I finally did connect with Charles - He has an extra copy of your King Henry Story and he said he would get one off to me when he returned from his conference.
I CANNOT WAIT until "Mightier Than The Sword" comes out!!!! and I have ordered the companion "Not one damsel in distress" - This is exactly the kind of material I am looking for - don't ever hold out us because you think we're tired of hearing you say "I already wrote that book" - I think it's delightful....Could you tell me a little about how you came to do these two books - inspiration or were you asked to write them?
Nalo, well you've piqued my interest - sounds more like visionary fiction to me -what's erotic in this story? (The Erotic Adventures of Jim and Louella Parsons)
Margaret
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Nalo
Registered User
(1/31/03 10:38:36 pm)
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Re: teaching stories for young men
Margaret, the story's full of sex, from beginning to end. Or rather, lots of imaginative foreplay. [spoiler alert]. The female ancestors advise Louella are first to start with talking to each other about what they'd like to do in bed; only talking. It's the first time they've ever *talked,* rather than just doing it, and they both find out new things about each other. The next day, they can--I forget what; kiss, I think, but only above the waist. And so on. By the time the day rolls around when they're allowed to try sex again, they've come up with some new things to try, and they've built up quite a head of steam. And they now know each other a little better. The two of them are so eager to get into each other's arms that they 'bout near scare the horses. They certainly startle the nosy neighbour. It's pretty explicit, but also funny, sweet and tender.
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Jane Yolen
Unregistered User
(2/1/03 4:16:17 am)
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How I wrote those books (short)
Seems odd to put this note right after Nalo's sexy one! <G>
My editor and I were trying a way to do an amazon princess fairy tale book (my idea, she loved it) and together we came up with the title. The second book flowed naturally from the first. Boring story actually. Good books. (I hope.)
Jane
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briggsw
Unregistered User
(2/5/03 8:58:05 pm)
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teaching stories for young men
Well, for addiction, I think of the lotus eaters, or the sirens ...
... and for coming to see women as real, the movie Weird Science is great. The boys (one character, maybe?) originally have nothing but dreams; then they get a fairy-tale goddess who stretches them mercilessly into maturity, so that before the weekend's over they're ready to respond to real, flesh-and-blood girls rather than sitting in their rooms watching TV and talking about sex to each other. There is a strong hint that every male adolescent has to go thru this, being overwhelmed by his anima and then learning to notice that there's a woman on the far side of it.
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bielie
Registered User
(2/6/03 3:24:38 pm)
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Weird science
Wow, you just redeemed a movie I thought was without any saving
graces!
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enchantmentweaver
Registered User
(2/7/03 8:49:28 am)
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Re: teaching stories for young men - an aside for Jane
Jane,while attending a book fair a few days ago, I was fortunate to run across a tattered and obviously well read copy of your book "Writing Stories for Children" .I n terms of the topic of this thread, "teaching stories for young men" I really stopped in my tracks when I read what you had to say on "taking joy" vs. "creative outrage". I unfortunately, got a glimpse of myself in the mirror of creative outrage and this is NOT the legacy I want to leave behind. This radically shifted my thinking about how I should continue to approach the work with young ones and in a very specific way, in terms of the stories I will select to use and work with. You did say something about a particular writer/storyteller whose work was born in sorrow but CONCEIVED in Joy and for me this was a simple idea that could take a lifetime to live into....as in Rilke's
"i beg you to have patience with everything that remains unsolved in your heart and try to love the questions themselves like locked rooms or books written in a very foriegn language. don't serch for the answers, which could not be given you now, because you would not be able to live them....perhaps, then someday far in the future, you will gradually, without ever noticing it, live your way into the answer...
Would you be willing to say more about what is to express "work that is born in sorrow but conceived in joy" - or is this a part of the material that is coming out in your new book "Take Joy"?
For me, this was one or two sentences that made an impact. It raised a question that may just need to be lived into but I did want to ask as it is very relevant to my work with the young ones.
Blessings, Margaret
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Jane Yolen
Unregistered User
(2/7/03 2:06:15 pm)
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A sort of answer
I'm not sure what I meant then--it was near twenty years ago when I wrote that sentence, I believe. But I could point you to two specific books of mine--both Holocaust novels, The Devil's Arithmetic and Briar Rose. Conceived in sorrow certainly, because of the subject matter. But written with joy, because by writing, I could make sense of the insensate; I could think about the unthinkable. And because, for me, the act of writing is a positive, joyful act, am act of creation.
Jane
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enchantmentweaver
Registered User
(2/7/03 3:13:15 pm)
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Re: A sort of answer
Jane, thank you for your response - I think for me, it is about trying to wrestle with subject matter that is sorrowful in a way that doesn't come across as "creative outrage" - several times in that book you warned writers to be subtle... to avoid moralizing, or preaching to a young audience. I figured you wrote the book quite a long time ago because you were advising writer's to make carbons of their work!
margaret
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