Many writers draw on the huge body of myths, legends, lore and fairy tales when working on their own speculative fiction - the dragons have done so themselves. Fairy tales in particular are told, retold, reimagined, reinvented and rebooted. So what is it about fairy tales that makes them so eminently reusable? Why is it that some retellings soar, seeming to touch some hidden need within readers, while others flop completely? Jules and Madeleine have a theory. Going back to the origins of the fairy tale, they look at why these stories endure taking examples such as Beauty and the Beast and Cinderella, and looking at various permutations; Naomi Novak - Spinning Silver, Beast - a Tale of Love and Revenge - Lisa Jensen, Deep and Darkest Red - Anna Marie McLemore and many others.
Title music: Ecstasy by Smiling Cynic
Episode 255: The Trials and Triumphs of 2020
Episode 254: Blood on the Snow - The Darker Christmas Stories
Episode 253: The Good Neighbours - Festive Faeries and Winter Elves
Episode 252: Why is There Never a Happy Ending? - and Other Questions Writers Get Asked
Episode 251 To Queer or not to Queer - Including LGBTQ+ Characters in Speculative Fiction
Episode 250: The Usual Suspects - Cast Calling for your Novel
Episode 249 - The Goddess' Chariot - Myths and Folktales of the Moon
Episode 248: All the Feels - Emotion and Characterisation in Speculative Fiction
Episode 247: Sweet, Awkward and Tongue-tied - The Unromantic Hero in Speculative Fiction
Episode 246 - Casting Long Shadows - How Horror Influences Other Genres
Episode 245: Old Gods & Ancient Stones - What Folk Horror has to say to a Modern Audience
Ep 244 - Of Fates and Phantoms - The Anatomy of the Ghost Story
Episode 243: The Mother of Science Fiction - The Life of Mary Shelley
Episode 242 - Chairs, Dolls & Diamonds - Cursed Objects in Fact and Fiction
Episode 241 - Vampires, Incubae and Goblin Kings - The Daemon Lover in Myth and Speculative Fiction
Episode 240: Paging Dr Love - What the Romance Genre can Teach Us about Writing
Episode 239: Unpopular Opinion Time (part 2) - The Dragon's Hot Takes on Speculative Issues
Episode 238: Unpopular Opinion Time (part 1) - The Dragons' Hot Takes on Speculative Issues
Episode 237: Sowing Prejudice - Accuracy and Research in Writing
Dissecting Dragons: Episode 236: News from the Word Mines - What No-one tells Newbies about Writing and Publishing
Create your
podcast in
minutes
It is Free
Lit Society: Books and Drama
Ex Libris
Write The Book: Conversations on Craft
Gulliver’s Travels
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes
Fresh Air
Myths and Legends