Hallo, Hallo dear hearts!
As you might have already surmised, I am kicking-off a preview of what is going to alight on Jorie Loves A Story in May during my co-hosted event ‘Wyrd and Wonder’ with today’s conversation with Kaki Olsen! You might recognise her name, as I was on her blog tour for ‘Swan and Shadow’ – wherein I was first introduced to her style of combining Fantasy, Contemporary life and the folklore behind the ballet ‘Swan Lake’.
In the years since I read her debut novel, I’ve enjoyed keeping in touch with Ms Olsen – learning about her new stories and hopefully one day, will be relieved to hear there is a sequel to ‘Swan and Shadow’. Back in November of 2017, during #RRSciFiMonth, I hosted one of the event’s Twitter chats featuring a discussion about her previously released short within the Iron Dove’s Charity Anthology – wherein a dragon and a spaceship are part of the plot! I’ve been meaning to bring the transcript of that chat to my blog in order for everyone to enjoy the ruminative thoughts which were explored during it – something I have been earmarking to reveal during ‘Wyrd and Wonder’, as the story befits both genres of exploration: Science Fiction & Fantasy due to the genre bending elements within it.
Speculative Fiction is something I personally love to read – love to explore and love to rally behind because of how enjoyable the stories are to be read. You get to expand what you understand about your world but also the worlds in which stories can reside – as each writer I find who dares to re-invent their genre of interest is furthering our course towards a place where stories not only tackle new dimensions of insight they allow us to travel further than we have in previous generations. Speculative Fiction also doesn’t hold to certain restrictive barriers like other genres nor do they have a lot of boundaries of what you could or couldn’t conjure into life within a story either. For this, they are wicked imaginative – giving us a delight of seeing how each writer in turn re-sees the potential for the world they are wanting to create for us to visit.
When it comes to re-tellings and re-imaginings within Fantasy – wells, let’s just say, as a book blogger I’ve gained exposure to more than one novelist and short story writer’s interpretation of original source material! The fairytales are becoming some of my favourites to be re-created by far but there are stories based on folklore and mythology which are also starting to entreat into my reading life which are equally beloved. The best part of course is the diversity of stories and the resourcefulness of the writers who are crafting these tales. They take-on new ways of telling a story but with the solid world-building your expecting out of more traditional Fantasy settings. For this, I’ll be forever grateful.
Today, when I first heard about the premise behind this short story “Ethical Will” I knew I wanted to help spotlight it and feature a convo of introduction with my readers. I will be re-exploring the main components of this story and my reflections after having read it during ‘Wyrd and Wonder’ but for now, I wanted to give Ms Olsen the main spotlight in having the chance to tell you about the story and her inspiration for creating stories of fantastical realms!
Pull up a comfy chair, grab your favourite cuppa and settle in for a lovely conversation! Be sure to leave your thoughts and reactions for Ms Olsen in the comment threads & be sure to return in May to see which works of Fantasy have tempted me to reside within their worlds this inaugural year of ‘Wyrd and Wonder’!
On my connection to Ms Olsen:
I happily have had the pleasure of interacting with Ms Olsen whilst hosting her blog tour “Swan and Shadow” and in the years since it was released. Our friendship grew out of a mutual passion for reading, researching our stories and the many mutual interests we each share whilst finding ourselves randomly conversing on Twitter. We have enjoyed keeping in touch sharing our bookish and writerly lives whilst appreciating a fascination with the world of Fantasy.
I am disclosing this, to assure you that I can formulate an honest opinion, even though I have interacted with her ahead of reading her novels. I treat each book as a ‘new experience’, whether I personally know the author OR whether I am reading a book by them for the first time. This is also true when I follow-up with them on future releases and celebrate the book birthdays that come after their initial publication.
Unspun
Subtitle: A Collection of Tattered Fairy Tales
by Kaki Olsen
Whatever happened to “happily ever after”?
Heroes search for happiness, villains plot revenge, and nothing is as easy as it once seemed. Gretel suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder, an orphan girl questions Rumpelstiltskin’s legacy, a monster cat searches for a child to eat, and the pied piper realizes stealing a hundred and thirty children may not have been his smartest idea.
Fairy tales have endured for centuries even though—or perhaps because—their conclusions are often more unsettling than satisfying. In Unspun, eleven storytellers come together to challenge and explore a few of those classic tales. Unexpected twists are sure to provoke both thought and laughter.
Gorgeous illustrations by Ruth Nickle accompany each piece.
Places to find the book:
ISBN: 978-1986727877
Also by this author: Unspun
on 4th April, 2018
Formats Available: Trade Paperback, Ebook
Read more about ‘Ethical Will’ on the Author’s Site
Previous releases by kaki olsen:
I had the pleasure of being on the blog tour celebrating the release for “Swan & Shadow” – you can find my review and my interview as well as Ms Olsen’s Guest Post attached to the tour happily celebrated on Jorie Loves A Story. Whilst I am in the process of discussing the short story within the “Iron Doves: Anthology” for ‘Wyrd and Wonder’ the Fantasy event I am co-hosting in May 2018.
As soon as I heard about this particular release, I wanted to take part in spotlighting it to help my readers discover the writing style of an author I already love to read! Also, it is a precursor to the stories & authors I will be highlighting throughout my co-hosted event: Wyrd and Wonder – upcoming this May, 2018!
For those readers who are new to your collective works, what has inspired you to write a bending of Contemporary stories with Fantasy undertones? As you have curated your own styling within Urban Fantasy (ie. “Swan and Shadow”) with an impressive bibliography of fantastical plots in your shorter fiction exploits?
Olsen responds: I was a fan of contemporary fantasy as one of my first genres. I remember loving Half Magic and its theme of magic being inherently complicated. The Wish by Gail Carson Levine is about a girl who saves a witch and gains everything she wanted, but results in not knowing what is real and what is the result of the witch’s intervention. I love stories that never give you exactly what you were looking for, but still make sense.
This is an interesting perspective on reading Fantasy – of where we are intrigued to take the journey with the character(s) but we are never entirely sure of the outcomes therein. Of feeling truly satisfied by the end of their journey or if the purpose behind the story itself was truly to make the reader contemplate the message rather than embrace the end results. It is similar in a way to reading Mystery/Suspense & Thrillers as I’ve been contemplating the Kay Hunter series recently – feeling I should prepare myself in case in the latter half of the series, I find myself betwixt and between my thoughts and feelings at that junction. It would be hard I think to have the ending as you’ve stipulated is the one from “The Wish” – as how would you trust yourself again? Or rather even, trust in what you believe to be true rather than what is false or imaginary?
Fantasy and Science Fiction have been a part of my life since the beginning but not in the format of novels – I have had a keen eye on these genres as they parlay into musical soundtracks, motion pictures and television series. It took me until seventeen to start to curate a ready list of authors I wanted to seek out who were writing the sames kinds of Speculative Lit. As a book blogger, I’ve been expanding my reach into these realms, which is one reason I am thankful our paths crossed when they did as your one of the few authors whose given me a reason to take a more critical look into “Urban Fantasy”.
What drew you into submitting a short story for this particular collection? How do you select which anthologies you want to participate in as an author?
Olsen responds: Kathy Cowley, one of the editors, knows my fairy tale affinity and asked me to write something for the project. I usually look into the theme and people I’d be working with. Once or twice, I’ve withheld a story because the editors were a bit obtuse or they wanted the story to be fundamentally different. (Example: I had a story involving a congressional hearing and a job interview that were related to each other and they wanted me to cut one half of the story. Since the intrigue was in those two things being connected by one mystery, I said I’d find another home for it.)
I think this would be quite difficult – to have a solid idea for a story but to find the first place you feel would work in pursuing publication might be a bit of a miss. Only on the level, of having to postpone sharing it with your readers – as we all know in publishing, there are many obstacles and set-backs. I think the hardest part then is withholding the joy of sharing the story rather than the disappointment it was not a good fit for the anthology or the publisher. In this instance, I am thankful you were asked to join the group of writers you’d be showcased against – knowing the person already was familiar with your style and loved it.
Explain your process when writing for an anthology – is there a plot point your given to launch your inspiration or are you given a loose theme to work against or is there something else to the process to go from blank page to anthology submission? Walk us through how you came to select this story?
Olsen responds: In all anthologies I’ve done, there has been a specific direction. For Iron Doves, we had identities or traits to choose from. For this, we were asked to write what happens after ever after. I had known for three months that I wanted to write the continuing story of the Nutcracker Prince and had started work during a trip to Austria. I pitched it to the editors of this anthology and got feedback from my critique group and away we went. The major event after that was changing genre to work with the other stories.
I know you love the ballet – I do as well. I had the chance to see The Nutcracker for the first time in 2001 during the pre-holiday season that December. It became quite the memorable experience – not just in experiencing the ballet and dressing for the occasion but because of the time-line of our country’s history. It felt a bit odd to be resuming regular life and the festive holiday season so soon after tragedy; yet then again, somehow it felt fitting to carry-on and move forward at the same time. I wish I remembered more of the ballet itself – I was swept into the story from the way in which it was presented on stage but the particulars are lost to me now. I had a stronger impression the night I saw it and even talked to those involved in the production.
Sounds like a happy challenge to be given a few plot points to inspire a story out of – whilst finding traction with your own muse at the same time. I have been celebrating your stories being featured in the anthologies as they’ve become known – as we happily discussed the components of your Iron Doves story within the Twitter chat during #RRSciFiMonth 2017. (the transcript is forthcoming)
What do you think is drawing more readers to Fantasy stories which are either rooted in well-known Folklore, Mythology or Fairy Tales? What draws yourself towards wanting to write supplemental stories which start to take on a life of their own in this thread?
Olsen responds: People in today’s world are looking for evident villains and straight-forward heroes. Why do you think we keep clicking on articles about “soulless liberal politico gets put in his place by this amazing homeless single mom of five! You won’t believe what happens next! I’m crying!” We want not only adversaries that we can identify, but people who can overcome the evils of our day. Now we have click bait and we used to have Disney, which is why I used to loathe Disney movies. The older versions of the stories pull fewer punches and leave good and evil in a more ambiguous state. I think that’s why every story in this anthology delved back into the more elemental folklore.
I must admit, I do like fairy tales, folklore and mythological stories which leave an ambiguous window ajar in regards to the arc involving good vs evil narratives. I never had an issues with Disney movies, so I can’t comment there – as I grew up watching them. Everything from Swiss Family Robinson, to Shipwrecked!, to the Herbie movies and of course, The Parent Trap. There were loads of films released in the 80s and 90s as well – but I used to love to borrow these classics from their offerings from the video rental stores. Including the original animated adaptations of Sleeping Beauty, Snow White, etc.
I think we’ve always lived in an age where positive human interest stories are more important than the constant bombardment of negative press. We know how adverse life is – it’s not rocket science – but to dig out a pro-positive story out of the headlines during any generation can be hard work. This is one reason I think people do like heroines and heroes they can rally behind – across genres – as it gives a bit more hope back to the rest of us who are striving to hold onto our own hopes for our lives as much as for society.
The more I read Fantasy, the more I love watching how writers are re-envisioning the original canons of their choices – everyone tackles the themes and elements of the originals in such a unique portal of interest, I never feel bored for my visitations within their stories. In this, I think others have found the same joy and the Speculative worlds are finding more traction in the mainstream. Just look at how far #SuperheroFiction has become since I originally read #AwesomeJones, as I recently talked about during an interview with Ms Spellman.
What pulls your heart towards exploring the story-lines of Ballet and re-alighting them into fictional worlds where characters not only tackle adversity but sometimes have to work through inter-dimensional issues as well?
Olsen responds: In Swan and Shadow, I have a discussion of how ballets are often very cruel to their characters. Rather than fix that, I thrive on getting my people through the mess they’re in with as little fae ex machina as possible. (One person tried to get me to break the swan lake curse because loving yourself is an expression of true love. I refused to even go there.) With the longer format that isn’t found in Grimm or Andersen, I can go into the mistakes that each side of a struggle makes.
You tackle this quite well in ‘Swan and Shadow’ of how this story has a duality of insight within it’s pages but also on the adaptive side of the narrative how you’ve broken through the canon to re-align the story with your own spin on how it could be told instead. You honour the canon but you delve in to the deeper heart of where you can alight all of us through your character’s journey. For that, it becomes a thought-provoking experience. (see also my review of ‘Swan and Shadow’)
What did you find the most challenging aspect of writing this story?
Olsen responds: I wrote and revised a story just about the Nutcracker helping a girl deal with the loss of her mother. When I had to rewrite it as an adventure, I had to invent not only magical warfare, but give the antagonist complex reasons for waging it. (The intentions were actually inspired by Hitler’s orders for the invasion of the USSR.)
I can honestly say I wouldn’t have connected the dots between this story, the original canon and your inspiration for telling it in this way had you not mentioned it today. Talk about adding hidden layers of insight into your stories!
What gave you the inspiration to use the Nutcracker doll as the link between the fable and the story you wanted to tell as this became a gateway entry for readers who understand the back-history of the Ballet?
Olsen responds: Honestly, it was the doll from the Conjuring and its legacy of being more real than anyone suspected. I have friends who collect those nutcracker dolls without any expectation that they’ll be a domestic protector, but the use of the doll was rooted in people’s habits of seeing heirlooms as talismans at times.
Yes, I am familiar with heirloom talismans – this is an angle of lore which used to be explored more readily and I am thankful it has received a bit of a resurgence as it can build upon a lot of dynamics within a particular character’s own journey. Sometimes the objects which mean the most to someone hold deeper meanings than what is seen on the surface – it is interesting you took this to a different layer of how to better explore what could happen if only the bearer of the object ‘believed’.
This cover reveal is courtesy of the author Kaki Olsen
Whilst connected to the first annual Fantasy Event I’m co-hosting:
{SOURCES: Book cover for “Unspun: Anthology”, author photograph of Kaki Olsen, book synopsis and author biography were provided by the author Kaki Olsen and used with permission. Tweets embedded due to codes provided by Twitter. Post dividers by Fun Stuff for Your Blog via Pure Imagination. Wyrd and Wonder banner created by Imyril and used with permission. Blog graphics created by Jorie via Canva: Stories Sailing into View banner and the Comment Box Banner.}
Copyright © Jorie Loves A Story, 2018.
I’m a social reader | I tweet my reading life
.@wyrdandwonder#NewBook Spotlight w/ #Interview
feat. @KakiOlsenBooksJorie discusses #Fantasy #writing w/ Ms Olsen preview of May's event via #wyrdandwonder! Find out about how this writer loves combining #folklore & #ballet into her stories ?
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— Jorie, the Joyful Tweeter ?? (@joriestory) April 12, 2018
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