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:

Add to LibraryThing

Find on Book Browse

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.

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