24 Days of Holiday Giveaways: Day 6

Day 6 Winners: Esther and Penny

Day 6! Welcome back, and congratulations to all our winners so far.

The prize today is two e-copies of Mistress of the Wind.

Mistress of the Wind is a book inspired by my love of fairy tales, and their historical and psychological roots. If you’re interested, I highly recommend the Jungian psychologist Marie-Louise Von Franz’s amazing work in analysing fairy tales. Mistress of the Wind is based on the Scandinavian fairy tale East of the Sun, West of the Moon, and while I stuck very closely to the original, I also included some Norse mythology and tales of the wind hag that I stumbled across many years ago. East of the Sun, West of the Moon is part of the Psyche and Eros group of fairy tales, along with Beauty and the Beast.

I know most people love fairy tales, and their themes and threads run through so much literature. Which fairy tale is your favorite, and do you have a favorite retelling or incorporation?

Learn more about Mistress of the Wind.

22 thoughts on “24 Days of Holiday Giveaways: Day 6”

  1. Anca B.

    I loved, loved Mistress of the Wind. It was the book that introduced me to your work.
    My favorite fairy tale is Beauty and the Beast. a

    1. Michelle Diener

      Thank you, Anca! I’m so glad to hear you found me through MOTW. B&B is very close on the Aarne-Thomson fairy tale classification system to East of the Sun, West of the Moon, called the ‘husband’ group of fairy tales.

    1. Michelle Diener Post author

      Thanks, Penny! I loved working on that cover, and when the book came out, the model on the cover saw it, and contacted me to say how much she loved it, too.

  4. Kareni

    I’m another who likes Beauty and the Beast retellings. I mentioned Grace Draven’s Radiance recently; it is something of a Beast and the Beast twist on the story. Another I recommend is Making Faces by Amy Harmon. (If you can read this without crying, you have my congratulations. it’s also of interest in that a secondary character all but steals the book.)

  5. Esther M.

    I love the fairy tale motifs that often come with beautiful illustrations. In the case of “East of the Sun and West of the Moon”, there are the ones by Kay Nielsen and Edmund Dulac. (Even the title evokes a magical realm).

    I also like the motif of the Snow Queen (handled by Joan Vinge’s Work of the same title.). If I can mention a totally different take on fairy tale themes, that was prompted by your mention of urban fantasy a few posts ago, there’s the Jack the Giantkiller theme that was handled by Charles de Lint in the two books of his Jack of Kinrowan series (Jack the Giant-Killer and Jack of Kinrowan). But the “Jack” is a crafty girl, who has adventures—not waiting around to be rescued like some swan girl, but mixing it up with jobs and boggarts.

        1. Esther M

          Thank you! I look forward to reading Mistress of the Wind. I’ve also loved reading what you’ve shared about these books in your posts here.

      1. Esther M

        Kareni, I can lend you these two Jack of Kinrowan eBooks. The second book is actually titled “Drink Down the Moon”, although they were both published in a single paperback volume by Charles de Lint titled “Jack of Kinrowan” with a Thomas Canty cover. I’ve never tried to lend (or borrow) a Kindle title before, but I’ll contact you via PM on another forum that we’re both on.

  6. Esther M

    Sorry, that was “mixing it up with hobs and boggarts”. “Damn you, auto-correct” — and no, that wasn’t me channeling Rose in Dark Horse.

  7. Heather R.

    Hi! I love Sleeping Beauty. The most awesome retelling of Sleeping Beauty is “Queen of Thorns: A Fantasy Romance of the Black Court” by Jessica Aspen.

    I also like Beauty and the Beast. Regency romances seem to retell that one best. I love “The Duchess Deal” by Tessa Dare. It is funny. The beast is a scarred war hero who is a duke.

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