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I learn so many interesting things while I’m researching fairy tales and history! Listen to this:
History quote
My most recent antique purchase is a Ladies’ Home Journal from 1912.
The article: “Money-Making Ways: New Ways that Girls and Women Have Found to Make Money” lists several inventive examples for their readers to try.
Given the recent resurgence in sewing (masks) this spring/summer, this one stood out to me:
Sewing Machine Pays for Itself
Another ingenious girl adds to her personal bank account every winter by renting her sewing machine.
She lives in s a college town, and there are a great many college girls and teachers, as well as business women, who board in the vicinity of her home. She obtained permission to place in the different boarding-houses cards announcing that she had a new sewing machine which she was prepared to rent for twenty cents an hour in her own home, and the ready response which she received proved to her that she was meeting a very real need in the community.
There is hardly a day in which the machine is not in demand, and there are so many calls for it in the evening that girls often engage it a week or two ahead.
– Ladies’ Home Journal January 1912
Now if this entrepreneurial girl crops up in one of my stories, you’ll know where I got the idea! It’s little tidbits like this that spark my imagination and give authenticity to the history side of my books.
Fairy Tale quotes
Last year I posted weekly fairy tale quotes on my Instagram. My friend Jenny told me she liked to try to guess the fairy tale, but some were really hard! See if you can guess this one. I’ll pull a few quotes from it to make it a little easier. This one is from Grimm.
In olden times when wishing still helped one, there lived a king whose daughters were all beautiful, but the youngest was so beautiful that the sun itself, which has seen so much, was astonished whenever it shone in her face.
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“I am weeping for my golden ball, which has fallen into the well.”
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At this she was terribly angry, and took him up and threw him with all her might against the wall. “Now, will you be quiet, odious frog,” said she.
Can you guess which fairy tale? Scroll down for the answer….
Something Fun
Fairy tale workbooks! This summer I’ve been busy putting together workbooks to help writers learn how to write fairy tales. Who knows when in-person author visits will start up again? In the meantime, these workbooks can help fill that gap for young writers.
The adult version takes you from finding your own fairy tale voice to plotting up to three fairy tales. Through questions and charts, maps and brainstorming space, you’ll be guided through the specifics of genre, character, setting, plot, theme, and fairy-tale magic. It’s meant to go along with the Lessons from Grimm writer’s guide that came out earlier this summer.
The student versions contain extra instructions so the students won’t need the writer’s guide. Their workbooks have room to brainstorm one fairy tale.
Whether you’ve got the writing bug yourself, or if you know of a young writer in need of encouragement, give these a try! The adult, high school, and middle school versions have started making their way through the distribution system. Elementary should be available week after next. (Hint: National Novel Writing Month will be here before you know it. These workbooks can help prepare a writer for NaNoWriMo!)
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Answer: the fairy tale quotes are from The Frog King or Iron Henry by the Brothers Grimm.
