WORKS EDITED
Sleeping Beauty, Indeed, Torquere Press, May 2006
Lesbian-themed fairytales by Kori Aguirre-Amador, Kimberly DeCina, Frank Fradella, A.J. Grant, R. Holsen, Meredith Schwarz, Julia Talbot, Catherynne M. Valente, Regan M. Wann and Erzebet YellowBoy. Romantic and sensual, dark and terrifying, old and new, these ten stories move beyond the old trope of prince and princess living happily ever. Nominated for a 2007 Spectrum Award.
Fairy Tales intrigue us from childhood. They're the first stories we remember, and they resonate within us as adults. In Sleeping Beauty, Indeed, editor Joselle Vanderhooft offers us a new take on an ancient theme. Fairy Tales from a lesbian perspective.
From Cinderella to Sleeping Beauty, from original myths by talented authors to classics retold with a deft hand, these tales are by turn erotic and sensuous, loving and wicked. Take a bite of the magic apple and make this anthology your bedtime story tonight.
This collection brings together ten retold fairytales by such talented authors as Julia Talbot, Catherynne Valente and Erzebet YellowBoy. Each one offers a new take on old favorites like The Pied Piper of Hamlin and Cinderella, all redone with a lesbian twist. The Little Mermaid and Cinderella find each other, leaving Prince Charming to his own devices. Sleeping Beauty finds a new true love and the tale a new Beauty. A princess in a tower is rescued by a mysterious horseman who is more than he seems.
Not all the stories are romantic. Death and violence appear, just like they did in the original tales. The haunting and disturbing ''Bones Like Black Sugar'' has Gretel fleeing her boorish brother to return to the witch's house and dream her alive. ''Voce'' gives us two young women separated by abuse and jealousy, one blessed with gold with every word she utters, the other cursed with toads whenever she speaks.
But despite the obstacles, each heroine finds her voice and her way, and often, her true love. Sleeping Beauty, Indeed is a must read for everyone who ever rewrote the old stories in her head, searching for nuance and subtext. It is long past time that we had fairytales written about and for ourselves.
—Catherine Lundoff author of Night's Kiss
It's collections like these that make the act(s) of othering which are unfortunately implicit in our day-to-day lives inclusive rather than exclusive, and tantalizingly marvelous, acknowledging new perspectives and broadening our perceptions of old favorites.
—Helen Pilinovsky