Rat -- What's it all About?

"Rat" is the first novel I ever wrote. I was greatly inspired when I saw the movie and read the book for "The Mouse and his Child." I was fascinated by how they portrayed the rats in that book and wanted to do my own. I think I accomplished it and more.

"Rat" adds a sort of cartoony aspect to rodent society but wholly respects it for what it is. The concept of a creature living for only food and sex sounds like a party animal to me. But at times, it can get quite brutal and even deadly. This book is not for people who cannot take harsh content.

If you are interested in delving into the nasty and often cruel world of the rat, this book is perfect for you. It spares nothing, no matter how vulgar. It is a rough world from their perspective. I hope you enjoy it!

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Available on Amazon.com!

Paperback Edition: $15.99 (Prime eligible!)
Kindle Edition: $5.99

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Fairy Tale Spotlight: Living Among Fairies

When I write these blogs, I am trying to be as upfront and sincere as I can possibly be. I really am. I'm not trying to impress you with what I know, and I am also not trying to really change anyone. I may throw a few warnings out to be open minded, but at the end of the day, you are going to be who you are and likewise for me. That said, I do sometimes make silly mistakes.

I keep a list on my phone of Fairy Tale Spotlights I want to write in the future. Sometimes I am at work and I jot an idea down so I can deal with it later. In some cases, I look at my my note and honestly have no idea what I was trying to remind myself of at the time I originally wrote it. In the case of today's blog, I had written down: "The humans living among fairies and how hard that is." Forgive me, but I have no clue what I was going on about, but I'm no coward in these matters. I'm willing to give it a go anyways.

I suppose if we were in a world where fairies and other impossible things occurred, it would make life a bit more interesting... but not necessarily more difficult. It really depends on the fairies in question. Are we dealing with stark demons or say the more angelic friendly types? Enchanted animals maybe? Trolls? Manikins? We'll have some difficulties with those latter two. What if they were all out there? Are the friendly ones really easier to deal with? Perhaps. Perhaps not. It may depend on the person; it may depend on the entity. The only thing I can know for sure is that it would complicate matters which has nothing at all to do with making the situation harder at all.

One thing I would take into advisement is that you understand that these fairies are not, I repeat for emphasis, NOT human. They are not like humans. They are never going to be humans. They do not even understand humans. Not really. Not in the most important sense. We are just as alien to them as they are to us. Our understanding of each other leaves a lot to be desired.

When we think of fairies, we think words such as spooky, strange, and uncanny. We wonder why they do the things that they do? Why does the troll play his games? Why does the manikin play by such harsh rules? Why does the which chant over her cauldron like that? Why does the demon hate so easily? They all seem to do these uncanny things so well and by the book, and it confuses us. We may even try and learn this behavior from them as a way of understanding it. As to the latter, I greatly advise against the practice.

What does the fairy think of you? The fairy does not understand you. He sees a collection of atoms that seem to have value but no real purpose. Sometimes the fairy can attempt to take that value and give it a purpose. This is very dangerous for us because, in doing so, they will attempt to make us more like them. Some do it in confusion and others do it malevolently. It is up to us to make sure we are in complete possession of who we are and stay true to that. Not having a purpose is a good thing. It mean we can try anything we like. Fairies do not understand this concept for all fairies appear to have a distinct purpose.

I think that, perhaps, living in a world of fairies--all the fairies, mind you--would be difficult. We would be just as at odds with the good ones as with the bad. Programming vs free will. That is stressful. However, imagine if all the demons and terrible fairies were gone and only the angelic ones remained who wanted to help us. Not such a bad deal. We may not get along perfectly, but we do get along and one will be happy to assist the other. But... that is not the case. Not right now. Not for a while.

Fairies are real. They are still out there. Many of them are not our friends. Many of them hate us. You don't need to go out and hunt them. You don't need to freak out that you are being used. All you need to do is keep an open mind. Be aware--hyper aware--of the world around you. Be prepared to believe in the impossible. All these fairy tales were based on things that were once a lot more visible to us. It isn't like that anymore. They hide and stay just out of sight. If there every comes a day when they make a move, all you need to be is open minded. And when the day finally comes, you'll think twice before making any imprudent decisions. Vigilance... is... recommended!

Hope this helps!

Thank you for reading my blog! Did you like it? Did you hate it? Either way, you can comment below, or you can email me at tkwadeauthor@gmail.com. Thanks!

Fairy Tale Spotlight: The Wind in the Willows

As a follow up to last week's satyr spotlight, I got to thinking about that bit from "The Wind in the Willows" that I mentioned. Hardly anybody knows about it because the Disney short rather stole the spotlight later on. Even I admit that the cartoon was fun, but it barely captured the spirit of Kenneth Grahame's most famous piece of literature. First, let's have a light look at the man behind the story.

I have read the complete works of Kenneth Grahame and I noticed early on that he had a deep and profound adoration for ancient mythology--primarily of the Greek variety. He would weave it into his writing almost constantly. He did it so much in "Pagan Papers" (1893) that I barely understood anything. It is my least favorite of his books because of this.

He cleaned things up and became much more focused in his two books "The Golden Age" (1895) and "Dream Days" (1898). These are two wonderful books, by the way. They detail stories about his childhood entirely from their perspective. He saw him and his brothers and sister as Olympians going out into the world to have adventures born entirely of their imaginations. He took the perspective of children seriously and always presented them seriously to the reader so that you could understand what it was like to be so young. It is something I also saw in the 1983 film "A Christmas Story." The narration of this movie likewise took the child's perspective with great reverence and presented it to the audience in such a way.

It is also important to mention that the famous children's story "The Reluctant Dragon" originated from "Dream Days." This was a brilliant and fun story that I encourage everyone to read at some point. Disney made a short film of it in 1941 which was surprisingly close to the original story. In some ways, it was even an improvement on it.

Mister Grahame went on to write a hilarious story called "The Headswoman" in 1898. This was about a woman who becomes a town's very first female executioner. She was apparently so beautiful that all the condemned men looked forward to being killed by her. It was a clever comedy, but certainly not his best work.

Easily "The Wind in the Willows" (1908) was Kenneth Grahame's masterpiece. Everything he loved and adored was combined with every ounce of his imagination. He threw it all together in one of the most beloved tales ever written in history. And no wonder. There is not one part of the book that seems bereft of his own personal love for mythology and nature.

In this book, animals and humans live together in modern times as if there was nothing strange about it at all. It is very much as if the days of mythology were entirely real and society progressed onward as usual regardless. The fairies slipped away from our everyday lives, but the supernatural element of talking animals stayed with us.

The animals are still animals, mind you. They are really still creatures of nature that do not have much of an interest in human contrivances. They do live in houses, but generally away from human civilization. And often, these houses are built into trees or logs or whatever they fancy. They do interact with humans from time to time and are bound by their laws. An animal breaking a law will be tossed into jail just as quickly as a human doing the same. This is usually not a problem, but some animals do make trouble. It was usually the more mischievous ones such as weasels, ferrets, and stoats; however, there is a particular focus on one animal known as Toad who obsesses over automobiles.

The interesting thing about Toad is that he is not happy to simply be a toad. He is trying so very hard to be a human. he even lives in a large mansion in the city. He buys automobiles without thinking of the cost and often crashes them only to waste money on another. The Disney film focuses on his problem, but the book generally stays with the characters Rat and Mole who seem to be the real protagonists.

These two animals seem to have a profound love for one another. Nothing romantic, I assure you. They possess a mighty brotherly love that just about jumps out of the pages at you. It is one of the most endearing aspects of the book.

Back to the satyr thing: There is a scene--the one I eluded to in the previous blog--where an otter family looses their little boy who, if I remember correctly, was washed down the stream by a mighty current. Rat and Mole go out looking for him purely in the name of being good neighbors. This is a scary time for all involved because there is a good chance that the little boy, known as Portly, has died.

They come across a grove where they run into none other than the satyr Pan himself. Portly is asleep nearby as Pan plays a soothing melody on his flute. Pan is described as a benevolent and wise god of the wild. In the case of this book, he is a still living entity that is choosing to guard animals from harm. Rat and Mole kneel before him and show him their respect. The next day, they don't seem to recollect the encounter with Pan all that well, but that is okay because Portly has been saved. The whole incident was a very uncanny yet beautiful scene and one of my favorite moments of the book.

There were no other fairies mentioned in the book, but there was no real reason for there to be any more than just Pan. It was clear that Greek Mythology was right in the back of Mister Grahame's mind as he wrote it. It was the driving force, but there was no reason to pander to it throughout. All he seemed to want to do was create a magical world that was also very normal. He gave us talking animals (which were also done to scale, by the way), and they were living right among us as if it was the simplest thing in the world. It didn't come across as a joke as it did in "Pinocchio." Kenneth normalized it, and that is why the book works so well.

If you have yet to read this amazing story, I highly recommend you find the time to do so. It is very straight forward and poignant throughout. It has it's sad moments, it has its funny, and it also has a healthy dose of calm. This book was everything Kenneth Grahame had been building up to in his previous books, and it will go down in history as one of the most beautiful fairy tales ever written.

Thank you for reading my blog! If you enjoyed it, you can comment below, or you can email me at tkwadeauthor@gmail.com. Thanks!

Fairy Tale Spotlight: The Satyr

Every now and then, we'll be jumping into Greek Mythology. There are a lot of interesting things therein that I feel needs to be looked into. There are a lot of very bad or evil things that I rather enjoy. Does that sound strange? Inspiration can come from a number of sources and evil is among then. If we could not be inspired by evil things, where would we get the villains for our stories?

The satyr is a small creature who seems to be an unusual mix of horse, man, and goat. There could be a number of other things mixed in there, but the three I listed seem to be the most common. He was the little dancing familiar of a Greek god called Dionysus. Who is Dionysus? Imagine a god who ate, drank, and partied to his heart's content and encouraged others to do the same. No doubt he was very popular.

The satyr, sometimes referred to as Pan by name, would dance around his leader playing a set of pipes called a Pan flute. He was very friendly and even rather amorous with those who would talk to him. He was generally just as much the life of the party as Dionysus was, but there is more to it then that.

Where Dionysus had given himself to pleasure in all things, Pan was rather focuses on sex. He loved sex. He adored sex in all forms, and I ask you to take that as seriously as you can. There was no type of sex he would turn down. There is artwork to this day of satyrs copulating with animals and even a few with human children. The majority seems to be with young women, but it is believed that the satyr could simply not say no and would often be the instigator. The term Pansexual is very appropriate here. It really represented what this creature was.

Now, why would the Greeks create a creature that was so... nasty. Chances are, the satyr actually did exist and we are simply looking at a record of it. You can imagine what an impression Pan made at some of these parties. I can see him dancing around on the large dinner table. He would be completely nude and clearly making sure everyone could see his nudity. Nobody is allowed to protest this because Dionysus is RIGHT THERE. Nobody is ever allowed to counter a god's pleasure.

The satyr might come right up to you and out rightly say that he wants to so something with you. What do you do? I imagine saying no at the time would get you into a lot of trouble. Such pressure! Whether you like it or not, the satyr will have his way because of the forces that currently rule Ancient Greece.

The satyr in his past form does not seem to exist anymore. However, his spirit seems to still linger in the world. We saw it very heavily in the USA in the 60's and 70's, but it has actually always been around to some degree. We call it the Free Love Movement now. It is all about living life for pleasure and having sex with no strings attached whatsoever. That is how the satyr saw things. He still seems to push his master's ideals and get as many concubines as he can muster through this movement.

Dionysus was a demon and his pet satyr was a hybrid demon creature. They walked the earth together and we accepted them at the time. They taught us to make love without any real caring for one another. It was not a good thing, and the world is at a loss for it. Nevertheless, I see satyrs all the time in fiction, and his representation, although inaccurate, is a very wonderful thing to see,

Many old cartoons paint the satyr to be an innocent frolicking fairy who can cause plants to grow on command by playing his flute. Ironic that they try and make him out to be so innocent which is in stark contrast to the real thing. There is also Mister Tumnus from the "Chronicles of Narnia." He was referred to as a faun which is really just another name for a satyr. How many of you were a little creeped out by this supposedly friendly character? Chances are the author knew who these beings were and subtlety weaved the truth into his personality.

One of my favorite appearances of Pan came from Kenneth Grahame's "The Wind in the Willows." In this wonderful book, Pan appears as a sort of saint to the animals. He is worshiped by them and seems to be their protector. The scene in which he appears was very powerful and a bit startling for a story that was often filled with comic mishap. It goes down as one of my favorite moments in literature of all time.

One final word on satyrs: There is nothing wrong with liking them. Satyrs can be drawn in very cute ways. They were meant to be a little attractive, after all. But keep in mind what they came to this world to do. They aren't really as friendly as they look. They want to use humanity for their own pleasure, and they honestly don't understand--and never will understand--that that is a very bad thing. Satyrs are incapable of caring about anything. Humans still can. Let's be the force that makes a difference in the world.

Thank you for reading my blog! If you enjoyed it, you can comment below, or you can email me at tkwadeauthor@gmail.com. Thanks!

Fairy Tale Spotlight: The Bureaucracy of Demons

For those of you who have been reading my Fairy Tale Spotlights for a while, you may have noticed that I often equate anything inhuman within a fairy tale to be a demon. The reason this happens is because I feel that many of these stories are based on real events. I believe that there are two kinds of sentient creatures that can exist on this planet: Human Beings and Demonic Entities. The latter includes angels since they are recorded to be the same species of creature.

Demons are creatures born of fire that can breed with creatures with life on Earth and form what are known as hybrids (which I still refer to as demons or demon hybrids.) In our old stories, these hybrids surfaced as various different anomalies such as trolls, manikins, satyrs, elves, and the like. And from these encounters, we have formed legends. These last two paragraphs have been a crash coarse in demonology to assist you with what this blog is really about.

Imagine a clockwork toy shaped like a castle. You wind it up and a series of animations occur where little people dance, people pop out of windows and wave, and music plays along with all these things that happen. It all happens again and again and always the same way every time the toy is wound. This is how a demon operates. He is made a certain way and has to always do things based on those set of rules. He is a perfect being who always does things the way he was meant to. During his lifetime, and often moments after his creation, he is given one single choice which simply amounts to either good or evil. Once the choice is made, he will operate perfectly on that chosen premise for the remainder of eternity.

If evil is the chosen way of things, he will be cast down to the earth where he will breed with... something or someone. This will produce an offspring which is a corrupted hybrid of the original entity. This new demon is not quite as efficient as the original but nothing to sneeze at. He will carry out his life by a very strict set of rules that must be followed without question. There can be no deviation whatsoever. Anything that seems like a deviation is actually still following the rules based on the new circumstance. They are what they are and cannot be anything else.

Demons are obsessed with getting everything right. They are also obsessed with everything being fair--at least for them. But they preach fairness and efficiency as if it was a religion. Human beings hear about fairness, and it sounds good to them so it is adopted.

Fairness is all about making sure no one is shortchanged in life. Everyone must be treated well and considered equal to everyone else. The prince of demons felt shortchanged by God and so chose to create fairness to sate his own ego. Humans have egos too and so fairness sounded great at the time.

Here is the problem with fairness.

As it turns out, not everyone is equal. We all came in different sizes, with different personalities, with different likes and dislikes, with different things that makes us happy or sad, with different tastes in food, with different likes in literature, movies, romances, etc, etc, etc. With billions of people in the world and each one having their own likes and dislikes, it is statistically and even universally impossible to make everyone happy. The correction? Make everyone miserable and convince them that it is normal to be miserable.

Accepting misery is not enough though. A concerted effort must be made to remove humanity from the human. Things like gender must also be removed. We can no longer me male or female but blank entities that can choose for ourselves what we are. The problem with this is that it is all made up in our heads, We are walking around saying we are one thing and reality is supposed to bend to it, I suppose. I was under the impression reality was what it was despite what we thought of it. I did not know one person could imagine that I was really a cat and that I would become a cat. Not that being a cat is so horrible, but I'd like a second opinion.

The demonic religion of efficiency and fairness is commonly called bureaucracy. It is a complicated system of managing things in the world to make sure that as many people as possible are happy in their misery. They carefully dole out just enough happiness to satisfy people, and they do it in the most efficient way possible, which when you consider it has to render all this to over a billion people, it does take time. Bureaucracy, by its very nature, is very slow for this reason.

If I were to mention to my fellow man that bureaucracy was the work of demons, I would probably get a chuckle and a nod. I don't know many people who really enjoy the concept of bureaucracy, as the misery it doles out causes them to be fairly resentful. But for some reason, most people still seem to promote it for no better reason than it has been there for so long and seems to work well enough.

Here is a question! How long does it take to build a house? The answer is 2 days. One day for the foundation to dry and the 2nd to do the rest. I saw it actually happen once. If enough people care and are actually free to do as they please and help one another, we'd have very little trouble building homes for ourselves. But a system has been put in place that is supposed to make sure that each and every house is built in the name of efficiency and fairness. All regulations must be followed. All fees must be paid. Everything must be 100% shipshape in the name of the almighty bureaucracy. That is... unless you have the special connections to bypass it all. In that case, you can write your own ticket.

I guess there was a day when demons looked like elves, fairies, talking plants, and the like, but not today. Today they look like men. Powerful men in high places all wearing suits and smiles on their faces. They are geniuses that know how to manipulate the world around them, and they do so with exceptional perfection. They live by a set of rules--rules that usually benefit them. They teach us that they fight so hard for things to be fair for us, but all those regulations only make things all the harder. Yet we are supposed to be happy with what we are given.

Just so you are not confused, I am not saying that they should give me anything that belongs to them. I only ask that I be given a chance. Freedom is what I am really asking for. I want to go out and make my own way in life without being drenched in all this fairness. I understand there are those who need help, and I would love to help them if given the opportunity. But I also know there are those who do not deserve the help. I want the chance to choose who I help and when. I care for those who are genuine and real. I should not be forced to simply be a part of a never ending clockwork toy made by demons who only see me as such.

Let me just end this blog with a little bit of clarity. This world has really been gummed up over a period of thousands of years. It's hard to see what's right in front of your face anymore. I want you to sit somewhere alone sometime and ask yourself, "What would I do if money were no object at all?" Don't worry about what the rest of the world would say to you. It's not important. Just focus on that one question and its answer. And then, if you can build up enough determination, I want you to stand up and do everything you can to make what you chose happen. Go out and do it! And never take no for an answer. This world is your birthright.

Thank you for reading my blog! Did you enjoy it? Did you hate it? Either way, you can comment below, or you can email me at tkwadeauthor@gmail.com. Thanks!

Ava in Fairyland -- What's it all About?

"Ava in Fairyland" is a fully illustrated book available in bookstores and on Amazon.com. I set out to write this book after I had finished reading the collected Oz books by L. Frank Baum. It was intentionally written to resemble the style of Baum not only in narrative but also in theme.

In many ways, my Fairyland is similar to Oz. I borrowed a lot of world rules from his American fairy tale such as immortality and the lack of a heart for one of the characters. It was a fun project, but while my illustrator was working on the images for the book, a new project came about.

My friends and I are a part of a creative group called The Figments. We spent months putting together an audio drama based on the book that was not even finished yet. By the time the illustrations were complete, we had finished the entire project in 12 episodes. These episodes are available on YouTube for your listening pleasure. (See below!)

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Available on Amazon.com!

Paperback Edition: $7.99 (Prime eligible!)
Kindle Edition: $2.99

Click here to check out the Amazon.com listing!

Click here to listen to the audio drama on YouTube!

tkwade.com

Fairy Tale Spotlight: The Miracles of Jesus Christ (A Non-Fundamentalist's Perspective)

Probably one of the most important aspects of the life of Jesus Christ was the miracles he seemed to be able to perform during his lifetime. Turning water into wine and walking on water are all very spectacular, even by today's standards. Most people today would have to perform some sort of trick just to get those things to work, and even then it would be an illusion. For the record, I don't think that the miracles of Jesus were simply an illusion. They were as written: miracles.

The common line of fundamentalists is that these miracles were performed by Jesus himself as proof that he was literally the son of God. Let me say that in a slightly different way. They mean that Jesus was himself God and came down with the powers of God. On the latter point, I disagree. Jesus was human, and as a human, he was unable to perform any of those miracles. Also like a human, he was capable of dying. God is immortal; Jesus was not. Jesus never even once perform a miracle.

If Jesus did not perform a miracle, who did? Well, obviously it was God (the Father). You see, Jesus may have simply been a man, but he had the fortunate benefit of being the actual mortal son of God. And it was up to God (the Father) to bestow upon Jesus these miracles so that they could be witnessed by the people.

Let me be clear: Jesus was no different than any of us other than the surprising aspect of his lineage. The Father gave us a mortal man to let us know something very interesting. That we are ultimately like Jesus, just without having God as our father. Still miracles can be performed. We simply have to work harder to make them occur. And we do perform miracles quite often. Going to the moon was a big one in my book.

I just worry that, if people make Jesus out to be this big untouchable entity, that we, as the human race, can never really achieve anything of worth. Because, let's just be honest, if God sets the standard of worth, we have a long way to go. We're not getting anywhere when we stand still and worship someone who is impossible to ever be equal with. Jesus was, however, at equal to us, and we should have really listened when he was desperately trying to make that point by washing the feet of his apostles (who seemed just as oblivious to this detail as well, by the by.)

The miracles of Jesus Christ may have been accomplished by God, but they were still Jesus' miracles. We can do miracles too. Jesus almost convinced Peter of that when he actually began walking on water himself. This was until he freaked out and began to sink. I don't think God or Jesus was actually helping Peter in this case. Peter did that on his own. How cool is that? Have an open mind, people. If you want to live in a box, you'll die in there never knowing how truly wonderful this world is. God bless you all.

Thank you for reading my blog! Did you like it? Did you hate it? Either way, you can comment below, or you can email me at tkwadeauthor@gmail.com. Peace!

The Fascinating Life of Animal Robots -- What's it all About?

My first science fiction novel, "The Fascinating Life of Animal Robots," was inspired by a number of other works. "Argo" by Rick Griffin perhaps sparked the idea. But some time after, I ended up watching all of the Alien movies for the first time. I was fascinated with Ridley Scott's interpretation of robots.

I imagined what would happen to our world if we were to make robots that seemed to think and feel like people. But I didn't just want the robots to look like us. I wanted them to look like cartoons and basically be sold as extremely expensive toys.

This novel is my best estimation as to how a world with all its inherent corruption would react to this sort of phenomenon. At times, it was very good, and the world seemed to be made better for it. But with the good came the bad. And that is likely the most striking part of this story. We may wonder: "Who really is at fault? Is it the humans who made the robots, or the humans who bought them?" You can decide for yourself as you read.

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Available on Amazon.com!

Paperback Edition: $15.99 (Prime eligible!)
Kindle Edition: $4.99

Click here to check out the Amazon.com listing!

tkwade.com

Fairy Tale Spotlight: They Live (Impossible Things Revisited)

Ever heard of a horror movie called "They Live"? In some ways, I suppose people could see that movie as really corny or perhaps outdated. I actually find the movie to be quite poignant and even relevant to aspects of reality that affect us all. I do consider it a Fairy Tale as well. Fairy Tales can easily be set in modern times without using archaic creatures from stories of old. In fact, we can call them whatever we like.

I'll spare you the entire synopsis. I am only interested in informing you of the premise and a couple of scenes. The premise of "They Live" revolves around a man named John Nada who finds a pair of special sunglasses which allow him to see that some human beings in the world are actually aliens. Additionally, the glasses reveal a number of apparently subliminal messages found throughout the world such as obey, consume, reproduce, and conform.

As shocking as this is to poor John, he still manages to come to terms with it. The world around him was not the boring trap that he thought it was. Instead it was an exciting place, if not somewhat horrific. There seems no point in just going about his business and John decides to investigate and eventually fight the menace infecting his world in whatever way he can.

Now, what John Nada was dealing with in "They Live" was what we call an Impossible Thing. The definition of an Impossible Thing is something that cannot happen. But in the case of John, it clearly did happen. So really the definition should likely be that an Impossible Thing is something that we have been taught to believe could never happen in reality. But that defined version of an Impossible Thing clearly has no bearing on reality itself. If something happens, it happens, regardless if you believe in it or not.

The movie could almost be used to disprove itself. Someone could watch this movie and say, "Oh, but it's just a movie. There are no sunglasses that can reveal aliens inside of people."

The above quote translates, in more general terms, thusly: "Oh, but since things like that are only in movies, nothing like that can happen in real life."

What if you were presented a truly unusual situation? It does not necessarily have to be science fiction in nature, but it must be world shattering in some way. How will you deal with it? Will you simply dismiss it to move on to mentally safer pastures, or will you pursue it further?

In the movie "They Live," John Nada had a friend named Frank Armitage. John wanted Frank to put the sunglasses on so that he could see what was happening around him. Frank refused. In fact, he fought John for nearly ten minutes in an effort to keep those sunglasses from going onto his face. This suggests that, at heart, Frank believed John but simply did not want to deal with the truth.

Life is always simple when you choose not to believe. You allow yourself to get absorbed into the daily rut of life. There is nothing particularly special about living this way, but it feels safe. Meanwhile, people with more gumption and perhaps a lust for control are actively moving ahead of you. They tell you nice things in order to keep you happy. You like being told nice things and so continue your boring line of work in hopes that luck may strike you someday.

Now, what if those people telling you to conform were demons in disguise who were sapping your energies for all they are worth? Can you even believe that? Is it hard to believe in such things? Does it cause pain? No doubt, the easier thing to do is to simply crawl back into a box and ignore everything but what you have ever been told. This is, of course, called indoctrination. We often believe what the masses tell us, and sadly, that also means that we have ceased thinking for ourselves.

I am not saying that alien creatures are controlling us like in "They Lives." I am saying that there were times in ancient past where magic and monsters were a commonality. And these monsters don't just disappear because humans become more advanced. We still deal with all the same things we dealt with for all of history. We simply don't believe in them anymore... because we were advised not to. You were advised not to by your parents. Their parents advised them, and so on and so forth.

Who started it?

Human beings who cannot believe in Impossible Things are destined to be devoured by them without even knowing it's happening. And really, just tell me this: What is so wrong with having a perpetually open mind? The belief in Impossible Things does not mean you have to run out like John Nada looking for something to fight. It simply means that you place yourself at the ready in case something truly "out there" does happen. It opens your eyes to the world around you--the real world. When and if something amazing happens on this world, will you be able to act quickly, or will you be as a deer in the headlights...........and just freeze...........in terror...........as you are devoured whole.

Thank you for reading my blog! If your liked or hated it, please feel free to comment below, or you can email me at tkadeauthor@gmail.com. Thanks!

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The Untold Legend of Pecos Bill -- What's it all About?

Ever since I saw the Disney short, I have loved the western tall tale of Pecos Bill. I wanted to do my own adaptation and ended up reading a number of versions from various different authors. I looked for the parts I liked the most and expounded upon them in my own way and rejected anything I didn't like. I also created my own lore for it. It was a fun project.

This book has been my best seller so far and the interest has not been limited to the USA. I sold many copies to Canada and the UK as well. Because of the strong interest in it, this is a book I am greatly proud of. I hope you will have a look at it as well.

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Fairy Tale Spotlight: Cinderella (Perrault Version)

Finally, we get to the version of these tales which most are familiar with. For that, I had to return back to Charles Perrault. This is likely the version of Cinderella that Disney based their movie off of. It is a lot cleaner than the original Donkey-Skin stories and involves less archaic magic. The magic is still there, however.

And now, I give you the synopsis of Cinderella as told by Charles Perrault:

There is a gentleman who is widowed but then remarries. The woman he marries is proud and haughty and has two daughters who are the same. His own daughter is nothing like that, but kind and sweet. These were traits she gained from her own mother who apparently was very charming.

After the wedding, the step-mother unleashes her temper and takes it out on her husband's daughter. She does so because she already knows of her own daughter's ill-tempers and thinks all the kindness makes them look even worse by comparison. She gives her all the worse chores in the household and forces her to sleep in the attic instead of a bedroom. The daughter puts up with all of the mistreatment and does not, even once, complain to her father because he is entirely under the thumb of his new wife.

In her free time, the daughter spends her time sitting among the cinders of the hearth. For this reason, she becomes known around the house as Cinderbum. The younger sister, who is not as rude as the older, prefers calling her Cinderella instead. This is the name that sticks, because even in her rags, Cinderella looks more beautiful than either sister.

One day, the prince gives a ball and invites anyone of a good family. This includes the two step-sisters. They immediately rush about in excitement trying to decide what to wear. Each tries to wear a dress more beautiful than the other. They also look for extravagant ways to accent their hair and face. Interestingly, they ask Cinderella for much of this advice because they think she had good taste. Cinderella gives them advice, and the advice is perfect. Cinderella even offers to do their hair, and they accept.

While Cinderella is helping them with their hair:

Step-Sister: "Cinderella, wouldn't you like to go to the ball?"

Cinderella: "For pity, sisters--you are making fun; that kind of thing is not for me."

Step-Sister: "Quite right--how everyone would laugh, to see Cinderbum going to the ball!"

The step-sisters end up going to the ball without Cinderella. Once they are out of sight down the road, the maiden begins to cry. Now, her godmother notices her tears and asks her what is wrong. Cinderella tries to tell her but she is so choked up that she cannot get the words out. It is now revealed that her godmother is a fairy and she asks Cinderella if it is because she cannot go to the prince's ball. The maiden confirms this.

Cinderella is then instructed to get the godmother a pumpkin. Once done, the insides are scooped out and then it is turned into a large stagecoach. The godmother then finds a mouse trap with rats in it and picks out the one with the longest whiskers. This rat is turned into a fat coachman. Cinderella is then told to retrieve 6 lizards from outside, and these are transformed into 6 footmen who hold onto the stage coach as if trained to do so all of their lives. At this point, the godmother is pleased and tells Cinderella that she has all she needs.

However, Cinderella explains that her rags will never do for a prince's ball. The godmother simply touches the maiden's dress with her wand, and it instantly transforms into a dress made of gold, silver and jewels. She then gives Cinderella a pair of slippers made of glass. Now ready for the ball, Cinderella steps into the stagecoach, but the godmother warns her that she must leave the ball by midnight or else everything will become as they once were. And so Cinderella sets out.

At Cinderella's arrival, her very presence brings the entire ball to a halt. Even the music stops playing as everyone stops to look at this image of beauty. The king himself could not help but be enamored and even admits it to the queen. The prince escorts her to the most prominent place in the hall and they dance. When dinner is served, the prince does not eat but simply stares at this woman, lost in her beauty. However, Cinderella does eat and even sits with her step-sisters, offers them fruit, and talks with them in a very pleasant way. The step-sister are surprised that the one chosen by the prince was paying them so much attention, for they have no idea who she is.

When it becomes close to midnight, Cinderella says her goodbyes and leaves. When she goes home, she thanks her godmother and says she wants to go back tomorrow because the prince asked her to. Before the godmother can answer. the step-sisters knock on her door. Cinderella opens and acts as if she had been sleeping all the while.

They tell Cinderella of how wonderful the ball was and of the mysterious princess that had showed up and was so nice to them. Cinderella asks what the woman's name was, but neither one of them knows. They explain that the prince did not know her name either which had upset him. He would give everything to find out her identity. Cinderella asks if she may borrow a dress so that she could see this princess also, but the step-sisters laugh and refuse. This was the outcome that Cinderella had wanted anyways.

On the second day of the ball, it happens much in the same way as the first, but this time Cinderella's dress is far more beautiful, thanks to her godmother. She makes merry with the prince and has so much fun that she loses track of time. On the first stroke of midnight, Cinderella realizes her mistake and dashes out without even saying goodbye. In her rush, she looses a glass slipper on the steps. The prince picks it up.

Cinderella makes it back home on foot. The stage-coach, driver, and footmen have all changed into their previous forms. Her dress is nothing but rags. Only her glass slipper remains. The prince had sent out guards to look for her, but they return and tell only of seeing some peasant woman. The step-sisters return and tell of the events that occurred. They explain that the prince could not stop staring at the slipper and must surely be in love with its possessor. This was apparently true because, the next day, the prince announces that he will marry whoever's foot fits the slipper.

The step-sisters are the first to try but neither of them can get their big feet inside. Cinderella giggles as she watches them try and then suggests that she should be given a chance, but the step-sisters ridicule her for this. The man sent by the prince notices that this maiden, although dressed in rags, is very beautiful. He asks Cinderella to sit down and places the shoe on her foot. It fits as if it has been molded to fit her. Cinderella takes the other glass slipper from a pocket and places it on her other foot. At once, the godmother appears and touched her wand to Cinderella causing a dress more splendid then the other two to appear.

The step-sisters realize that this is the same woman they had seen at the ball. They throw themselves at Cinderella's feet begging forgiveness for how they had treated her. Cinderella makes them get up, she embraces them, and she forgives them with all of her heart. She also begs them to treat her kindly always to which they agree. She is taken back to the prince where they are married. Cinderella has her step-sisters live in the palace with her and they are married to two lords of the Court.

There is a moral listed with this story that reads as such:

Though beauty's a treasure that women desire,
For everyone's fond of a pretty young face,
Cinderella had gifts with a value much higher,
As she showed in behaving with charm and grace.

Some say, when they're asked what this story might mean,
That these were the gifts that her godmother gave;
Cinderella had learned from her how to behave
With such grace and such charm that is made her a queen.

Young ladies in quest of a prince, you'll discover
That in winning and keeping the heart of a lover
These gifts from the faeries are always the best,
And count for much more than the way you are dressed;
For with them you will get what you're after with ease,
But without them whatever you do will displease.

Perrault oddly includes a second moral which reads as such:

You have a great advantage, I admit,
If you receive from Heaven at your birth
Good breeding, courage, sense, a ready wit,
And other things of comparable worth;
But that is not enough unless you know
How best to use such precious gifts: you need
A godfather or godmother to show
What you must do in order to succeed.

And so ends the synopsis of Cinderella (Perrault Version).

First question is, what in the world happened to the father of Cinderella? The answer likely lies within the Grimm version. He simply became a lukewarm nobody--as one of my regular commentators mentioned. The man was simply too unimportant in the life of Cinderella to even be mentioned this time. This is actually very sad because we know he did exist and could have been a better influence on her. The step-mother is also barely mentioned this time around, and the story focuses entirely on Cinderella and her step-sisters.

On the latter point, did you notice that, although regularly mistreated, Cinderella did not have a particularly bad relationship with her step-sisters? They actually got along rather well. And I did get the impression that Cinderella did love them. And they possibly loved her but with a looming shadow of jealousy for her natural charm and beauty. This dynamic is actually quite plausible and often overlooked in the more modern interpretations of Cinderella where the step-sisters are 100% reprobate. The self-mutilation scenes were also removed for this reason. It would not have made sense. The step-sisters were horrible but not that horrible. They still had good in them.

Remember the three dresses in Donkey-Skin and Allerleirauh? They are in this story too but not as distinctly describes. The first two dresses were seen at the ball and the final dress was seen shortly after she tries on the slipper. This just goes to show that Cinderella is indeed linked to the ancient Donkey-Skin tales.

I do not think this version of Cinderella was a magically adept; although, I do think she does take after her mother. It is unclear if she had previous knowledge that her godmother was a fairy, but she did accept those gifts much easier than most would. The godmother's magic had some archaic qualities to it, but let's just admit it: Much of it was very cute. It is clear that this was the version--or one very similar to it--which inspired the Disney movie the most.

This version of Cinderella was easily the most pure-hearted of the collection. She really went out of her way to be wonderful to everyone. This showed when she chose to hang with her step-sisters at the ball and how she treated them once she was married to the prince. She really was the glorified definition of a proper princess, and a lot of people look to this story for that definition. It also is a great example of what draws us men to women at all.

One thing that was not mentioned in the synopsis was that Perrault briefly named one of the step-sisters Miss Javotte. It happens in the scene where Cinderella begs to borrow a dress to go to the second ball. This never happens again. This is, of course, a French name which means to chatter or gossip. The reason I mention this is that it is EXTREMELY rare for fairy tales to give proper names to anyone but the main character--if even that. This may have been a hidden reference that meant something only to Charles Perrault himself.

With this blog, we have reached the end of the Donkey-Skin tales. Once again, I challenge you to give me your take on this particular interpretation. Take up as much space in the comment block as you like. These fairy tales were made for everyone, and not everyone absorbs them in the same way. I would love to hear different opinions on these tales. They give me just as much insight into them as the stories themselves.

Thank you for reading my long blog! If you enjoyed it or otherwise, you can leave a comment below, or you can email me at tkwadeauthor@gmail.com. Thank you!