With the goal of discovering the best voices in speculative fiction from across the world, Book Smugglers Publishing publishes original short fiction featuring subversive, feminist, and diverse perspectives.
Book Smugglers Publishing’s Fall 2014 theme is Subversive Fairy Tales, and comprises six original short stories for the discerning reader.
Hunting Monsters
Written by S.L. Huang
Cover art by Kristina Tsenova
Available on 10/7/14
ISBN-13: 9781942302001 | Word Count: 6,600 | USD $2.99
Read Hunting Monsters for free online HERE (available now)
“Happy birthday, child. Careful not to shoot any grundwirgen.”
Ever since she was a small girl, she has learned to be careful on the hunt, to recognize the signs that separate regular animals from human-cursed grundwirgen. To harm a grundwirgen is a crime punishable by death by the King’s decree – a fatal mistake that her Auntie Rosa and mother have carefully prepared her to avoid.
On her fifteenth birthday, when her mother is arrested and made to stand trial for grundwirgen murder, everything she thought she knew about her family and her past comes crashing down.
Auntie Rosa has always warned her about monsters. Now, she must find and confront them to save her mother, no matter the cost.
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In Her Head, In Her Eyes
Written by Yukimi Ogawa
Cover art by Jacqueline Pytyck
Available 10/21/14
Word Count: 5,426 | USD $2.99
Read In Her Head, In Her Eyes for free online HERE (available now)
Trills of silver, quiver of gold.
Pot Head, they called her. Heavy-head, they teased her. In a noble house of dye masters, Island-born Hase is an outcast, ridiculed by her fellow servants and employers – all because of the smooth, reflective sphere that covers her head. Little does the household know that Hase has a mission and a purpose, carried behind her pot-covered head, in her impenetrable eyes.
A subversive retelling of: Hachikaduki
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Mrs. Yaga
Written by Michal Wojcik
Cover art by Jacqueline Pytyck
Available 11/04/14
Word Count: 2,859 | USD $2.99
Read Mrs Yaga for free online HERE (available now).
“All he has to do is bypass the gatekeeper of the thrice-tenth kingdom and bring me a fern flower, a dragon’s heart, and a rusałka’s lock of hair. Easy.”
On the outskirts of a quiet Canadian town, in a cabin perched on chicken feet and surrounded by a fence of skulls, live Baba Yaga and her ward, Aurelia. Young Aurelia yearns for romance, for adventure, for freedom from her baba—but every one of Aurelia’s suitors so far has failed Mrs. Yaga’s three simple tasks. When her last—and favourite—date disappears, Aurelia must decide to continue her daydreams of freedom, or embark on an adventure of her own.
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The Mussel Eater
Written by Octavia Cade
Cover art by Kristina Tsenova
Available 11/18/14
ISBN-13: 9781942302032 | Word Count: 3,627 | USD $2.99
Read The Mussel Eater for free online HERE (available now)
“I was curious,” she says, when he asks her. She has seen him eyeing her, seen him moving closer, and holds out one of her hands. It is stronger than his, and the nails are pointed. “Are you curious, too?”
Karitoki is fascinated by the Pania, who beckons him with her plump, scaled flesh, her razor-sharp nails, her fish-oil scent.
His Pania, Karitoki thinks, as the two spend more time together by the rock pool. His Pania, he believes, loyal to him just as she is loyal to the lives of the dolphins and whales she guards. His Pania, if only she would eat the delicate mussels he cooks for her, every day, by the sea.
But a Pania never eats cooked food.
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The Astronomer Who Met The North Wind
Written by Kate Hall
Cover art by Sally Jane Thompson
Available 12/02/14
Read The Astronomer Who Met The North Wind for free online HERE (available now)
A retelling of “The Princess Who Met the North Wind” written by Wendy Eyton.
“Down there, the North Wind whispered in her ear. Down where I don’t blow so fierce, there you will be able to observe your stars.”
Once upon a time, high in the northern mountains, there lived a great astronomer and his daughter. Though Minka was clever and loved the stars as much as her father, no one believed she would ever become an astronomer—for this was not a path meant for little girls.
But on her twelfth birthday, the North Wind blows at Minka’s window, beckoning her to leave safety and warmth of her bedroom. With her father’s telescope and journals strapped to her back, Minka embarks on the adventure of a lifetime, under the starry night sky.
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The Ninety-Ninth Bride
Written by Catherine Faris King
Cover art by Jacqueline Pytyck
Available 12/16/14
Word Count: 9,560 Words | USD $2.99
Read The Ninety-Ninth Bride for free online HERE (available now)
A retelling of the framing story of the Arabian Nights.
“When the Sultan has arrived and is at ease, ask that I tell you a story. Do you like stories?”
Dunya is just fifteen years of age when her father, the Grand Vizier, gives her over to the mad Sultan for his bride. Ninety-eight Sultanas before Dunya have been executed, slaughtered at the break of dawn following their first night with their new husband. But on her own wedding night, the ninety-ninth bride finds help from the mysterious and beautiful Zahra, who proposes to tell the Sultan a story…
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And finally, presenting…
Retold: Six Fairytales Reimagined
“When the Sultan has arrived and is at ease, ask that I tell you a story. Do you like stories?”
From Beauty and the Beast to Scheherazade, and Baba Yaga to the North Wind, fairy tales have inspired readers for generations. In Retold, six fables from across the globe are re-imagined–with a subversive twist. This anthology collects six short stories from diverse, feminist, and original perspectives.
- Hunting Monsters by S.L. Huang
- In Her Head, In Her Eyes by Yukimi Ogawa
- Mrs. Yaga by Michal Wojcik
- The Mussel Eater by Octavia Cade
- The Astronomer Who Met the North Wind by Kate Hall
- The Ninety-Ninth Bride by Catherine F. King
These aren’t your storybook fairy tales.
Get your copy of Retold by visiting any of the following retailers!
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All stories are available for free in their entirety on The Book Smugglers and available as ebooks for sale via several online retailers and directly from The Book Smugglers. Each ebook contains the full story and a Q&A, as well as an essay from the author on writing the retelling, elaborating on the themes explored in their tale. The anthology Retold collects all stories, extras and cover art.
5 Comments
tee+d
October 1, 2014 at 6:41 pm*sigh*
This all looks fabulous!
Brianne Marie
October 3, 2014 at 4:34 pmThis looks amazing! I am so impressed that you are starting a publishing company! Super excited to read these stories! Just found this blog and this is my first taste of speculative fiction!
Gabry
November 6, 2014 at 12:56 pmI am so, so thrilled that the first theme is subversive fairy tales! But I was wondering if these stories would maybe be released as a collective e-book as well as individually?
Luka-Micheala
February 4, 2015 at 4:56 pmI think the one about the pot-head sounds the most curious.
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