Fairy Dust

A word about fairy dust. What is it exactly? Depends on who you ask. Tinker Bell would look at you like you were stupid, and say something like "Well, it's what makes everything happen in Pixie Hollow, of course!" In the Disney version of things, fairy dust is the source of the fairies' magic. Without it, they can't fly or do any of the other wonderful things they do. They carry it about all the time in little pouches made from leaves. The fairies leave a little trail of it behind them when they move.

Fairy dust can be purchased commercially as a decorative cosmetic made of finely ground glitter. Some pagans use it in the same or similar form as an aid to casting magical spells. Unfortunately, the term is also slang for both cocaine and crystal meth, a fact that makes Willow shudder.

When I imagined Willow, I didn't think of fairy dust until I was well into the book. I contemplated including it as a fairy trait, but there were just too many complications for a fairy who was supposed to be covert among humans. Was it something she carried, or was it produced by the glow of her skin? Did only certain parts of her body produce it? How long did it last? If her body didn't produce it, where did she get it? Did she have to sprinkle it every time she did something magical?

I decided to drop the whole idea. Willow breathed a sigh of relief when I did.

Why Must We Live With Slime?

By slime I mean the low lifes that slink about the internet, seeking out perfectly legitimate websites and blogs to contaminate with their garbage. I apologize to anyone who had to look at the crap someone dumped on my last blog post, which I had to delete completely. It was all links to viagra sales sites - illegal ones I'm sure.

I group these people with hackers, virus programmers, spammers and all other forms of cybercriminals. There is simply not enough bad that can be done to them.

Tinker Bell's New Duds

Tinker Bell made the front page of USA Today! Check out her new outfit - the first she's had in 56 years.

http://www.usatoday.com/life/movies/news/2009-10-11-tinker-bell_N.htm

An Ordinary Fairy update: The book is in the hands of my crack proof reading crew (all 16 of them) and when they're done, we'll be in print. Hopefully mid-November. Soon after that, it will show up on Amazon.com.

Tinker Bell and the Lost Treasure

Big news on the fairy front! Tinker Bell's second animated feature will be released October 27th on DVD and Bluray! Disney is producing four Tinker Bell movies, all of which will be released only on DVD and Bluray, rather than distributed to theatres. The first was cleverly titled Tinker Bell, and was released about a year ago. It was the first time in history that Tinker Bell actually got to speak.

Okay, I know I'm an old guy and shouldn't be interested in an animated story aimed mostly at kids. Well, too bad, I am. These are cool stories with great animation and after all, they are about fairies. While the fairies are very different from mine, they are fairies, which you don't see that often in the media, and so deserve my attention. And Tinker Bell as presented in the movies reminds me a lot of Willow Brown, as least as far as temperament goes.

A quick update on An Ordinary Fairy: I've completed the final proofing, and now the manuscript will be off to the proofreading crew. Hopefully, I'll be publishing in October.

Some Fairies Are Gay...and I Don't Just Mean Happy

One night at a writer's group where we shared our work by reading aloud, one of the members objected, rather strongly, to the title An Ordinary Fairy. He believed the title would be offensive to gay people, citing the common use of the word "fairy" as a derogatory term for them. I didn't quite laugh in his face; he seemed quite sincere, nearly upset, so I held my tongue to simply expressing surprise at his reaction.

To set the record straight (no pun intended), it never crossed my mind that the title might offend someone. The title was strictly intended to convey the paradox of what Willow Brown is. In her eyes (and words) she's just an ordinary person. But what is ordinary about a person who can fly? The title tries to convey that contradiction. Please, no offense was ever intended.

In my imagining of the fairy race, they're just like us except for their special abilities and powers. And so, there are fairies of every persuasion, personality type, appearance, and yes, sexual orientation. In the second book of this series, currently titled An American Fairy, you'll meet Rowan, Willow's best friend and fellow fairy, who is bisexual and lives with a gay woman.

Announcing my website, An Ordinary Fairy

I now have a website, anordinaryfairy.com. The link is at the top of the left-hand column.

<== OVER THERE!

Much of the website content is the same as on this blog. The important difference is that you can download and read the Prologue and Chapter One of the novel. The complete novel should be available sometime in October, if the continuing proofing process goes well.

Can fairies really fly?

I'm shocked you would even ask the question! Of course they can.

Willow Brown, one of the main characters of An Ordinary Fairy (she's the ordinary fairy, BTW), is a highly skilled flier, in fact, one of the best in the fairy world. Perhaps a few words on the different types of fairies would be appropriate.

First, fairies have insect wings, not bird wings with feathers. They are classified into sub-species based on their wing type. (BTW, fairies are the almost the same species as humans - homo aviatus. And they can successfully cross breed with us, though the results are interesting.) All fairies wings are attached somewhat differently than on the corresponding insect, allowing them to pivot downward, which allows ease of movement in tight spaces and concealment under clothing. The wings are supported and moved by a large structure of muscle, bone and cartilage on the upper back. Hence, fairy women don't wear low-back clothing. Fairy men don't have that problem, since they don't have wings at all.

The largest group is the Butters, who have butterfly wings. Many people consider them the most beautiful of all fairies. They tend to be a little stuck on themselves and perhaps a little slow-thinking, but as my information comes from Willow Brown, it may be slanted. They don't fly very fast, and tend toward jerky movements in the air. A related group is the Moths, who for obvious reasons, live on third shift and only come out after dark.

The next group is the Bumbles, who have small, black-veined bumblebee wings. They fly very little, due to their tendency to be, shall we say, portly. Many of them become healers and mid-wives. Because of their body size, they blend in well with humans, and many take on regular professions.

The smallest group is the Wasps. They are tall, thin-limbed and have long wings. They tend to be very territorial and can have unpleasant dispositions. They fly very well, though not as well as the last group.

Last, comprising about twenty percent of all fairies, is the Dragons. Willow Brown is a Dragon, with two pairs of dragonfly wings. Dragons are by far the fastest and most agile flyers, able to perform wonderful in-flight acrobatics. Some are better than others, just as some of us humans are better athletes. All fairies are very muscular and solidly built, in order to accommodate flying. How does flying work? I'll quote Willow's explanation to Noah: "It's sort of a combination of physics and magic."

Just ask Tinkerbell.