Disbelief in magic can force a poor soul into believing in government and business. – Tom Robbins
Once upon a time, there was a little girl who believed in fairy tales. REALLY believed. She wandered around the woods looking for the fairies and sprites that she knew were just out of sight. She was certain there was something under her bed, which is why she lined up her stuffed animals so the ones she liked least hit the floor first. Sorry, Raggedy Andy. She read every fairy tale she could get her hands on. Celtic, Native American and Russian. Polish, Indian and Italian. Her friends were Rose Red, Anansi and Baba Yaga. And then she grew up, and the fairy tales went away.
Or so I thought. I found an anthology of fantasy and horror edited by Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling. I read it. Then I read it again. Then I went to 
the author list and wrote every author of every short story and found their books at the library and read all of those. Because of these books, I found Delia Sherman, Jane Yolen, Charles deLint, Will Shetterly and Emma Bull. The fairy tales were back. They were relevant, comforting, visceral, and sometimes scary as hell.
The reason I’m writing all of this is because Ms. Windling has fallen on hard times. Her friends have begun an auction to help her out. I know that it’s not much, but I’m offering one of my readings –untimed- to give back to this woman who has given me so much.
http://magick4terri.livejournal.com/93415.html
Please check out the other offerings, too. There are signed books from the authors above, as well as other readings, experiences and artwork. It’s a lovely thing to do for a lovely person and artist. All of the pictures on this post are Ms. Windling’s. See what I mean? Magic.
http://magick4terri.livejournal.com/
Thank you, Ms. Windling.
Tags: Charles deLint, Delia Sherman, Ellen Datlow, Emma Bull, Terri Windling, Will Shetterly
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January 10, 2012 at 11:48 am
I came to this post late in the game but clicked over and was so happy to see so much was raised. I hope this gets her out of her trouble.
January 10, 2012 at 11:55 am
Isn’t it fantastic, what a community can do?