While writing my blog post about The Little Mermaid last week I couldn't help but thinking of Melusine. Melusine's story is very alike but also so different that she deserves a blog post of her own. Like Ariel, she has a fishtail, but unlike Ariel she doesn't belong in the sea, but in sacred springs …
Author: signemaene
Andersen vs Disney: The Little Mermaid
As a child I was infatuated with fairy tales. I can still hear my mother sigh as I re-watched 'The Little Mermaid' for the third time on the same rainy Sunday afternoon. Now I'm in my late twenties and still addicted to fairy tales. Who wants to grow up anyway? What fascinated me then was …
Rescuing Leonid: Elena
Find the third part of the story here Part IV: Elena It was snowing outside, but the windows of my studio were wide-open to let the fresh air in, and the cigarette smoke out. I was reading Dostoyevsky's Crime and Punishment while the cat slept in my lap. The cover of the book was partly …
Rescuing Leonid: Rebellion
Find the second part of the story here Part III: Rebellion I was waiting before the arrow-like logo of the supermarket. I expected Leonid to arrive on his new mountain bike. It never came. Instead a flashy red scooter from the 1980's drove towards me. 'Your mother knows you took her scooter?' I asked. The …
Rescuing Leonid: Adolescence
Find the first part of the story here Part II: Adolescence Leonid and I did our first year of Latin-Greek together, but he changed schools to study mathematics. I had not seen him for three years when I spotted his familiar blonde curls near a stall selling snowman jumpers on the Christmas market, or he …
Why Olympe de Gouges should be a household name
Who has heard of Olympe de Gouges? I hadn't. I only became aware of her name when I started researching The French Revolution. At first she was just one of the many victims of The Reign of Terror during which thousands of people were executed. Then I started reading more about her. And the more …
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Rescuing Leonid: Childhood
Part 1: Childhood Our ten-year-old selves hurried across the Market Square of Bruges. Our bicycles trembled as we rode over the cobbles. We had to hold our noses as we crossed the Fish Market before turning left. The brakes of Leonid's mountain bike squeaked as we halted before the arrow-like logo of the supermarket. 'Bet …
Notebooks, and why they have improved my writing.
Notebooks are for me the place where characters get their voice, where plots are outlined, and where the story begins. That's why I've a duffel bag crammed with used notebooks, and a second duffel bag crammed with unused notebooks patiently waiting to be filled with my sloppy handwriting. I'm not a writing expert, and I …
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Frightening folkloric beings that wake up during winter.
In my previous post I summed up some magical wintry fairy tales. Equally enchanting, but in a scary way, are the monsters that make you shiver, the creatures that will destroy Christmas, and the beings that haunt snow-covered moors. So, here are three very fascinating but truly terrifying folkloric beings that have plagued this planet …
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Fairy tales to read on Christmas Eve.
Photo by Egor Kamelev on Pexels.com It's said that Christmas is the most wonderful time of the year, and I quite agree. But for me it’s not the flashing lights and glittering figurines hanging in Christmas trees, nor is it the smell of cinnamon glühwein or the image of Santa Claus smiling at me while …
