by Lisa Stock (director), 2009
reviewed by Deborah J. Brannon

Presently the children found a little brook dancing and glittering over the stones, and brother was eager to drink of it, but as it rushed past sister heard it murmuring:
“Who drinks of me will be a tiger! Who drinks of me will be a tiger!”
So she cried out, “Oh! dear brother, pray don’t drink, or you’ll be turned into a wild beast and tear … Read entire article »

Brother and Sister from Lisa Stock on Vimeo.

The inspiration behind “Brother & Sister” is Terri Windling’s beautiful poem of the same name, which is Sister’s response to the traditional “happily ever after”.  It’s her desire to choose her own destiny and accept her true nature.  Along with Terri’s words, her artwork moved me to make this film.  Many of her paintings and illustrations depict human figures with antlers or tree branches for hair and remind me of our connection to nature, our connection to our deepest most instinctual desires – our true selves.  And so I made the decision not to use special effects in the film to turn each of my characters into an actual deer, but rather give them attributes of the animal … Read entire article »

Something to look forward to in December, especially because Helen Pilinovsky is one of the contributors.

Alice beyond Wonderland
Essays for the Twenty-first Century

Edited by Cristopher Hollingsworth
Foreword by Karoline Leach

Available December 2009

From the website:

The scholars in this volume attempt to move beyond the sexually charged permutations of the “Carroll myth,” the image of an introverted man fumbling into literary immortality through his love for a prepubescent Alice. … Read entire article »

Daniel A. Rabuzzi, previous contributor to Cabinet fes Fées, has interviewed me on his new(ish) blog, Lobster and Canary. The blog itself is definitely worth reading, and Daniel’s questions were some of the most interesting I’ve ever been asked. One of the things he wondered was “what do you see as some of the true magic current and upcoming in fantasy and spec fic?”

I could have listed authors and titles, but I chose a … Read entire article »

Ben Carruth, in the Carruth’s new Storyteller Series, presents us with a glorious reading of the Volsunga Saga. The planned schedule is one part per week, and the first part is live now. From the website: “The Storyteller series is an experiment in rediscovering the art of public storytelling around the Internet campfire. These traditional stories are told from memory, without script or text, embellished in the telling. Performances are recorded in front of a live audience, edited for time and episodic presentation.”

Close your eyes and imagine yourself in the old halls, where the fires are blazing and a hush has suddenly fallen.