Dead People's Hair

I recently had the pleasure of spending my birthday with some of my favorite literary and historical icons, fulfilling my answer to the perennial cocktail party question, "If you could have dinner with any figures from history, who would they be?" I didn't have dinner with them, but I spent an entire afternoon as close to the living version of these people as possible while at the Harry Ransom Center at the University of Texas. I looked forward to this visit for days, dressing up for it a bit so that I would look respectable in the company of other scholars, as well as the ghosts of famous writers that I am certain haunt the second floor archives. I went so far as to wear shoes I knew were not the best all weather foot wear, but looking like a smarty with a purpose means the occasional sacrifice of fashion over comfort. After filling out the appropriate paperwork and orientation to get a research account, I requested the famous "Collection of Hair formed by J.H. Leigh Hunt," otherwise known as "the hair book," filled with locks of hair of major historical and literary figures. Many specimens were acquired through a hair dresser or clipped just after death.

Some were beautiful, clean and romantic (John Keats and Elizabeth Barrett Browning.) Others gave me a feeling of a hair lodged in my throat after unknowingly being swallowed with my food. I still can't look at the online sample of Thomas Carlyle's hair without hacking a little. Despite this, I gave respectable time to each lock of hair because it was as close to interacting with George Washington or Napolean as we can have two hundred years after their deaths.

As wonderful as it was to see these other samples, I wanted to see the book specifically for Mary Shelley's Hair. She is a critical figure in both literary and pop culture history, creating an icon that lives large and beyond her story. Moreover, she did it as a challenge to egotistical men (including her husband) that foolishly dismissed her as a teenage girl in love. Her lock of hair was also one of the first things I ever saw on display at the Ransom Center when I was an undergraduate, one of the first things that let me know how special this collection and my university were for acquiring such a thing. This hair was on her head as she trudged, pregnant and on foot, through Europe with her poet husband who's head was lost in the clouds. This hair was on her head, on that dark and stormy night, when the monster in her head came alive on the page. It was a part of her, and it waits between the pages of this book for anyone who wants to touch history.

Into the Woods

Christmas is a magical time of year, full of the sorts of enchanting stories and traditions that perfectly suit the nature of a fairy tale blog. It's also a great time of year for movies! This year I saw Into the Woods and had a great time with the perfect cast and visuals, particularly the scenes in which Chris Pine fully embraced the role of the charming cad. It was as though John Travolta and Mr. Wickham had a love-child, and it was great! It was also wonderful to see Daniel Huttlestone in this film because I still haven't recovered from his death in Les Miserable two years ago. Enjoy these fun animated movie posters and, if you haven't already, go enjoy the film!

A Gothic Christmas with Serena Valentino

It's the Christmas season, a time awash in images of snow and candy canes, Santa and Elf on a Shelf. There are those of us, however, that do appreciate it when someone can include a love of Poe and Oscar Wilde on a Christmas mantel, or dress up a tree with vintage paper dolls. Apples and Spindles is lucky to have an exclusive holiday look into the home of Serena Valentino, a writer known for the popular graphic novels, Gloomcookie and Nightmares and Fairy Tales, as well as the young adult fairy tale novels Fairest of All: A Tale of a Wicked Queen and The Beast Within: A Tale of Beauty's Prince. We get to see her home that inspires her, including an antique writing desk and a fantastic library, and she answers a few questions for me too! If you have not yet discovered her amazing work, please waste no time in picking up her books (available in the blog bookstore.) Consider it a fabulous gift to yourself this holiday season!

AS: You are one of the pioneers of women in the comic book world. Was it harder to get published or more difficult in any other way, or do you find that the comic book world had an open mind?

SV: Dan Vado, president of SLG has had a long history of hiring women editors, staff, and creators, so on that front it wasn't particularly challenging. As for the rest of the industry, I think it has a long way to go before we can say as a whole that it has an open mind. That isn't to say there aren't publishers out there hiring women, however I feel there should be a lot more.

AS: What are your favorite comics/graphic novels?

SV: I'm very fond of Alan Moore's work and just about anything he has to say on almost every topic.

AS: Fairy Tales are at the center of much of your work. Describe how and why they inspire you in your work and in life.

SV: Loves and inspirations are interesting beasts. Sometimes the reasons for our fascinations are very clear and easy to articulate, while others are a mystery, because they evoke a deep visceral reaction within us that is impossible to properly express. Fairy tales are that for me. I've always been fascinated by their deceptive simplicity, their beauty, horror, and intriguing female characters - that's why I'm so thrilled to be expanding upon some of my Nightmares & Fairy Tales stories in novel form. It will give me the opportunity to explore and further develop some of my favorite characters.

AS: Do you actually write at that fabulous writing desk or does it's beauty inspire you while you write from other parts of the house?

SV: While I search for the perfect chair it will remain an inspiration while I write in other parts of the house. The desk is slightly tall for me. (I'm only 5'). Though I do most of my writing in my front parlor, I also enjoy writing at the dining room table because the room gets lots of light in the afternoon, and I have a view our garden and the many birds it attracts.

AS: You, Neil Gaiman and Bill Willingham are authors that work in both the comic book world and the world of novels. How is your writing process for those the same/different? Do you have a preference? You seem to be doing more with novels these days.

SV: My writing process for comic scriptwriting is very different from writing novels. When writing comics, I'm writing for myself, the readers and for the artist. I spend a lot of time finding visual references for my artists, from the way I want a character to look, to dress, or their facial expressions - and of course there is their environment. I write full script with panel to panel descriptions and I provide the artist I'm working with as much detail and references as possible. I've even been known to layout a dummy book and make little sketches and maps. I didn't always work this way, especially when I first started writing for comics and I found myself disappointed, but quickly learned how to write a tight script while leaving room for artist collaboration. I find comic scriptwriting more challenging, and in ways a bit more rewarding. I love working with the artists and seeing my characters visually come to life. There is a lot re freedom when witting novels. I love being able to explore characters and easily moving from their thoughts, emotions, dialogue and even time without fear you may lose the reader. Those things can be done within the comic book format, but they are much easier to achieve when witting a novel. I love letting my characters talk, or muse for pages at a time. My space in which to tell the story isn't limited. (Which is why I feel witting for comics is more challenging, and it's within my nature to love the things that challenge me most.Though if asked I don't think I could honestly say which I loved more, because they are such different beasts, and allow me to tell stories in unique and beautiful ways.

Thank you, Serena Valentino for taking the time to do an interview and send us such great photos during a busy holiday season! Apples and Spindles is a lucky blog indeed. 

Alice in Wonderland Exhibit at the Harry Ransom Center!!!

Only a few posts ago I was touting the spectacular collection and exhibit schedule of the Harry Ransom Center, the primary research facility for the Humanities at the University of Texas. Once again, I am thrilled to post preview information about their upcoming Alice in Wonderland exhibit! The Ransom Center owns several original photographs, letters and manuscripts from Lewis Carroll, as well as lots of items specific to Alice in Wonderland.

They have an original first edition that is one of the world's few "hospital copies." Here is the story according the website...

In June 1865, Lewis Carroll had fifty copies of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland bound up for presentation to family and friends. Shortly afterward the illustrator, John Tenniel, complained to Carroll that he was "entirely dissatisfied with the printing of the pictures." The author gave in to Tenniel’s request that the issue be suppressed. Carroll then attempted to recover the presentation copies, promising to replace them. All but perhaps fifteen copies were returned to Carroll, who then removed the presentation inscriptions and donated the books to children’s hospitals.

The cover and inside title page of the Harry Ransom Center's "hospital copy" First Edition.

The Ransom Center also owns a rare first edition Russian copy that was translated by a young Vladimir Nabokov, who was paid a whopping $5 for his trouble.

For more information, here is a video of the upcoming exhibit. I hope you can make it! Please share this post and spread the word on this wonderful exhibit!

A Day on the Moors

Most folks envision the Texas landscape to be little more than cattle ranches that simply sprawl out from the Dallas Cowboy stadium into the wild blue yonder, but there is actually a wide variety of landscapes that includes touristy beaches and rolling green hill country. I've had the good fortune to move to a small but progressive cool town just north of Austin that has a great artsy community and takes pride in it's Victorian architecture, the perfect place to give inspiration to a blog about an enchanting world. As a mother, I also love that my 4 year old son gets to experience the almost mystical parks in the area, despite the occasional angry goose. Every kid has to learn that lesson once, right? This weekend we went to Berry Springs Park and I felt like I was living in a Gothic novel. The atmosphere kept building to this beautiful, creepy climax of darkness and I half expected Heathcliff to appear from the fog...or Mr. Darcy. Pick your favorite fog hero and go from there. I also felt certain that Tolkein might have popped over to central Texas a time or two because the water was at once clear and murky, with plants and things just beneath the surface. It looked I would soon see the dead elves and men that Frodo sees as he's crossing over water. Here are a few photos that I left unedited, as that would only have diminished them.

Floral Fiction

I am a relentless advocate for shamelessly reveling in having the books with pretty covers if given the option. Why read the Pride and Prejudice with the bland cover when there are so many lovely options? Children are no different and may even choose to read a title they previously shunned if the cover entices them. Penguin Publishers seem to know this and have once again struck gold with their new line of children's classics, "In Bloom." As of now, they have four titles out and all are worth having regardless of your age. All are also available in the Apples and Spindles Bookshop. Take a peek and consider these for Christmas either as a gift or for yourself!

A Lock of Poe's Hair

There are so many ideas I have for posts, but I thought "What would be most festive just before Thanksgiving?" After much thought, I decided that Poe was really the way to go before getting the family together for a big meal and football. After all, he lived in New England, which is where the pilgrims landed, so it's a perfect fit!

So, in the spirit of Thanksgiving, I am thankful that I've moved back to the Austin area so that I have easy access to the Harry Ransom Center at the University of Texas, one of the best Humanities collections in the world. I wandered around the exhibits between classes when I was a student, amazed that at any time I could pop over and see everything from photographs by the glorious Julia Margaret Cameron to an original Gutenberg Bible. It was like having tangible access to history. I still check the exhibit schedule every few months and I am convinced that my son shares my gothic sensibility because I went to see a Poe exhibit there when I was 24 hours pregnant with him. Poe is just powerful enough to work his way into genetics through osmosis.

The Poe collection at the Harry Ransom Center is full of letters, manuscripts, and personal effects...really personal. Like a lock of his oily, creepy hair. It's fantastic! Here are a few other things you can see next time they haul out all their bits and pieces of Poe...

Poe's writing desk

Detail from their original manuscript for "The Raven." 

Poe portrait by Arthur Garfield Learned - Image includes reference to "The Raven" and "Annabelle Lee," as well as the demons that haunted him.

The lock of Poe's hair.