National Tell a Fairy Tale Day Is Back!

National Tell a Fairy Tale Day has quickly become one of my favorite days of the year. Once obscure and unknown, February 26th has become the best day to score amazing bargains on fairy tale adaptations from all the best fantasy authors. These annual festivities started as a Facebook party with many reader interactions. Last year, independent author and fairy tale queen Brittany Fichter decided to host the event as a series of linked blog posts which, though more accessible, creates less opportunity for live interactions with the authors. However, the celebrations continue to include a vast array of fairy tale-related games, activities, and free or discounted ebooks to read throughout the year.

This year's fairy tale webring, Once Upon 2024, features 13 authors of various fairy tale adaptation series. Each author made a post introducing herself, sharing some fun fairy tale-related activities, and contributed at least one complimentary ebook from her collection. The authors include our hostess Brittany Fichter, Nicole Zoltack, Mary Mecham, Valia Lind, Callie Thomas, S.R. Nulton, Janna Ruth, Hanna Sandvig, C.F.E. Black, E.J. Kitchens, Sarah Beran, Camille Peters, and an introduction to a multi-author charity series called Hope Ever After. This list includes a good mix of authors I have reviewed in the past as well as ones that were completely new to me. The blog posts allowed me to get to know their fairy tale preferences, and the final link led to a big list of books that are on sale for free or $0.99 in honor of National Fairy Tale Day.

While I understand that making the blog posts available at any time instead of doing a live event allows both the authors and the readers to enjoy the events on their own schedules, I miss the excitement of the live Facebook events in the past that allowed fans to interact directly with their favorite authors in real-time. Due to the limited nature of the new format, most of this year's posts included the same three activities: personality quizzes, puzzles, and word searches. A few authors posted charts that allowed readers to customize their own fairy tales or characters or delicious recipes for fairy tale treats, but they were static images that did not allow for much interaction. There were also a lot of posts to get through for the freebies at the end. The event may have worked better if it were split into multiple days to allow readers to fully digest each author's meticulously crafted interactions instead of feeling compelled to rush through them all to reach the goodies at the end.

Though I am not participating in any promotional events today, this is a good time to remind you all that I have written some of my own fairy tale retellings available on Amazon. Blood Red is a realistic retelling of "Little Red Riding Hood" with no werewolves about a Hollywood starlet who finds herself in the middle of a deadly conspiracy. Of Land and Sea is a retelling of "The Little Mermaid" in two parts. The "land" half is from the perspective of Princess Helena, the temple maiden who married the prince without realizing that it would cost a young mermaid her life, and the "sea" half is from the perspective of Rsrae, the former mermaid who became a Daughter of the Air. The final book in my Stolen Trilogy, The Stolen Slipper, is a redemption story for Lady Krystal, as she takes on the role of Cinderella's Fairy Godmother. If you plan on reading her story, I would recommend starting this series from the beginning with The Stolen Jewel for context. My friend Kae-Leah Williamson is also working on a brand new retelling of "The Snow Queen" that takes place in a mermaid world. The first six chapters of her book, The Siren Queen, are available to read for free right now on Wattpad!

Whether you're diving into a classic tale, exploring a modern retelling, or even crafting your own story, there are endless ways to join the festivities. This year's "Once Upon 2024" features 13 authors offering activities, introductions, and free ebooks from their fairy tale series. Be sure to check out a few of mine as well. The fun continues for me tomorrow when I will be hosting my very own playthrough of Atlas Games' Once Upon a Time card game! How are you celebrating National Tell a Fairy Tale Day? Share your favorite stories, activities, or retellings in the comments below!