Now accepting submissions for "The Fairy Tale Chronicles" #FairyTaleChronicles #KidsChronicles

The Fairy Tale Chronicles: A Collection of Stories Written and Illustrated by Children

The original anthology in the Kids' Chronicles series of anthologies, "The Talisman Chronicles: A Collection of Stories Written and Illustrated by Children," is an anthology of stories written and illustrated by children. A second one, after several requests, was opened for submission, and in 2015, "Superhero Chronicles: A Collection of Superhero Stories Written & Illustrated by Children" was published. It has been requested by some kids that we create another anthology, and so we are complying with this request.

The third volume of the Kids' Chronicles series of anthologies published by Your Kids' Creations is called "The Fairy Tale Chronicles: A Collection of Stories Written & Illustrated by Children."

This is the new topic for children to write about for a new anthology in 2016. I think the world needs to read more stories written by children. Don't you?

The anthology will be published in both kindle and print formats, and in both color and black and white formats.

Artwork, when sent in by children should be line drawings. If the drawings are colored-in, when the drawing is optimized for print, the same colors will be used. The cleaner the image, the easier it will be to optimize it for print.

Kids should shoot for 300 words or over for their stories but because these are kids writing, shorter stories will be accepted. The story should be entirely the child's creation, but the child may have help from his or her parent with things like spelling and grammar.

A list of charms is below. Children are to select a charm that best represents their story. I will do my best to send that charm to the child. Once they have written a story for a selected charm, they may select another one and write another story. 

Each child will need to send in a one-line to one-paragraph long author bio, written in the third person and will need to e-mail a copy of the signed parental agreement.

Deadline for submissions is June 15, 2017.

List of charms below:

Cat charm 

Dragon charm 

Mermaid charm 

Wolf charm 

Book charm 

Unicorn charm 

Heart charm 

Fox charm 

Fairy charm 

Butterfly charm 

Dragonfly charm 

Anchor charm 

Skull and crossbones charm 

Feather charm 

Charms will be crossed out when no more of a specific type are available and new ones will be added as charms are taken for stories.

The Superhero Chronicles anthology table of contents #SuperheroChronicles

If your child has a story in this anthology, please check that the spelling of his or her name is correct. Some hero titles  and story titles have been tweaked. For those of you who have not yet sent in a short sentence or paragraph (written in the third person) about the author (including his or her age), please do so as soon as possible. The formatting of the stories is nearly completed. I am still working on the artwork, preparing it for the book, but I am also getting the "About the Authors and Illustrators" section filled in. I should have an official cover to show you soon too! (The above cover is not the one that will be used.)

Flamewhip by Angelina Destiny Marie Carté

     The Carnival 

Tala by Gabriella Fyfe

     Ears

Lightning Lilly by Maddy Willoughby

     Lightning Lilly and Champion Chewie in the Zoo Rescue

Special Boy by Connor Fyfe

     Becoming Special 

Princess Seea by Aijay Willoughby

     Princess Seea and Super Stitch in the Big Splash

Tiger Boy by Cameron Fyfe

     Battling the Baddies

Starlight by Isabella Fyfe 

     Super Crystal 

The Apprentice by Leyarna Hendricks

     The Girl and the Mastermind

Super Leyarna by Izabela Manta

     The Magical Event 

Nature Princess by Isabella Fyfe

    The Special Garden

          Part One by Isabella Fyfe

          Part Two by Leyarna Hendricks

          Part Three by Izabela Manta

          Part Four by Leyarna Hendricks

          Part Five by Isabella Fyfe

Ashley Morris: Vampire Hunter by Miriam Norwitz 

     Vampire Street

The Singer by Jade Nash 

     The Singing Hero

Gadget Man by Autumn East

     Fixing Things

Super Lion Cub by Maddy Willoughby

     The Happy Lion

Towering Tulip by Aijay Willoughby

     Tulip to the Rescue

Stonecone by Connor Fyfe

     Out with Mum

Mermaid Girl by Emmy Snider

     Merina the Mermaid

Super Bella by Cerys Ebenezer

     The Power of Friendship

Toy Tiger by Cameron Fyfe

     The Bedroom Rescue

Super Orla by Isabella Fyfe

      From Villain to Hero
Amazing Boy by Connor Fyfe
     The Barbest and the Gift of Fire
Super Witch by Isabella Fyfe
     Super Pencil to the Rescue

About the Authors and Illustrators 

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Progress on "The Superhero Chronicles" anthology

This year, the subject for the anthology written and illustrated by kids is "superheroes." It was chosen by one of my daughters. We have quite a few stories, but many of the stories this year needed additional work, and we have had very few pictures submitted. My daughter is helping create some pictures to go with some of the non-illustrated stories, and some of the children are revising and building on their stories.

However, all of this additional work means that the anthology is taking longer than I had hoped to complete. It will be completed and published sometime in December, but whether it will be mid-December or late December, I can't be certain.

I think the subject of superheroes was a bit more difficult for some children to write about because the topic was so narrow. So, what we are going to do for the next kids' anthology is we will be returning to the original format where the children will pick a charm and write about that charm or about the character in the charm. This leaves the topics more open for children to write about (and illustrate). It will be Volume Two of "The Talisman Chronicles."

In the meantime, let me apologize right now for anyone waiting on "The Superhero Chronicles" who was hoping to buy a copy in time for Christmas this year. I will do my best, but I'm afraid I can't guarantee it will be ready in time.

On a positive note, some of the stories that came in were absolutely brilliant and inspired. And the cover is already being created for the anthology so I will be able to share it with you soon.

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Story Starter - Week Fifteen

This is the last installment of Story Starters that you will find here. Story Starters is not stopping though. After today, you can find the weekly Story Starters on the Story Starters blog.

This week's Story Starter is a small beginning to a story. Write a story or poem inspired by the paragraphs below. You can use the "beginning" anywhere in your story; it doesn't just have to start your story. Or you can just use it to inspire a completely different story having nothing to do with the sentences below.

The moon's light glinted off the tombstones, surrounding the cemetery in an iridescent light. Tammy didn't think it was a good idea to come to the cemetery; she'd only come along at the insistence of her friends. They thought it would be fun to see who was brave enough to stay in the cemetery the longest. 

But then Tammy saw the grey-colored hand, with torn and eaten-away flesh, start to push its way up out of the ground. 

As always, I love to read what you are writing, so please copy and paste your story or poem into the comments, if you would like to share.

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Story Starter - Week Fourteen

This week's Story Starter is a picture. Write a story or poem inspired by the picture below.

by Rebecca Fyfe of Fairy Magic Photos

As always, I would love to read what you write, so please copy and paste what you've written into the comments, if you feel like doing so.

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Story Starter - Week Thirteen

This week's Story Starter is a small beginning to a story. Write a story or poem inspired by the beginning below. You can use the "beginning" anywhere in your story; it doesn't just have to start your story. Or you can just use it to inspire a completely different story having nothing to do with the sentences below.

David took the bandage off his wrist. the skin underneath was still red and angry looking. A beautiful mermaid, in full color looked back at him from the lines of the tattoo. 

'"David, we have work to do. you need to do exactly as I say." 

The female voice appeared to be coming from his new tattoo, but that was crazy. Right?

As always, I would love to read what you write, so please copy and paste what you've written into the comments, if you feel like doing so.

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Story Starter - Week Twelve

This week's Story Starter is a picture. Write a story or poem inspired by the paragraph below. The paragraph can begin your story, end your story or be found anywhere within your story, or you can just use it to inspire a completely different story having nothing to do with the sentence.

"Camryn woke up from the strangest dream and immediately felt that something had changed. Her body felt different, stronger. And she felt a faint tingling, like a mild electrical current, just under the surface of her skin."

As always, I would love to read what you write, so please copy and paste what you've written into the comments, if you feel like doing so.

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Story Starter - Week Eleven

This week's Story Starter is a picture. Write a story or poem inspired by the picture below.

photo by Rebecca Fyfe

As always, I would love to read what you write, so please copy and paste what you've written into the comments, if you feel like doing so.

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Story Starter - Week Ten

This week's Story Starter is a picture. Write a story or poem inspired by the picture below.

art by Rebecca Fyfe of Melusine Muse Press

As always, I would love to read what you write, so please copy and paste what you've written into the comments, if you feel like doing so.

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Story Starter - Week Nine

This week's Story Starter is a picture. Write a story or poem inspired by the picture below.

photo by Rebecca Fyfe at Melusine Muse Press

As always, I would love to read what you write, so please copy and paste what you've written into the comments, if you feel like doing so.

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Story Starter - Week Eight

This week's Story Starter is a picture. Write a story or poem inspired by the picture below.

As always, I would love to read what you write, so please copy and paste what you've written into the comments, if you feel like doing so.

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Story Starter - Week Seven

This week's Story Starter is a picture. Write a story or poem inspired by the picture below.

photography by Rebecca Fyfe at Fyfe Photography

As always, I would love to read what you write, so please copy and paste what you've written into the comments, if you feel like doing so.


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Story Starter - Week Six

This week's Story Starter is a picture. Write a story or poem inspired by the picture below.

"Cemetery Angel" by Rebecca Fyfe

As always, I would love to read what you write, so please copy and paste what you've written into the comments, if you feel like doing so.

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Story Starters - Week Five

This week's Story Starter is a picture. Write a story or poem inspired by the picture below.

As always, I would love to read what you write, so please copy and paste what you've written into the comments, if you feel like doing so.

art by Robert Fyfe

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Story Starter - Week Four

 This week's Story Starter is a two-sentence beginning to a story, which can be found below.

The mirror in front of me shimmered and blurred, and in the glass, I could see a different room. I reached my hand out to the surface of the mirror and my hand went right through it.

As always, I would love to read the short story you write based on these lines, so feel free to share your story in the comments below.






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Story Starters - Week Three

This week's Story Starter is a picture. Write a story or poem inspired by the picture below.

As always, I would love to read what you write, so please copy and paste what you've written into the comments, if you feel like doing so.

by Robert Fyfe

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Story Starters - Week Two

This week's story starter is a choice between two pictures. You may write a story or poem inspired by either one. 

I would love to read what you write from this week's Story Starter in the comments, so feel free to paste into the comments!

by Robert Fyfe

by Rebecca Fyfe

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Story Starters - Week One

Today marks the first Story Starter post. Story Starters will be posted on Friday every week and will either contain photos or a first sentence, or even a first paragraph, to help inspire new stories. The point of the Story Starters is to get you writing. If you haven't written anything all week, use the story starters to make sure you write something every week. The best way to become a proficient story-teller is to write as many stories as you are able to write. The more you write, the better your writing will become.

With a photo or drawing, you are to look at the picture and see what ideas it inspires in you; then write your story. The same goes for the Story Starters that give you a sentence or a paragraph to start you off. With a paragraph, you are to use it to start your story, but with a sentence, you are to use it either to start your story or to add it in anywhere in the story.

This week's Story Starter is a sentence:

While everyone else was busy arguing about the accident, Shane's gaze was riveted on the dark bulge that slithered in and out of view under the injured victim's skin.

(Feel free to add your stories in the comments below.)

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How do I prepare the art sent in to be used as illustrations for The Talisman Chronicles?

Are you wondering why my work on the illustrations for the anthology are taking so long? Here's a look at what I am doing, using one of the illustrations drawn and submitted by one of the children who are contributing stories to the anthology.

Original:

 drawn by Maddison, age 7

To make the pictures presentable for print so that the lines are clean within the book, I trace around the picture in a drawing program on my computer and then fill in the colors, trying to get close to the colors chosen by the children. I try and trace the picture as exactly as possible. Of course, even filling the colors in leaves some edging that I have to trace back over in the color it is edging against. (Not sure if I am explaining the process well.) It's not difficult, but it is very time-consuming. 

Below is the ready-for-print version:

Please note: There will be both a color version and a black and white version of the book. 

Also, if anyone who sent a picture for the anthology would like me to e-mail them the updated version (to use in blog posts, to create gifts at sites like CafePress , Zazzle or Printfection, etc), just let me know. (If the picture you sent did not have any color, I will have also added color to it for the color version.)

My own daughters have done some drawings for the anthology. I will share them in a later post.

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Table of Contents and Blurb Reveal for "The Talisman Chronicles"

Blurb (rough draft):

Children of all ages, including teenagers, have been finding magical charms all over the world. In some cases, the talismans take them on a magical adventure and in other cases, the magical charms give them a vision of someone else's magical adventure. These stories have been gathered here in The Talisman Chronicles as each child tells their story. Delve into the imaginations of children and enjoy these enchanting stories, written by children from around the world.

Below is the Table of Contents for The Talisman Chronicles. If your child has contributed a story, please make sure that their story is listed here and that their name is spelled correctly. Also, make sure I have the correct age for their age when they wrote their story (or their age now, if that's what they'd prefer), and, if I do not have an age for them, please let me know. I also need short author bios for each child. At the moment, I only have some author bios. (They don't need to be more than a sentence long, but they can be. They just need to say something about your young author.) (The children's ages will be listed under their bylines with their stories but not on the Table of Contents in the actual book. I am just listing them here in order to find out which of them I am missing the ages for.) 

1. Introduction
2. Prologue
3. The Dragonfly Charm by Angelina Destiny Marie Carte', age ?
4. King Beanameatus by Henry Gatenby, age ?
5. Pirate Dogs by Maddy Willoughby, age 6
6. Ember's Wish by Caitlin Shambrook, age 14
7. The Lost Fairy by Isabella Fyfe, age 8
8. The Excuse by Nathaniel Khalinsky, age 11
9. The Dolphin Adventure by Maddison Cook, age 7
10. Mommy Mermaid by Cameron Fyfe, age 4
11. Dragon Magic by Amelie Crimp, age 8
12. The Lucky Dragon by George Redhead, age 6
13. The Steel Fairy by Gabriella Fyfe, age 11
14. Tiana, Ariel, the Bear and the Knights by Stephanie Hart, age 4
15. The Talking Cat by Connor Fyfe, age 7
16. The Dragon and the Two Brothers by Romy Cole, age 5
17. Project Seahorse by Amelie North, age 7
18. Love and the Love Heart Locket by Jade Tonks, age 12
19. Stitch Gets Lost by Aijay Willoughby, age 5
20. Grandpa Ted's Fishing by William Hart, age 6
21. Mermaidina and the Catfish Snack by Lila Cole, age 2
22. The Three Shooting Stars by Jack Redhead, age 9
23. Georgia and the Thunderstorm by Charlotte Cook, age 4
24. The Dragon Orbs by Harry Redhead, age 10
25. Lizzie and Coraline: A Mermaid Adventure by Isabella Fyfe, age 7
26. Why Butterfly? by Nathaniel Khalinsky, age 11
27. The Metal Dragon by Gabriella Fyfe, age 11
28. The New Princess by Maddison Cook, age 7
29. Ben's Dragon by Cameron Fyfe, age 4
30. The Healing Cat Charm by Isabella Fyfe, age 8
31. The Iron Mermaid by Gabriella Fyfe, age 11
32. The Magic Book Talisman by Isabella Fyfe, age 8
33. Epilogue

I can be reached at Rebecca (at) Fyfe (dot) net.

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