Finally! The latest issue of Scheherezade’s Bequest and its companion non-​​fiction articles are online. This issue was a long time in coming: due in September, posted in December — somewhere along the way we got lost in the woods and for that, we apologise. First let’s talk about the fiction. This 14^th issue of Scheherezade’s Bequest is dark like the longest night, humorous and difficult and full of everything that makes a fairy tale real. These stories and poems hearken back to the original tales, and this issue is not for the faint of heart.

Do you want the good news first or the bad? The good news has everything to do with the image you see to your left, but I always would rather the bad news come first, so let’s get that out of the way. The 14^th issue of Scheherezade’s Bequest (the one that was supposed to come out in September!) has been postponed until November. This delay is due to a number of factors that should not affect our future issues, so please bear with us until we get ourselves back on schedule. Now, the good news!

Not so long I wrote about a most important book, Drawing out the Dragons by James A. Owen. At the time of that writing, the book was only available in digital format. James is now trying to change that. In order to reach a wider audience, he is currently running a Kickstarter project to help fund the print edition. Why is it so important that we help him?

This issue of Scheherezade’s Bequest, with its companion updates from Cabinet des Fées, is being brought to you live from Deux-​​Sevrés, a place saturated in folklore and fairy tales. Situated in the Poitou-​​Charentes region of France, where the landscape alternates between agricultural patchworks and forested hills, Deux-​​Sevrés is home to the the 16^th-​​century château d’Oiron (pictured below), where Charles Perrault based his story “Le Chat Botte” (Puss in Boots). Mêlusine, a European spirit of springs and rivers, created the city of Parthenay (located in the center of Deux-​​Sèvres) with a wave of her fairy wand. From the looks of this place, I’d say there are quite a lot of spirits still hard at work around here.

I missed my exit to Bordertown.

I recall it clearly — I was standing in the musty confines of the SFF section in Zelda Books in Montgomery, Alabama. Many important moments began this way for me, as many a well-​​travelled book fell into my hands and helped build me into the woman I am today. I would spend every minute my mother let me, running my fingers along the spines of so very many inviting books, pulling those out that caught my fancy.

For thirteen years, the gates of Bordertown have remained closed, its denizens living on only in the memories of readers, both newcomers and old-​​timers alike, and the vast assortment of fan groups and websites and more. Now, with the publication of Welcome to Bordertown, those gates have once again been opened. Like any gate to faerie, the passage through is fraught with danger and excitement.

For the inaugural issue of Demeter’s Spicebox, we wanted to revisit a tale that stands poised in between the active or passive heroine. Tatterhood, or the Aarne-​​Thompson folktale type 711, is a tale about both motherhood and what it means to be either the beautiful or ugly twin. The original folktale, as collected by Peter Christen Asbjørnsen and Jørgen Moe, was a favourite of mine as a teenager. How could it not be? It was a tale that was refreshing in that the active and not attractive heroine prevails, but it also captures that insecurity that lies at the heart of every person who has felt marginalised, Othered or has been considered unattractive.

We have opened Scheherezade’s Bequest to submissions. We are using a new submission system, so please be sure to read over our guidelines as some things have changed. Our reading period will remain open until August 1, or until four issues are full — whichever comes first. Please help us get our fill of fairy tales by sending us your work!

The 12^th issue of Scheherezade’s Bequest is online! Scholars say that one of the qualities of a fairy tale is its sense of wonder, that thing the reader feels when they realise that here, in this story, anything at all might happen. As you read the stories and poems we’ve collected for this issue, we think you’ll experience just that. From the love imbued in a simple hat, to the terror of a contraption known only as ‘the beast’, through locked doors and across marble threshing floors, you’ll know that in these tales, magic happens, and you’ll wonder, just like we did, if it might one day happen to you.

What does Demeter have in her box of spices? Is it the cardamom that fills our mouths with a tiny explosion of fragrance? Could it be star anise, or saffron, or thyme? We think she’ll have a little of everything in that box, but at the moment, it is empty! Every author is a “repository of abundance” and it is from that abundance that Demeter’s Spicebox hopes to draw. Think of these as fusion fairy tales, tales written in the spirit of collaboration, familiar tales given a new taste by a new chef.

Cabinet des Fées is pleased to announce the opening of Demeter’s Spicebox, with its own guidelines and a call for submissions for our inaugural issue.