Cover Illustration: The Magic Mirror by Jennie Harbour, 1920
Layout: Amanda Bergloff @AmandaBergloff
I'm thrilled to announce that "Black Glass" found a home at Enchanted Conversation's October 2019 issue: The Thirteenth Hour, among a cast of wonderfully written stories.
This is my second time submitting a story to the magazine. While I love all the themes throughout the year, the themes during October allows for dark tales and so I was excited to submit another this year.
Snow White was the inspiration for my short story, Black Glass. However, I wanted to explore a whole different direction with the ending and from the POVs of the queen and the prince.
I always wondered from the original tale about why did the prince only come into the picture at the end? Had he just stumbled across a princess and on a whim, decided he'd kiss her?
I would like there to have been a history between them. That they had a connection. Tied together by something. And what were other ways he could help bring her back to life other than through a stranger's kiss?
With the queen, I wanted to explore her character from a villain's POV. Why was she wanting Snow's heart? And the mirror, what if it wasn't just an enchanted mirror? What if it sought for something in return?
I had these ideas churning in my head for a while as a longer piece fitting either for a novella or a novel. The flash fiction that I wrote allowed me to experiment with these ideas and give the beginnings of a longer story I plan to expand soon.