Tag Archives: fairytale

Holiday Cheer and Bring on Next Year

December 2023

Happy holidays! I hope you have a festive drink in hand while you read this, as nothing says cozy like a hot holiday beverage. Now, the form it takes is your adventure to choose. Are you a hot cocoa fellow, a mulled wine gal, a apple cider chap, an eggnog chickadee, or maybe you like to spice up your coffee with a drop of baileys? Whatever your delight, I hope it’s delicious.

In this month’s newsletter, scroll down to find:

  • Contest of Queens won a SOVAS!
  • Rose Petal Princess sale
  • Book Nook- a year in review
  • Captain’s Log: getting into a certain spirit
  • Review Corner

SOVAS WINNER

That’s right ladies and gents, Contest of Queens recently won its SECOND award for the incredible audiobook narrated by Karissa Vacker! I am over the moon and in the stars about this! What an honor, and I can’t praise Karissa’s narration enough. She brought such vibrancy to my story, I can’t imagine it told by anyone else!

In her Instagram post about the award, Karissa commented:

I’m feeling extra grateful to have won a SOVAS (Society of Voice Arts and Sciences) Award last night.

CONTEST OF QUEENS by the brilliant @jordanhbartlett is such an incredible book that explores the beautiful power of women and friendship and I was delighted to narrate it. This book was honored in the teen category, but anyone of any age would enjoy it.

Karissa Vacker, Dec 11, 2023

The audiobook is sold across all audiobook platforms and is rentable at most public libraries (and if it’s not, request it and your library will happily get it in). Curious as to what all the hullaballoo is about? Listen to the first couple of hours for free on Spotify here:

Rose Petal Princess Sale

Self publishing is all about learning, and I recently learned there was a way to produce these books more cost effectively so I can reduce the price! What that means is, this little gem is going on sale!

$10.00 CAD and free shipping worldwide for the months of December and January!

Woohoo!

So if you would like a signed copy, please contact me here and I will get one on its way to you lickety split.

If you don’t know what I’m talking about, jump on over here, or watch the video below, and I’ll catch you up even sooner 🙂

I would recommend this collection for 9+ year olds as the themes and stories are a tad on the dark side… (mwahahaha)

https://www.tiktok.com/@jordanhbartlett/video/7044005833344175366?embed_source=121355059%2C121351166%2C71788788%2C121331973%2C120811592%2C120810756%3Bnull%3Bembed_masking&refer=embed&referer_url=jordanhbartlett.com%2Ffairytales%2F&referer_video_id=7044005833344175366

Book Nook – A Year in Review

Welcome to my Book Nook, a monthly podcast I created where I chat with authors about their upcoming releases and we nerd out over their literary brain children. Take a gander at our year in review! For an experience in instant teleportation, click a thumbnail and enjoy the ride.

Now, you may be thinking: “wait a minute, if I know my months like I know my years, six podcasts does not a monthly podcast make,” and you would be right. Good eye! Some months instead became written interviews, and some months were author panels hosted on other channels, and these can be found in my monthly newsletters – so if you haven’t subscribed for monthly goodies… what are you waiting for? Join the club here:

Captain’s Log

Getting into a Certain Spirit

What can I say of Christmas that hasn’t been said before? I love it, plain and simple. Moving back to a frozen tundra is made much easier when you can reframe it as a winter wonderland. So this month has been a whirlwind of Christmas activities! Banff – the snowglobe town that it is – is full of festive things to do, be it Christmas markets, outdoor light sculptures (with the added bonus that you can save Christmas at the end of your walk), snow globe dining, ice sculptures, frozen bars, tree festivals, and an extra special visit with Santa. I didn’t mean this post to sound like a Banff tourism article, but it’s been pretty spectacular.

Met ol’ Chris Cringle himself

Anyone who’s read my books may have noticed that I’m a sucker for fairy lights. Actually, great rule of thumb while you’re reading the Frean Chronicles: are there fairy lights? Yes? Then there’s about to be some romance. I don’t make the rules, I just play the game.

It stands to reason then that I am an absolute kid in a candy shop the moment the Christmas lights go up around town.

I know the holidays can be a tricky time for some of us, and a stressful time for most, but I hope that wherever you are, wherever this newsletter finds you, that you are safe, healthy, happy, and that you find even a snowflake sized drop of joy to hold close to your heart.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Book Clubs

The Frean Chronicles made a couple appearances at book clubs this month, and I was terrified- I mean honored – to speak at two of them.

Are you hosting a Book Club for Contest of Queens? or Queen’s Catacombs?
Are you more interested in planning the snacks and feature cocktails than you are in planning the discussion questions for the books?


Fret not, I have you covered!

CONTEST OF QUEENS Book Club Kit
QUEEN’S CATACOMBS Book Club Kit

Oh, I see you eyeing up that Rosemary for Memory mimosa! It was so easy to make (with or without the prosecco). All you do is pour equal parts cranberry juice and orange juice in large ice cube trays and decorate the top with real cranberries and a sprig of rosemary. I also added some edible glitter for dramatic effect. Freeze overnight and place in your glass of choice, then pour over with *room temperature* prosecco (this will help the ice cube melt, and the ice cubes will chill the drink anyway – we trialed refrigerated prosecco and ended up with a mostly unmelted mixer). For a non alcoholic option, pour over with any sparkling grape juice of your choice!

https://vm.tiktok.com/ZM6kVCAt6/

Enjoy! And for Queen’s sake, keep reading!

Review Corner

Reviews are so helpful in getting word of Contest of Queens and Queen’s Catacombs out there. If you have time, and if you’ve read the book, I would be eternally grateful if you could leave a star rating and/or a written review on Goodreads or Amazon.

Thank you to all the wonderful people who have left a star rating or review! I got some great reviews this month, the most cryptic being: “Connor is more of a Conner.”

x live magically

The Rose Petal Princess

This is a Fairy Tale written in a style to match (think Grimm Brothers rather than Disney). I’ve always loved fairy tales; loved the originals, loved the retellings, loved the animated versions. There’s such a beautiful magic that fairy tales evoke and the suspension of disbelief allows for wonderous things to occur (unless you’re the “um actually…” type).
This is the first of nine fairy tales nestled in my fairy tale treasury: The Rose Petal Princess and other fairy tales. Read more about this treasury here: https://jordanhbartlett.com/fairytales/
Cover image designed by Ashley Banbury, @ashtreehouse on Instagram

Click here to order your copy of
The Rose Petal Princess: and other fairy tales

Long ago and far away, there lived a Queen. She lived in a magnificent palace and ruled over her realm with compassion and grace. Her people loved her, and she loved them in return. She was happy in every way but one: in her heart, she longed for a daughter. 

Every night before she went to bed, she would dance beneath the stars in a courtyard scattered with rose petals. As she danced, she would wish for a little girl that she could love and care for; a little girl she could dance with and hold in her arms. The Queen’s feet would fly and her skirts would twirl as she spun through the petals alone.

One evening, as she twisted and turned with her arms outstretched, her bare foot trod on a lone thorn among the rose petals. She cried out and fell to the ground. A shimmering tear slipped down her cheek and landed on the bloodied petals at her feet. 

All at once, the wind picked up and rushed through the starlit courtyard. The air filled with perfume as the petals swirled around the frightened Queen. She covered her face with her hands as the wind became a gale and the soft petals, now razor sharp, cut at her skin.  

When the wind finally stopped and she lowered her hands, the Queen gasped at what she saw. Spread across the middle of the courtyard like a mosaic, hundreds of petals had spiraled to form a rose. A young girl stood in the center.

“Hello mother,” the girl said. “I’ve waited so long to dance with you.”

The girl helped the stunned Queen to her feet and hugged her. Then mother and daughter began to dance under the stars. Their feet flew and their skirts twirled as they spun through the petals, laughing all the while.

The Queen was finally happy because her heart was full. The realm rejoiced to watch the little rose petal Princess grow to be as beautiful and graceful as her mother. Every night, the Queen and the Princess danced together under the stars. Their movements were always in perfect harmony, and word of their skill spread across the land.

On the night before the Princess’ sixteenth birthday, a comet cut across the sky and many of the stars in its path went dark. The palace was quiet; all those within held their breath. Guards lined the entrance hall, waiting. No one knew what this strange omen meant, or what future it foretold. 

As the clock struck twelve, a loud crash rattled the front door in its frame. The Queen held the Princess’ hand tightly from the top of the stairs as the sound came again. At the third crash, the door burst open. A monster made of darkness emerged from the shadowy night. Its two gleaming red eyes scanned the room, its sharp yellow teeth flashed as it grinned up at the Queen and her daughter.

The monster lifted one black finger and pointed it at the guards. At its command, an army of people, long dead and somehow impossibly alive, crawled into the hall. With black eyes and cruel smiles, they swarmed into the palace and cut down all those who stood in their path. The monster of darkness laughed in the chaos and addressed the Queen. 

“Light-footed Queen,” it said, “you and your petal will dance for us one last time.”

The Queen squeezed the Princess’ hand tighter. As the undead creatures crept closer, the two women began to dance.

Their feet flew, their arms twisted, and their bodies spun. Moonlight illuminated their limbs, leaving a bright trail following behind each movement. The creatures stopped, stunned by the spectacle. Then, with a subtle nod to her mother, the Princess began to dance faster. The Queen seamlessly increased her own tempo to match.

Delicate pointed feet became like hardened steel, bended arms became slashing blades. Their bodies becoming living weapons, they fought through the crowd of monsters. Heels crashed into decaying flesh. Fists cracked through brittle bone. They danced in perfect unison. Two edges of the same blade. 

They fought through the night. Never faltering, never missing a beat, the rhythm of battle hammered out with each landed blow. Too quick to catch, the enemy struggled to lay even a finger on them.

As the sun rose and light shone through the palace windows, the Queen lowered her arms. The Princess mirrored her posture. The monster of darkness had vanished, leaving an entrance hall filled with the bodies of fallen foes.

They had won.

While the realm celebrated the vanquishing of such evil from their borders, the Queen and the Princess began to prepare for its return. They trained their people to dance like weapons, and every night they looked up from their rose-strewn courtyard to the starlit sky.

Watching.

Waiting.

Both poised for an encore.