by LR Patton | Oct 29, 2018 | Fairendale, Inspiration
It swells around you, like a living thing, lifting hairs on limbs, turning heads to check behind, hitching breath and bones. It slides into a mind, probes the corners, and stretches out into repose, knowing that once it has entered the consciousness, it is very nearly...
by LR Patton | Sep 10, 2018 | Fairendale, Inspiration
The Boy Who Loved a Swan is based very loosely on the Russian fairy tale, “The White Duck.” It’s a tragic tale of loss and grief, and also one of restoration. Here’s how it goes: Once there was a king who left his new wife at her new castle so that he could travel. He...
by LR Patton | Jun 4, 2018 | Fairendale, Inspiration
The difference between the heart and the head is that when the head gets involved, the heart gets all muddled up. It starts speaking logically, counting the costs, shaping itself to the past and the conventions of the day. The heart, when listened to in a deep and...
by LR Patton | Oct 26, 2017 | Inspiration
I was 19 years old when I stumbled upon these words from Madeleine L’Engle: “You have to write the book that wants to be written. And if the book will be too difficult for grown-ups, then you write it for children.” This has been the mantra of my own writing life. I...
by LR Patton | Jun 29, 2017 | Inspiration
Lately I’ve been studying fairy tales, because when I research something, I tend to get pretty obsessive about it. I’m reading an encyclopedia on fairy tales. It’s more than 1,000 pages. That’s how obsessive I get. A fairy tale that is pretty consistent throughout all...
by LR Patton | Jun 1, 2017 | Inspiration
This week I got a message from a friend telling me about an organization he was starting. This organization will find the fatherless children in his small city and pair them with male volunteers who can become like honorary fathers to them. I thought this was a...
