Rose, Deer, & Maiden
Three upcoming courses for you (plus a bonus)!
Hello, friends, and welcome, new subscribers! My ADHD brain is a bit scattered and prone to change things, but here in The Purple Vale you can count on reflections on folklore, fairy tales, and the seasons from my little corner of East Tennessee.
Are you a story enthusiast, a fairy tale lover, a curious writer, a literature nerd? I’ve been working on some offerings just for you.
Here is a preview of three courses I will be offering soon (plus a free bonus!)
The number three is very fitting for fairy tales, isn’t it?
Course #1: Beauty and the Beast (2025—title & investment TBA)
As many of you know, one of my favorite fairy tales is Beauty and the Beast. I’ve spent years studying many of its various forms and the messages we choose to pull out of them. I’m fascinated by the different intentions of the authors who have retold some of the earliest written versions.
After years of hemming and hawing, this summer I took the plunge and began developing a course that examines this tale through a variety of lenses. It mushroomed in scope and length. I’ve spent several weeks falling down rabbit holes and staring at the resulting mass of warrens and tunnels. There are just so many deep dives with this fairy tale! So many tangents! So many possibilities.
While I’m still wrangling this monster into something thematically congruent, I plan on having it ready next year. It will be perfect for fairy tale nerds of all kinds, Beauty and the Beast enthusiasts, fans of lit theory lite, and anyone who loves to find enchantment and make meaning in everyday life.
If you like to prod at stories from various angles and study the beauty, strangeness, and cringe-iness they have to offer–even if you wonder, does part of this belong in the trash bin?–this course is for you.
I doubt this will be the only course I develop on the broad topic of this fairy tale!
I’m undecided if I want to share it as an email course, or as a download. What do you think? I’d really appreciate your vote.
Course #2: Follow the Deer (December 2nd-6th, $25-$35 sliding scale investment)
As the year draws to a close, I want to offer you a low-demand space where you can work on a project close to your heart, of your choosing, with me.
Follow the Deer is a five-day email course I’m offering December 2nd-6th. The only word count expectations are the ones you choose for yourself.
Before the course begins, I will send you a brief questionnaire to help me personalize this week for you. Then, each day of the course I’ll send you unique prompts for your project and for settling into the season. There is an extra snail-mail bonus, too.
On the 6th, we will meet via video call (probably via Substack) for a silent hour of writing, followed by an optional 15-min chat where we can talk about our projects and other things on our minds.
If you’re not writing? That’s ok. Pick any creative pursuit you like.
I’ll share more about it in November. You can read my post on the story that inspired this course here.1
Course #3: Waking up-A Maiden’s Arc workbook (available November 15th, investment TBR)
(plus the bonus!)
Last month, I gave a talk on the Maiden’s Arc at the library’s local author fair, and it was exhilarating. There was only one attendant (lol, not the exhilarating part, but she was very engaged!). It’s safe to say I’ve found another special interest. Reading, writing, and speaking about a character’s journey from sleepy, go-with-the-flow, underestimated child to confident, insightful, take-your-place-in-the-community adult is my absolute jam.2
It’s been such a journey that I’ve decided to offer a workbook to help writers implement the Maiden’s Arc in their own writing.
The full course will be available for purchase November 15th as a full-color PDF download. You can download a free, 5 page preview of the workbook below.
Thanks for reading this far. I would love to know if any of these courses interest you.
Meet you over the orchard wall, friends.
For the curious, I contacted Scottish storyteller Daniel Allison and asked if it would be all right for me to use the story ‘The Makers of Dreams’ as the inspiration for this course. He kindly replied and said go for it! I highly recommend reading his book Scottish Myths and Legends, where the story can be found in its entirety. He and Danica Boyce are offering a course also inspired by this story–you can check it out here.
I also spoke with K.M. Weiland about utilizing her materials on the Maiden’s Arc for my course. She said that she doesn’t feel a proprietary sense towards the material, similar to what Daniel said, and that I was free to use it. (I cite my sources in all workshops & materials.) I’ve worn my fangirling hat a lot this month, lol!
I'm so excited you are doing this!
Ooh, these all look good. I couldn't say for sure yet, as you can't yet share the cost of the Beauty and the Beast one, but that might be my choice. I do love digging down into the meanings of fairy tales.
I'm not a paid subscriber so I only see a little about your zines, but maybe a short course about how you make them and what you do with them could interest other fairy tale lovers?