Today I am reviewing a piece I was hoping to send off to Harlequin Cravings – a division of Harlequin that publishes shorts in electronic form. I’ve never tried to write a short with an erotic paranormal bent before. It will be an adventure. They are looking for pieces between 15k words and 25k words. I’m up to 5k.
I started the project a few weeks ago. I wrote the entire 5k over one weekend. I felt inspired. Then on Monday, I reviewed what I had written and felt deflated. I’m trying to psych myself up again. It really isn’t the worse thing I’ve ever read – some of it is inspired.
Along with working on the Dark King’s Lover (yeah, that names makes me burst out laughing too,) I am researching Italian Faeries. There are dozens and dozens of books published on faeries, but I can’t find one specifically about Italian faeries. I know they must be out there somewhere, but they are probably in Italian and of no use to me.
The best article I found on Italian Faeries was written by Raffaella Benvenuto, “Italian Fairies: Fate, Folletti, and Other Creatures of Legend.” It appeared in the 2006 Summer/Autumn addition of The Endicott Studio Journal of Mythic Arts. The link to the article is as follows:
http://www.endicott-studio.com/rdrm/rrItalianF.html. If you have a few moments or a few hours, I would suggest that check out the Endicott Studio website. They stopped publishing in 2008 but there is some fascinating stuff on their website. It’s happily bookmarked on my computer at home and at work.
The two other resources that I am using in my research is Carol Rose’s “Spirits, Fairies, Leprechauns, and Goblins: An Encyclopedia” and Anna Franklin’s “The Illustrated Encyclopaedia of Fairies.” In Rose’s book, she narrows down the creatures by geographic location in the Appendixes. This is very handy but she makes no distinction between Italian, Etruscan and Roman faeries. Franklin’s book is great with the exception of some creepy (but not in a fun way) illustrations and that she doesn’t group the faeries by geographic locations. She has some creatures in her book that I’ve never come across. I spend hours looking through that book.
Here’s the list of some of my favorite faeries in no specific order:
Fata – Italian faeries that are derived from The Three Fates and nymphs. They are always beautiful women and are generally good natured. They are often considered faerie godmothers and shape shifters. They punish those who treat them badly. The often marry mortal men.
Buffaradello – Italian faerie that brings nightmares to people. I think I just like their name.
Folletti – Word means little butterfly. They are short with their feet on backwards. They look like mischievous children that are obsessed with sex and are known to rape and torture women. Precious.
Surbiles – Vampire like creatures. I can find only one mention of them.
Ometti – Little men that mine the mountains for natural resources. I’m thinking the seven dwarfs.
Sibille – Italian White Ladies that haunt linden tree groves and protect treasure.
Sumascazzo – Their appearance is a bad omen. They cause dust whirlwinds.
Bibliography:
Benvenuto, Raffaella, “Italian Fairies; Fate, Folletti, and other Creatures of Legend” in The Endicott Studio Journal of Mythic Arts Summer Autumn 2006
Franklin, Anna, The Illustrated Encyclopaedia of Fairies, Vega 2004
Rose, Carol, Spirits, Fairies, Leprechauns, and Goblins: An Encyclopedia, W. W. Norton and Company 1996
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