Xe Sands's Page

Last Thursday, I flippantly tweeted that if I hit 500 followers and retained them for a week (no cheating!), I would host a li'l giveaway of some sort. Well, the Twitterverse stepped up...and one week later happens to be today, Thanksgiving! Timing couldn't be more perfect to give back!



Giveaway runs one week, until next Thursday, 12/1. Winner will have their choice of four prizes. Details can be found here - cruise on over and check it out!…

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For last week's #GoingPublic feature, couldn't limit myself to just one piece by Edgar Allen Poe...so opted for two, to bracket this atmospheric holiday.

 

The first, The Tell-Tale Heart, is such a rich (albeit short) study in madness - and was nothing like I remember it being from my last read of it (in my teens, I think). 

 

The second, offered up today, is…

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GOING PUBLIC 10.7.11

Snow-White and the Seven Dwarfs - A Tale from the Brothers Grimm

(and no, those are not typos - they are from the translation before me)



I am holding in my hands, and reading from, the beautiful and dark storybook I received from my grandparents as a very young child. I became fascinated with the unique and powerful illustrations by Nancy Eckholm Burkert. And this version, unlike the sugar-coated versions I had read…

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Have you ever wondered what it might sound like if a narrator had a tantrum over the constant extraneous noise she has to record around? 



There are days when the occasional plane goes by and I, in my infinite patience, smile serenely as I pause my recording for a moment. 



And then there was Tuesday. 



Tuesday, it seemed as if there was a constant parade of the flying mechanical beasts of burden bellowing just above my roof. Immediately after tweeting that if another… Continue