ALETHEA KONTIS

Every so often, I am thanked for being 'unapologetically me.' I treasure those moments, those people, and remember them every time I'm feeling timid.

I am a big fan of the web comic 'Strong Female Protagonist,' illustrated by Molly Ostertag.

I have always loved really dense, complicated stories with lots of layers, tons of obscure literary references, and a plethora of inside jokes.

No one thought that the Disney Superpower had the ability to laugh at itself, but 'Enchanted' proved everyone wrong.

Sharon Shinn's Samaria is a world populated by refugees from a ravaged Earth, also many, many years in the future.

'Enchanted' illustrates how impractical fairy-tale ideals are in the World As We Know It, and yet, Giselle's unabashed optimism always seems to magically find its time and place.

Have you ever had that moment when you looked back on something and said, 'Well, gosh, that seems obvious now... why didn't I see it then?' I like to call this the Face Palm Epiphany. Oh, hindsight, you magical, humbling thing.

I was a math whiz who stunk at English, so of course I wanted to be a writer more than anything in the world. I performed impromptu plays for my grandmother's sewing circle but forced my little sister to ask for ketchup at McDonald's.

I was working at a mall bookstore when my manager recommended Sharon Shinn's 'Archangel.' I remember standing in the back room, alone, by the small desk there, reading the generous blurb the author had received from Peter S. Beagle. I read that book and enjoyed myself enough to pick up its sequel, 'Jovah's Angel.' And that's when I fell in love.

If your reading habits are anything like mine, then you can remember the exact moment that certain books came into your life. You remember where you were standing and whom you were with. You remember the feel of the book in your hands and the cover, that exact cover, even if the art has changed over the years.

In music, on stage and on screen, fairy tales have always been guaranteed moneymakers. It's no wonder then, that in these difficult economic times, there are fairy tales everywhere you turn. From 'Once Upon a Time' and 'Grimm,' to 'Mirror, Mirror' and 'Snow White and the Huntsman.'

It took me a long time to learn how to be brave enough to put myself out there and try everything, no matter how strange or silly. If I can impart that same wisdom to other folks - no matter what age - it would be an honor.

Sharon Shinn is a lover of words and a builder of worlds. She makes science-fiction seem like fantasy. Her characters jump off the page, finding their way under your skin and into your heart.

While not my personal favorite of the Disney princess films, 'The Little Mermaid' wins hands-down in my book for best Disney adaptation. Little girls waited for more than 150 years for Hans Christian Andersen's 'The Little Mermaid' to have a happy ending. Walt Disney finally gave it to her.

Your fey cousin here has the miraculous ability to hold his liquor--and mine, and yours, and the king's, and half the country's, I expect.

Mama says I spend too much time in little fantasy worlds and not enough in this one.

I think I liked you better when you were a raging idiot.

No," Wednesday agreed. "You have tortured with silence. You let her grieve for a soul she did not lose, mourn a heart that should not have broken, and berate herself for betraying the man she loves...with the man she loves. It can't be 'true' love without the truth, Rumbold.

It can't be 'true' love without the truth

He could not change the man he had been, but these hands would make him the man he could be

Quit dwelling on other people's stories and make up some of your own.

We are all fools blessed with the knowledge that certain events will come to pass no matter what path we take to get there. The wise ones follow their angels while they may.

I have lived a life full of love and pain, of Joy and Sorrow, and I live on still. i have many, many years ahead of me, each day with the potential to be filled to the brim with trials to face and challenges to overcome.

Normal is all relative.

All of us heal in time. The strongest are born again. We only keep the scars we choose to keep.