[cromag]

Originally Posted by BeccaPrice

first: I've just written a story called "Pussy Willow" - on another forum, people immediately thought it was erotica (or at least made erotica jokes) - I'm talking about the actual type of willow, and yes, that specific type of willow is crucial to the story. Is this going to be an issue in a collection of fairy tales?'

Not necessarily, especially if the cover image (or a subtitle) makes it clear that it's a children's story.

Originally Posted by BeccaPrice

Also, I'm thinking of writing a fable about salmon. I know that salmon that actually do make it to the spawning grounds don't always survive the journey, and that most don't survive the spawning itself (although apparently some varieties of salmon do return back to the ocean once they've spawned.)

Is it too dark to talk about the fish (who will be the main characters in the story, although not really a personified main character) dying? This story actually has a moral to it: that it's ok to die in pursuit of a dream, that it's ok to try and to fail - where it's not ok is to not try, or to die embittered by the attempts.

I know the Grimm brothers and Hans Christian Anderson wrote some pretty dark stuff - most classical fairy tales are pretty dark - but is this too dark for a collection to be titled Fables and Fireflies?

Not if you handle it right. Or, you could change "salmon" to "shad" -- which return to the ocean after spawning. But that might limit you to the northeast US, where we have seasonal shad festivals. Maybe Europe, too, but I don't know.

Originally Posted by BeccaPrice

(also: I came up with the title; now I need to come up with a story about fireflies... any ideas?)

Sorry, can't help you there!