Leigh Kimmel over at the Billion Light-Year Bookshelf has a very in-depth review of HUMAN TALES up as of July 24.

The review points out the anti-Semitism which I tried to weave into Bloody Spindle, the retelling of Rumplestiltskin. Like Leigh, I’ve read very compelling studies pointing out this overt thread in the original fairy tale, and that was part of the reason I chose this story when approached for an anthology in which the humans were made to be the villains.

It’s a difficult balance to strike – I wanted to acknowledge a great deal of the injustice that was perpetrated against “the Other” in medieval times and today, without actually writing a polemic. A good deal of the polish for this story was tweaking, removing, or reworking sections that could have come across as either too filled with modern-day sensibilities of equal rights and courtesy, or as outright racist screeds that could have reflected poorly both on yours truly and the anthology as a whole.

So thank you, Leigh! I’m pleased to see that it came through, presumably without harm to anyone.

How about you? What tips can you offer around striking that balance between what you believe, and what the story demands?