Slumber
What if the fairy tales are wrong? What if the sleeping princess was the one who remained awake while all the world slumbered — and a darkness from lost tales seeped in to reveal an even more complex, conflicted truth?
In Slumber, Thalia finds herself and her twin children awake in a world where every other human sleeps. While mysterious roses slowly reclaim the concrete world, discovering how to live in a changed world where they are the last three humans awake is far easier than discovering the magic and those responsible for casting the spell.
Slumber combines elements from original, cross-cultural fairy tales alongside an exploration of emotional and community connection with the grief of nature lost to a mechanized world. In this contemporary fantasy, we find that the charm of true love’s kiss takes on a new, thorny meaning.
Slumber is the opening novel in a modern, multibook fantasy series.
T.C. Barden is seeking agent representation for the novel and Slumber is currently in the submission process. To follow the publication progress, please join her email list.
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About T.C. Barden
Despite her love of words, T.C. Barden enjoys feeding a raging bonfire with her old journals. She loves winnowing down ideas into those that tug, tie, and never release the heartstrings. Inspired by reading Ursula Le Guin, Sheri Tepper, and Robin McKinley, she seeks to bind readers in similar spells.
Slumber is her first novel. She says this: “I am intrigued by the original fairy tales – twisted stories that children’s movies made palatable by watering down the poison. These stories stripped women of strength and wisdom. In retelling these tales with sovereign women, we can flip genders – or we can turn the tale’s axis further. The same poison curse offered in an altered form.”
T.C. Barden’s first book was written at 10 years old; the original and only copy of When the World Turned Upside Down remains on a bedroom shelf. Loving poetry, she has read hers at events in her hometown of Bellingham, Washington. In a deeper excavation, one might uncover thousands of resumes written by her over a 14+ year career as a professional resume writer.
When not writing, she can be found hiking with friends, barbecuing with her daughter, swimming in chilling rivers, trotting somewhere on the globe, and basking in bonfires
Book Playlist
Songs on repeat during the writing of Slumber.
Contact T.C. Barden
Approximately 97,000 words
Full manuscript and synopsis available upon request.
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