New issue & back issues

Enchanted Times #4 will be going to press in the coming week – PRE-ORDER YOUR COPY NOW
& receive an exclusive set of 5 mini notecards sponsored by your favourite Goblin Market brands:
Truth-Be-Told Mirrors,
Nettled-No-More,
WeaveWorld,
Pre-Enchanted Princes,
& the Fast-As-You-Can
Weight Loss Plan.

 The new issue of Enchanted Times brings you even more old stories in new news, time & time again!
Highlights of the new issue include:

• Naked – the possibly real story of the nightingale behind the Emperor’s recent & shameful public exposure
• The swirly bird – a cross stitch pattern adapted from a brand new and exclusive illustration by Holly Mitchell
• DIY swatch-weaving tutorial - an advertisement feature courtesy of WeaveWorld
• An Exceptional Clothier by guest reporter Anne E. Johnson – revealing secrets about the Emperor’s New Clothes, Cinderella and more
• Rates of Exchange – the tale of a simple barter gone dramatically wrong
• The Art of Gold – in which a friend and colleague of Rumpelstiltskin defends his actions
• The Mirror - book review supplement: a reflection of contemporary literature in the fairy tale genre.  This issue focuses on Rumpelstiltskin adaptations.
• The Puzzled Page - a brand new feature, including micro-fiction re-tellings of Red Riding Hood and Snow White, plus 2 word puzzles
• Small Ads from our loyal sponsors throughout

Don’t miss it!

Also available now is a  catch-up BUMPER BUNDLE of Enchanted Times back issues, including the first omnibus edition (featuring the best of the out of print issues, ET #1 & #2), Enchanted Times #3, and 5 different Enchanted Times Minis for all the updates on and between issues.

Click here for full details.

Marketplace: Truth-Be-Told Pocket Mirrors now available!

Stalwart Goblin Market Guild registered vendors, Truth-Be-Told Mirrors have recovered in style from the recent slur against their brand name (following the naked Emperor debacle) with the introduction of a range of handy pocket mirrors.  Bestselling variants ‘Bold as Brass’ (left) and ‘White Liar’ (right) are available to all seeking the truth
(or a variation thereof).
 Click here to claim yours.

Artwork preview: Holly Mitchell

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The Enchanted Times has previously featured the stunning artwork of Holly Mitchell in issue #3 (Red Riding Hood) and the editor is delighted to announce a collaboration which will see further exclusive illustrations for selected future Enchanted Times feature stories.

An Enchanted Times special edition is scheduled for release in 2012.  In the meantime, see left and below for a preview of some of the enchanting artwork to come:
the Frog Prince and the Pied Piper.

* * *

The Goblin Marketeers need YOU!

A brand new venture has been announced by the founders of the Goblin Market Guild.  The Goblin Marketeers is a community designed to support the Goblin Market Guild‘s infrastructure and ensure continued availability of EPA-approved pre-enchanted products in the Enchanted Marketplace.  Goblin Marketeers receive an exclusive Membership Pouch of goodies, with an optional subscription which delivers further mailouts during the year of membership.

The Enchanted Times is proud to announce that the Goblin Marketeers is sponsored by Enchanted Times Mini and thus has been designated its own page for further information and updates.  Click here for details of how to join and a rundown of membership benefits.

Marketplace: Enchanted Times Mini #2.5: sweetest thing?

Barely moments after announcing EEMS new and controversial sponsorship deal for their recent postage stamps, further EEMS survival tactics have emerged. In the latest mini edition of the Enchanted Times, an extended editorial looks at the role of Hansel & Gretel March in our struggling economy. Once known solely for their survival following numerous harrowing instances of abuse and neglect as young children, the siblings have recently experienced a meteoric rise to the top of the the Enchanted Realms’ commercial sector. As joint Managing Directors of the astoundingly successful Fast-As-You-Can Corporation, the public immediately bought into their ingenious gingerbread-infused weight loss plan.  The Marches have now built on this success by purchasing an independent (but fully & officially sanctioned) EEMS concession – the first of its kind – offering an alternative delivery service: Fast-As-You-Can Courier Company.

In Enchanted Times Mini #2.5 vol ii an extended editorial examines the question of whether or not the Gingerbread Man’s reputation as a potential psychopathic killer has any founding in reality,  the CoCo‘s practice of rehabilitating escaped Gingerbread Men, and the growing March ‘monopoly’.  In addition, this issue includes a voucher for the reader to claim a FREE (+ postage) sachet of Fast-As-You-Can CoCo Cocoa! A homicidal gingerbread reading list is also provided.

Whatever conclusions you draw after reading this issue, please remember to always approach any baked goods with extreme caution, for your own safety.

See the Etsy listing for additional pictures and further information.

Marketplace: Enchanted Times Mini #0.5, Peas in our time

Originally issued in the Enchanted Realms prior to Enchanted Times #1 (currently on clearance), the Enchanted Times has reprinted the Mini edition, #0.5 (vol. i), Peas in our Time, which is now for the first time available to Real World readers. It features an enhanced, easier-to-read version of the Princess and the Pea cross stitch chart (previous version available in ET #1), sponsored by Stack-A-Mat, as well as various other related news stories:

• the long-awaited announcement of the Prince’s engagement
• the first public appearance of the bruised Princess
• an emerging trend amongst fashionable youngsters
• a warning from the Enchantments Protection Agency regarding a proliferation of blemish agents on the Black Marketplace
• a few words with the Queen’s Gardener about varieties of Pea

See the Etsy listing for additional pictures and further information.

UPDATE: Enchanted Express Mail NEW Services

In a surprise move, Enchanted Express Mail Services (official courier of the Enchanted Realms, as appointed by decree of the Inter-Realm Parliament Alliance), has announced 2 new initiatives.  

The first initiative is a mere broadening of scope, as for the first time, ER postage stamps are made available to the wider provinces and across borders into the ‘real world’. Generously priced at only half a Wish per stamp, a single stamp guarantees delivery from any land within the Enchanted Realms to any other land within the Enchanted Realms. EEMS advises that due to time in the Real World being measured by methods incompatible to those within the Enchanted Realms, Real World customers should make a full Wish (2 stamps) to ensure timely delivery of their correspondence, in addition to any legal postage requirements within country of origin.

The first EEMS issue will not be available to Real World customers as single stamps, but only as mini-sheet sets. This is due to cross-border export/import duties, the cost of which is off-set slightly by imposing a minimum purchase quantity requirement. However, the mini-sheets offer a degree of flexibility for both the casual correspondent and the collector. The first issue comprises four different designs which will be available as single-design mini-sheets, or as a mixed set (artist’s mock-up shown above; final released design may vary slightly). Each mini sheet also includes a sample Inspection label, to ensure correspondence meets the stringent requirements of the Correspondence Assured Delivery Treaty, and a sample EEMS postmark.

The second new initiative introduces an issue of potentially greater controversy: EEMS have developed 2 of the new postage stamp designs in conjunction with sponsors (who may be familiar to readers of the Enchanted Times – Truth-Be-Told Mirrors and the Fast-As-You-Can Weight Loss Co.). EEMS claims this move, though essential, is a ‘one-off’ gambit, in order to finance their enhanced distribution model (see above) – which in turn they hope will negate the need for additional ad revenue with regard to future issues.  Respectfully, the Enchanted Times feels that this is possibly a naive view from such a major player in Inter-Realm commerce, and feels that carefully chosen sponsorship deals may make or break the continued existence of Enchanted Express Mail Services, given the current economic climate of the Enchanted Realms. As strong supporters of EEMS, the Enchanted Times urges those in management to make whatever decisions are necessary to allow continuation of those services provided.  As the only courier service offering complete protection under the Correspondence Assured Delivery Treaty, the Enchanted Times also urges all consumers to remain loyal to the long-established EEMS institution rather than be swayed by the ever-swelling ranks and false promises of numerous non-regulated fly-by-night messengers.

EEMS do not currently have their own website, but information regarding Enchanted Express Mail Services, new postage stamp issues and other related news items will shortly be available through a portal page within the Enchanted Times journal (online). Further details to follow.

Marketplace: facsimile postcard set, Emperor’s New Clothes

The Enchanted Times was recently in receipt of a heavily censored postcard from the Big City.

The postcard was delivered with words deleted using marker pen, in a packet inspected and labelled in accordance with the Correspondence Assured Delivery Treaty. An additional leaflet was enclosed, outlining the specific laws (by Royal Decree) that the postcard message was allegedly in breach of.

The Enchanted Times considers it has a duty to the public of our Enchanted Realms to make the actions of these corrupt City bureaucrats as widely known as possible, therefore a limited number of facsimile postcard/leaflet sets has been curated by the E.T. to illustrate the problem.

Please visit the TangleCrafts Etsy Store for further details & to claim your own facsimile postcard packet!

Marketplace: the Charmed Life Notebook from Pied Piper Pipes

Pied Piper Pipes (proud sponsor of the Enchanted Times) presents the PPP Charmed Life Notebook, with wide-spaced manuscript-style staves for you to fill in with your own notation. Charmed rats dance across the pages, in illustration of your Notebook’s potential. The back cover includes recommendations for successful use.

This mini notebook is available as part of a set, also including the RatCatcher of Hamelin mini-zine previously issued as a preview of the story which appeared in Enchanted Times #3. Visit the TangleCrafts Etsy Store for your own Pied Piper Packet!

The Emperor’s New Clothes, a special report

Ever in search of the very latest news from the Enchanted Realms, an undercover researcher has provided this link to an original version of The Emperor’s New Clothes by author Dylan Evans found in the Entelechy Journal (from Fall 2007 – time travels differently within the Enchanted Realms).  A key element to this traditional tale is the inability of the title character to see that he has been fooled.  Evans takes this element of willful blindness to create a new short tale that almost drips with irony.