All lovers of mermaids and other fantastic people and creatures should know about Enchanted Living. I am a happy subscriber as well as, now, a contributor! Read my thoughts about contemporary mermaids ... they aren't just seductresses and playthings anymore! The button takes you to the entire article online, or you can get started with the introduction here.

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           Temptresses from the deep, with beautiful faces and seductive voices, luring sailors to their death. Wicked profiteers who pick a shipwreck clean of its riches and line their lairs with fallen crowns. Not-quite-women who surrender themselves entirely for a man’s love … Really?

         No. Not anymore.

         “I want to be a mermaid,” says Freja, a nine-year-old girl from the land of Hans Christian Andersen. “I don’t really know why … I just think they are special. They can do anything.”

         A new sort of mermaid is the quintessential 21st century woman—and literary heroine. Freed from some of the less pleasant conventions of old fairy tales, she owns her body and its power. She is a lover of beauty, a free spirit, and a member of a society where women govern themselves. Perhaps her allure can’t be entirely defined, but it can be celebrated for a new generation.