June 14, 2022

Meet Thistle the Fairy in Human Form + Giveaway


Last year, I cosplayed as Thistle Greenbud from my mom’s middle grade chapter books Bad Fairy and Bad Fairy Strikes Again. I bought a black wig, put on a black frilly dress I’d worn for Halloween once, topped it with a dark red T-shirt, clipped a flower to the fake hair, and trained my voice so I spoke as I imagined a fairy would speak. Thus, Thistle was born. Or, more accurately, Thistle became human-sized.



I was looking for ways to help my mom market her books, to attract more readers, to stand out. Honestly, while it did stand out in terms of a unique way to promote a book, it didn’t garner the result I was hoping for; we didn’t see an increase in book sales. Not all ideas work in the way you imagine.

Still, I had fun.

Uh-oh! Thistle is human-sized!

What trouble will Thistle get into now?

After I shared images of myself as Thistle, I created short videos that I turned into reels on Instagram. A lot of people don’t like videos on Instagram because it started as a photos-only platform, but everything evolves and evolution is a good thing. Reels can be a creative and fun way to promote a book, which is 100% acceptable to do on Instagram or any other social media platform. Reels/videos can also be used in informative and educational ways, as well as a way to connect to followers more than through immobile images and captions, no matter how long they are.

So, I recorded myself as Thistle.


Here’s the first reel I shared to my mom’s Instagram account:


NOTE: When you click the play button, the video will be small because it’s a reel, not a full-sized video. You can watch the full-sized reel by clicking the “View on Instagram” links below each short clip.


Thistle’s Cry For Help:

0:12 seconds 

View on Instagram 


After the initial video explaining how Thistle got to be as big as a human, I created short clips to introduce her, share fairy secrets, talk about fantasy creatures mentioned in the books, and highlight some fairy slang.


Thistle Reveals Fairy Secrets:

0:21 seconds

View on Instagram


Thistle Greenbud:

0:22 seconds

View on Instagram


Facts About Thistle:

0:18 seconds

View on Instagram


What’s A Batty-Eye?

0:19 seconds

View on Instagram 


What Does Okum-Sokum Mean?

0:09 seconds

View on Instagram 


The above reels/videos are the ones that I think are good introductions to Thistle and are a couple of my personal favorites, but I also want to share the most-viewed reels on Instagram because it’s usually not the images and videos we think will do well that get a lot of interaction. From the ones above, Facts About Thistle (currently 1,090 views) and What’s A Batty-Eye (currently 1,509 views) are among the most-viewed on Instagram, but here’s more:


What Do You Call A Group Of Fairies?

0:11 seconds

View on Instagram

Currently 1,064 views


What Are Brownie Fairies?

0:17 seconds

View on Instagram

Currently 1,395 views


What Are Flower Fairies?

0:28 seconds

View on Instagram

Currently 1,380 views


What Are Goblins?

0:14 seconds 

View on Instagram 

Currently 1,365 views


What Are Boggarts?

0:14 seconds 

View on Instagram

Currently 1,347 views


What’s A Pixie?

0:13 seconds

View on Instagram

Currently 1,079 views


I’ve been VERY slowly posting all the Thistle reels I made for my mom to my TikTok, because it is perfectly acceptable to post videos from Instagram to TikTok and vice versa, and it’s not only acceptable but considerate to cross-promote the same content across your social media for the followers who aren’t everywhere and who would otherwise miss it if you only shared it in one place.

So far, it’s interesting to see the differences between these two platforms. I’ve noticed the videos that did well on Instagram don’t do as well on TikTok, but also the ones that do well on TikTok hadn’t done as well on Instagram.

For Instance, What Do You Call A Group Of Fairies? on Instagram has over a thousand views. Meanwhile, on TikTok (posted much later), it has 236 views.

Also, one titled The Fairy Realm has 151 views on Instagram but has 1,300+ views on TikTok. I notice the same for my own reels and TikTok videos (the ones where I’m not cosplaying as Thistle).

This demonstrates why it’s a good idea to share the same content widely, just as you’d have your books wide (which means having your books available on multiple book sites so your readers can purchase them from sites according to their device and purchasing preferences).

TikTok is still foreign to me, but I do like to make videos (be it reels or TikToks) from time to time.


If you’d like to see ALL of the Thistle reels I did for my mom, check out her IG reels here.



June 7 - 24

PRIZES: Signed paperback copies of Bad Fairy and Bad Fairy Strikes Again (middle grade chapter books) by my mom Elaine Kaye, pink flower headband, pink fuzzy fashion scrunchie, “Be Kind” rainbow cosmetic/pencil bag.


a Rafflecopter giveaway


QUESTION: Do you believe in fairies? 🧚‍♀️ 🧚‍♂️ 🧚 


P.S. Thistle may come back in human form this year. Follow my mom (Elaine Kaye) on Instagram to see it when/if it happens!