I was thinking about fairytales, and I realized that they all have some similarities beyond beginning with, “Once upon a time...” There’s usually a princess or a prince who's been cursed or can’t live the life of luxury that was meant for them because of a magic spell or some prophecy. Sometimes it’s something they did, but usually it’s through no fault of their own that they suffer under the circumstances of the curse or spell. There’s usually an evil witch, queen, or wizard of some sort that levies the curse. There might be other magic that helps them, like a magical talent, or a fairy-godmother who keeps them from actually dying. They usually suffer and have to work hard, slaving away in a dungeon somewhere while they wait for the hero to rescue them. Sometimes the hero is required to complete certain tasks to be worthy of rescuing the royal person. When the story hits the climax, the villain is ready to kill them once and for all, but the royal person fights back possibly with the help of the hero, and they defeat the evil villain, which allows them to live happily ever after, in their charmed castle with all the luxury they missed out on for their entire life until now.
The first fairytale that comes to mind is always Cinderella, and how many Cinderella stories have we seen in movies or read in books through the years? I don’t know about you, but I never get tired of it. I mean, what’s a better romance than prince charming rescuing the beautiful servant, making her a princess, and everyone living happily ever after? Another very popular plot is Taming of the Shrew, by Shakespeare. Every romance that begins with the lovers hating each other and eventually they end up together is a remake of this story. Again, I never tire of that theme. There’s just something magical about a person being lifted from a difficult, or worse, situation and going on to success. Finding their soulmate in their enemy is just another version of that same scenario.
We all want to be lifted out of bad or difficult circumstances, we want to find the love of our life and have them sweep us off our feet and make our life better or we want to secretly discover we’re actually royalty and we are the heirs of a beautiful castle. Who wouldn’t want to discover they had some hidden magical powers? I grew up watching Bewitched and wishing I was a witch. My kids grew up reading Harry Potter and we all wished for an acceptance letter to Hogwarts. It’s human nature to wish for adventure. If you think about it, it’s something that separates us from animals. Though I’m certain my dogs dream of more treats, they don’t imagine a magical ability where they could twitch their nose and make more treats magically appear.
What’s your favorite fairytale? Do you see yourself as Cinderella or The Beast from Beauty and the Beast? Maybe you imagine meeting an ornery man who can only be tamed by your charms, and you fall madly in love and of course, live happily ever after. My favorite fairytale is Beauty and the Beast, the cartoon version by Disney. I love the scary beast, the creepy castle, the incredible library, and the music. If it’s on, I'll stop in my tracks and watch it, I never get tired of that story. It occurs to me that my favorite romance novels are often in the enemies to lovers (E2L acronym) or bully romance tropes. Just like Beauty and the Beast, they start off hating each other, then they figure out they actually like each other, and bam! Another similar romance is a favorite by Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice. Not only is it a tale of enemies to lovers but there’s a bit of a Cinderella story in there too. Lizzy who is of “inferior birth” marries her prince and lives a life of luxury from then on. I think another thing that attracts me to these types of romance stories is that the heroine stays humble and kind because she is of strong moral fiber, the riches don’t change her, and she will be kind and fair despite her change in circumstances. I endeavor to be kind and help others so this idea that I could suddenly become wealthy and remain down to earth is very attractive.
What about you? Have you thought about your favorite fairytale? What story speaks to you? What tropes do you enjoy reading? Have you ever read a fairytale remake? Or watched a remake movie? There’s actually a movie called, “Pride and Prejudice, and Zombies”, but you can’t watch it without seeing the original first!
Onto another topic: I’m really getting excited about finishing my work in progress, WIP. I have the rest of it completely mapped out in an outline. I’m usually a “pantser”, that’s a person who doesn’t plan out their writing they just fly by the seat of their pants. The opposite is of course a “planner.” Many authors are a mixture of the two. I’m usually pretty far into the pantser camp, but with the medication I’m taking, I’ve been having trouble focusing to write my WIP. So, I’ve been doing a lot of thinking about it instead. I’ve made a bunch of notes and worked out the rest of the story. This is not anywhere near my usual M.O. but I’m liking it. I won’t change, this is a temporary solution for my current situation, but it makes me feel like I’ve accomplished something. I have the cover mockup for my WIP, and I love it. Once again, my amazing designer has created something out of my jumbled thoughts. It’s perfect. I can’t wait to share it with you. I haven’t even revealed the cover for Force Majeure yet. My editor has been struggling with a very busy life and I don’t know when it’ll be ready to release. I’m hoping this summer at the latest. As soon as I’m well, I'll be finishing VioleNt. Hopefully it won’t be the ginormous saga that Force Majeure is and it won’t take so long to edit.
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I’m feeling sleepy so I'm going to hit the hay. As always, thank you so much for reading!