Retellings that I Would Like To Write Someday.

Final day of the tour - how did it go by this quickly???? Anywho, I'm going to talk about the various fairy tale retellings that I have running around in my head but haven't written yet (at least not in their entirety). And I couldn't put a cap at seven, so you're getting thirteen, since some versions of Sleeping Beauty give her thirteen fairy godmothers.

1. All the Bookania.
Let's just get that one out of the way - my neverending series where I try to pack in all the fairy tales. I've made it through three books. Twenty bajillion left to go.

2. Red as Snow.
This is a retelling of Snow White that I've written about 3,500 words on, and I thiiiiink I'm about a third of the way through it. The book was inspired by the title, because my brain was tired and was messing with the fairy tale. It is, basically, a role reversal between SW and the stepmother. Snow is nearly ten years her stepmother's senior. But the "Prince," Snow's cousin, Charmel, is the true villain of the story. Yup, dreadfully twisted and I'm loving every moment of it.

3. Fair Rosamund.
This would be a historical fantasy. See, I was reading a book about Henry II, and it mentioned a mistress of his named Rosamund ... which happens to be a name belonging to Sleeping Beauty. So, yes, I made connections, and I now want to write a retelling. Someday. I'm not ready to write this story yet - that's how you guys ended up with Poison Kiss.

4. Snowella White
This is a blended retelling of Snow White and Cinderella, leaning closer to Snow White. I haven't quite worked out all of the logistics, but I'm substituting the seven dwarves for seven godmothers.

5. Untitled Rumpelstiltskin Sequel
This story actually dates back to Sew, It's a Quest's original conception, as it was going to be the second book in the "Beyond the Ever After" series that is now the Bookania Quests. Unfortunately, this story no longer fits into the Bookania framework that I have established. But it's well-plotted, about the child that Rumple lost, and is a bit of an allegory. So, fun.

6. Mermaid Footprints.
I have a .... page and a half of this book in my docs files. This is Mynna's story, and if any of you have read The Ankulen, you know that she's the youngest of seven mermaid sisters. As such, you probably already realize that it's a retelling of the Little Mermaid. Except that she leaves the water so she can save her people, not to be with a man, and she just happens to fall in love along the way.

7. The Dancing Princess
This is a retelling of The Twelve Dancing Princesses, where it's just one princess, not twelve of them. I haven't worked out all of the details, but she might be rescuing twelve princes. We'll see how it goes.

8. Cayra
This book is kiiiiiinda a sequel to the Little Mermaid. I can't say anything more about that, though.

9. Sing, Aling.
My sci-fi retelling of Peter Pan. Aling is the tinkerbell character, and she's half-fairy and half-elf, and not quite accepted by either society. And then a spaceship crashes on their planet. It's gonna be awesome, and I WILL write it for NaNo, one of these years. Probably next year. Worth of a King is on the agenda for this year.

10. Fairer than Beauty
A self-aware retelling of Beauty and the Beast where the girl assigned to the tale had been hoping for the obscure "Fairer than a Fairy" and then proceeds to try to completely derail the fairy tale in an attempt to get the story that she wanted.

11. Untitled Rapunzel Retelling
This is the idea I was messing with when I thought that the next Rooglewood contest would be Rapunzel. It's twist - instead of living in a tower, Rapunzel is trapped underground. No, I haven't worked out all of the details yet. Why are you asking?

12. Colinda and the Swan's Secret
Probably the loosest sense of a "retelling" on the list, Colinda was inspired by Swan Lake, so I'm going to count it.

13. To Perfect a Fairy Tale.
And, finally, I have the book where all of the fairy tales are messed up, and it's up to a young girl named Anthea to fix all of them. Fun stuff.

On The Blogs Today:
Morgan Elizabeth Huneke - Something About the SSS
Interviews:
Rachel Rossano's Words - Kendra
Dreams and Dragons - Rachel
Reviews:
Girls Living for God’s Glory - Twisted Dreams
Sutori no Hana - Twisted Dreams

Giveaway Time!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

There will also be a prize for the person who leaves the most comments across all of the blog posts for this tour - whoever leaves the most comments gets to read The Seven Drawers, the retelling of Snow White that I just finished for the Rooglewood contest, and Cindy Ellen, the sequel to Rosette Thornbriar. Both stories are finished, so you don't have to worry about cliff hangers. Get commenting.

And, as a reminder, any comments that you leave on my blog this month and next will count towards a drawing for a full set of my books, with the all-new covers.

Oh, and free books!
Sew, It's a Quest (Permafree): https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/731321
Woodcutter Quince (Free August 8-12): https://www.amazon.com/Woodcutter-Quince-Bookania-Short-Stories-ebook/dp/B00OYGVHP8/

Thank you to everyone who came by and took part in the blog tour - contest and giveaway winners will be announced Monday.

The Story of Notebooks Continued

A couple weeks ago I came to you with a collection of notebooks that I had purchased but wasn't sure what I wanted to write in them. You guys offered your suggestions based on my WIP list, and here are the results.

Blue went to Cayra, natrually. I haven't started writing it, but I'm looking forward to it.

I know that no one actually voted for this story, but it's been wanting me to write it. That blue stripe is supposed to represent a river. Rivers are an important part of the book.

With only one exception, everyone voted for pink to be To Perfect a Fairy Tale. To tell the truth, I've been a bit hesitant about this story, not being exactly sure where I'm going with it ... but I had a nice long conversation with my mom the other night, and now I'm REALLY excited to get this book written.

Wait, you don't remember there being a green? Well, I found some more of these notebooks at a different walmart the other day, so I picked up a few more. Unfortunately, I accidentally got wide ruled, but I'll live with it. Green went to the entire trilogy, because I don't see the books being very long. Haven't started writing them, though.

Ever since Kathryn submitted her version of this book's first chapter, I've been very excited to get back into Jessica's summer. I'm really pleased with how this cover came out. 

Fun fact: Because this notebook was too dark for permanent markers to show up on, this one is done in nail polish.

Why the wings in this picture? Well, you'll understand it once you read it. 

Also, nobody tried their hand at the treasure hunt, so nobody gets to read Woodcutter Quince. Oh, I guess it's just as well, since I've realized that there is a portion that I need to completely rewrite. One of Doranna's scenes. She needs more than internal monologue. I know what I'm going to do with it, but haven't gotten around to it. Maybe tomorrow.

And, I set up a which character are you quiz for The Ankulen on Buzzfeed. Go try it out and let me know who you get!

I plan to do a Bookania Princess one next ...

Where Skunks Belong

Via Pinterest

It's October, and time for another set of Snippets! I've been working on editing Do You Take This Quest? as I believe I've mentioned before. I've also done some scribbling around with my calligraphy pen, and I've worked on some of my more random stuff that I haven't touched in a while and/or just gave a word document on my computer.

So the following will be mostly from Do You Take This Quest? but there will also be quite a bit of other random stuff as well.

Oh, and if you're a fellow writer, and you're wanting to take part in this delightful Snippets thing, just head on over to Katie's Blog and check it out!

If you're curious about any of the stories that the Snippets originate from, you can simply check out my WIP page.



. For several seconds, he just stood there staring hopelessly at the horrid creature as it sniffed the air, then locked its beady eyes on him.
  “Uh … nice … creature …”
   It apparently did not want to be a nice creature, for, at that moment, it sprang forward. The seeming spell that had held Andrew frozen was at last broken, and he squeezed his eyes shut and threw up his hands, in an attempt to stop the inevitable.

- Water Princess, Fire Prince

“Hey, there girl, ya miss me these last hundred years?” Madeleine carefully lifted the latch to Splatter’s stall and slipped in. The appaloosa mare whickered her greeting as Madeleine rubbed the velvety nose. “Of course you didn’t. You slept like the others. I missed you, though. Maxie’s gone, so he won’t be sneaking you carrots anymore. Yes, yes, I know about the carrots. Maxie never could hide anything from me.” She pulled her hand away before her fingers could get nibbled on. “Maxie taught you bad habits, didn’t he?” She sighed as pulled the currycomb off of the wall. 

- Do You Take This Quest

“Don’t Robin me,” Robin snapped. “My brother is completely duped by all of them. Did you see the way he was looking at that Rose girl?”

  “Like a young man much in love with a girl?”

  “He was staring after her like a fool – and she isn’t even pretty!”

  “So, your brother’s a fool?”

  “I said no such thing!” Robin exclaimed defensively. “I said he was acting like a fool. That Sleeping Beauty has him bewitched, I tell you. Utterly and completely bewitched!”

  “And that’s better than a fool for a brother?”

- Do You Take This Quest

With a frown she noticed the crystal statuette that she had given William for his birthday several years before. A smiling cat. She didn’t feel like a smiling mood. Without hesitation, she stood, crossed over to the shelf where it was, took the statuette off of the shelf, and, with her little finger, pulled down the corners of its mouth. Satisfied, she replaced the figurine back onto the shelf. A corner of her mind wondered what William would think when he noticed it, but she didn’t worry about it.

   She’d probably be long gone by then. 

- HaV Academy 

“What is it, Jasmine?” questioned Clara, turning to see what the girl could be staring at.

  There, standing in the doorway, was Lord Erik, and behind him was an assembly of various other nobles and servants.

  “Oh, hello,” she said in surprise.

  “We have been looking for you, Water Princess,” said Lord Erik in a non-judgmental voice. “You did not arrive at lunch.”

  “Lunch …?” 

- Water Princess, Fire Prince

“You don’t have to, as your brother seems quite content. Give it time, Robin. Don’t judge someone on first impressions and the fact their enchantment just happened to take slightly longer than planned to break.”

  “And Robert isn’t judging by first impressions?”

  “That’s different …”

  “How?”

  “Because he’s the one that broke her enchantment.”

  “Well, then, how are we going to break his enchantment!”

- Do You Take This Quest?

“You think it's water, don't you?” said Flewder, eying her. Shasta turned to him, blinking in surprise, unable to form any response. “It's flowstone.”

  “Flowstone?”

  “Flowstone,” he repeated. “Won't drown in it, but it has it's own treacheries just the same. Hard as any rock, but it moves fast. If you don't get across it quick enough … well, no one who's been carried away by flowstone has ever been seen again.”

- The Nine Gems of Virtue

Anthea sighed and slid Five Children and It back into her backpack. E. Nesbit’s trilogy was one of her favorites, not least because she shared her names with the two girls. Even though she knew she was named for her great-great grandmothers, she liked to think she was named for Anthea and Jane of those books. 

- To Perfect a Fairy Tale

“You know something?” said Samson, leaning on the stall door.

  “’Tis possible,” said Madeleine. “It depends on what the something is.”

  “A thought occurred to me while I did my packing,” continued Samson.

  “Really? And what was that? That skunks don’t belong in my room after all?” Madeleine questioned with a raise of her eyebrow.

  “Skunks always belong in thy bedroom,” said Samson, dead serious. “No, what occurred to me is this. We just slept a hundred years.”

  “Really? It finally occurred to you?”

- Do You Take This Quest?

This story is true.

   It's not my story though ...

   It's Yours.

   Once upon a time, you were a poor child in a distant land. Your mother died having you and your father died in the war. In short, you were an orphan.

   What war was it that took your father's life, you ask? Why THE war of course. The war that pitted all the men of the country against the trees. The men had eventually won, but with great losses - your father being one of them.

   Since you were an orphan, you lived all on your own. Well, actually, not completely on your own, for you had your dog - but that hardly counts.

   But wait just a minute, you cry, if that's how I began, how did I get to where I am now? And why don't I remember this?

   Well, be patient my friend, I'm getting there.

- Something random I wrote when I had my calligraphy set out and wanted to write something but didn't know what to write. I may continue it someday ...

Eric lost Robin. He hadn’t meant to do it … but he had turned his back on her to talk to the Duke of Lambra, and when he had at last been able to avert his attention back towards her, she was not there to receive said attention.

- Do You Take This Quest?

If ever Anthea were to be offered three wishes, she knew exactly what those wishes would be. She had read enough books and fairy tales to know exactly what would be the most useful and necessary. Indeed, she had nearly filled a spiral notebook with all the details and specifications of those three wishes.

    And good looks were not on the list.

   True, she wasn’t exactly pretty, for, as her middle name suggested, she was a plain Jane. However, she had read enough to know that looks were only practical for catching princes and marrying them in the morning. She was only twelve and therefore far too young to be entertaining thoughts of marriage – princely or no.

- To Perfect a Fairy Tale

She nodded distantly as she followed him into the living room. The sound of his TV pulled her out of her thoughts. The news was playing, relaying the events of the latest antics of Lavalight and Dr. Frost, the town’s resident hero and villain. Narrowing her eyes, she crossed over to the TV and flicked it off.

   “You really don’t like them, do you?”

   Roxanne turned to face William. “It’s not that I don’t like them, I just don’t like listening to them fight. Go get your shoes.”

- HaV Academy

“Hello, Agatha,” said Madeleine, “yes, I know your name.” She was in a very mischievous mood. Spreading her hands in a mysterious manner, she added, “I know everything.” Agatha’s became even wider than before. “But no, I’m not a fairy, if that was what came to mind. Anyways, Agatha, I’d like you to meet Dick. Dick, I want you to introduce Agatha to Amy. Shira and I need to go check on our horses.”

- Do You Take This Quest?

“Or you to completely confuse young Arthur by running though a list of names he has absolutely no experience?” inserted Madeleine with a raised eyebrow. Without waiting for an answer, she turned to the old man. “Well, Grandfather, is our repertoire of friends and connections large enough? There are more that Sam didn’t get around to mentioning …”
   The old man raised a bushy eyebrow at her. “Grandfather?”
   She and Samson shared quick glance out of the corners of their eyes. “Of course,” said Samson, picking up her train of thought. “Thou art so much older than us, Grandfather, it demandest our respect.”
   The old man seemed about to answer, but Shira spoke, a grin spreading across her face. “’Tis only right, Grandfather.”
With all of them against him, he deemed it a lost cause and gave it up, only sparing the ceiling a pleading glance as Arthur stood there completely and utterly confused.

- Do You Take This Quest?