A selection from my kids’ room, since mine are packed away. *sniffle*

If you’ve read Bound, I probably don’t need to explain why this entry is included here. Fairy tales are a big thread running through the story: talk of adventures and happy endings, of life not measuring up to fairy tales, the books that Rowan reads even though they’re as good as banned in her country.

I adore fairy tales. I loved them when I was a kid, and cried when I thought I was getting too old for them (my mom set me straight, thank goodness). I still love them now, though my interest has broadened somewhat. As a child I had only a few books to look through, mostly containing the familiar European tales that Disney tends to adapt. I found more as I grew older. My brother and I got a book for Christmas one year that had stories from all over the world. Though I’m ashamed to say that at the time I only wanted the same old stories, having access to tales from Africa and Australia and Asia helped me understand the range of stories there are to be told.

It’s deepened, too. Have you looked back at the history of fairy tales? Read older versions, read analyses of the intent and meaning behind them? It’s a journey I’m only starting on in my free time (feel free to laugh…), but it’s fascinating.

And yeah, I like to play with them. While I’ll probably never do a full novel-length re-telling of a fairy tale (the market seems pretty saturated with those these days, and people are doing amazing things), I did enjoy trying it with flash fiction (my urban fantasy version of Cinderella is posted here), and hope to do more in the future.

And of course, my Fantasy world that I’m working in these days is stuffed to the mer-gills with fairy tales. Myths, legends, superstitions, children’s stories and folklore would spill off of every page if I wasn’t afraid of readers being bored.

We all carry stories with us in our memories and our beliefs. My characters do, too, even if they won’t admit it.

Maybe some day the fairy tales of Tyrea will see the light of day. Anyone interested in hearing that story about the young woman who fell in love with the dragon? Want to hear about Pourana, the woman who guides the souls of the dead? What about the story of the Gryphon’s tear, or a little mer folklore?

I really need more time to write…

Tell me: What’s your favourite fairy tale? What is it about that story that you connect with?