Fairytales

When I was really young, I had a book of fairytales. It was a large blue book with an image of a princess taking up most of the top and middle of the cover and pictures from the other stories below her. Every time I opened that cover I knew I would find magic within. Words and pictures that took me to worlds filled with adventure. But it wasn’t just the words or even the pictures that I loved, it was the questions those tales left unanswered. Questions that I spent hours answering. Creating the reasons behind why some of the characters acted the way they did, fleshing out the ending and what happened after the happily ever after, turning some of those one line sections into major episodes in each tale.

I would spend hours sitting on my bed reading my book and recreating the tales. Why was Thumbelina given to human parents when she should have been raised amongst fairies? Why didn’t Cinderella ever stand up for herself? And what about Sleeping Beauty? Why didn’t her parents warn her what could happen if she used the spindle? I wanted to know the reasons, the how and why. So I made them up, often changing my mind numerous times until I’d found the one I liked best.

Fairytales were some of the first stories I ‘wrote’. Writing Retold Fairytales allows me to use some of that early plotting and planning I did as well as revisit well loved stories.

Books have always been a big part of my life. First being read to, then reading them for myself, then creating my own. I’ll always be grateful to my mum for introducing me to books and the magic within their pages. Books that allowed me to realise that I wanted to write my own stories.

People have been telling stories since the beginning of time. Fairytales, folklore, myths and legends are among some of the stories that have been told over and over through the centuries. The basic story remains the same, but each storyteller adds their own style, sometimes adding something unique to the tale.

Today the first of my Retold Fairytales is available on Amazon. Snow-White And Rose-Red. A tale I’ve read numerous times over the years and still continue to enjoy. But like so many of the other fairytales I’ve loved and enjoyed, it raised questions that begged an answer. So I answered some of them.