K.M. Shea's Blog, page 43
July 25, 2018
The Princess and the Pea: Where it Fits
Since Royal Magic is on the horizon and we now have three weeks of the Summer Reading Event behind us, I thought it was about time I wrap up the Princess and the Pea with a post that examines where in history it falls.
The cues in the story unfortunately had to be a bit limited–I needed to keep it at a novella length or I wasn’t going to make the deadline for the Summer Reading Event–but it still gives you some information to work off.
There are two big clues, however, that help you settle it in the time line. The first being that at start of the story Torrens isn’t known for its music and instruments–something that was established in the first book of the series with Beauty and the Beast. And the second is the epilogue scene in which you meet Evariste and Angelique, and Evariste brags that Angelique has recently saved Princess Rosalinda of Sole (Aka Briar Rose of Sleeping Beauty.)
So this story is a true prequel in that it happens before any of the events of the Timeless Fairy Tale series. (That’s if we’re counting the Snow Queen books separately, which I do.) It’s known that Princess Rosalinda was cursed approximately fourteen years before Severin was cursed and Evariste was captured, and Lis and Channing had already been married for a number of years before then, so you’re looking at approximately 19-24ish years before Book 1 in the series.
A final–less obvious–clue lay in the identity of the bushy-bearded King of Torrens who shows up in Frog Prince. That King is neither Albion, nor Channing (both of whom are still alive) but Channing and Lis’ adopted son. How is he king of Torrens if Channing and Albion are alive, and why does he have such a bushy beard? Those questions will be answered in his fairy tale book–which will take place after the events of Snow White and Angelique’s story. (Some of you have already successfully guessed what his story will be, but for those of you who haven’t the biggest hint to his fairy tale lies in his beard.)
If you want to see an exact timeline that shows you everything that has happened in the Timeless Fairy Tale series–including the events of Princess and the Pea–check out this timeline! (Or you can go to the Timeless Fairy Tale page under the books tab, and view a world map in addition to the timeline.)
That’s all for today, Champions! I’ll see you tomorrow with this week’s event post because on Friday the celebration of Royal Magic begins!
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July 21, 2018
Royal Magic on Preorder
Wonderful news, Champions! Royal Magic–the long awaited stand alone sequel story to Red Rope of Fate–is now available for preorder. (Click here for the American store and here for the UK store!) It’s launching July 27th!
Gwendafyn is slowly suffocating.
As the second princess of the elves of Lessa she is the acting regent of her people and is expected to behave with the serene grace and poise of a model elf. But that is not who she is. Instead, her very character is constantly criticized as being too passionate, too fiery, and overall “too much”.
The former Crown Prince of the human country of Calnor, Benjimir’s disinheritance has permanently altered his future and place in court. It gets worse. He is forced to watch as the woman he has secretly loved his whole life narrows down her marriage prospects. He may ordinarily revel in his own ruthlessness, but this feels like his heart is dying.
Gwendafyn is given a chance to flee the role that has ensnared her when she realizes there is one escape that not even her family traditions can prevent: marriage to a human from Calnor. But with most humans and elves unable to speak the same language, her options are limited. She starts to lose hope when the human translators only see her title and treat her with fear and awe.
Yet there is one other human who can speak the language of the elves: the scorned Prince Benjimir.
But Gwendafyn isn’t that desperate.
At least not yet.
It starts as a marriage of convenience and an opportunity to strengthen the bond between their two peoples. But what if it could become something more?
I can’t wait for this story to launch! I hope you guys enjoy it–it’s been a long time in coming. Until next time, thanks for reading!
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July 19, 2018
Summer Reading Event Week 3
Greetings, Champions! This week we have a giant giveaway coming to you, a variety of fantasy books recommendations, and the first of the short stories!
Giveaways:
BONUS: The short story, A Twisted Tale, unlocked this week
50 Ebook copies of Rebel’s Blade by Frost Kay (No, that “50” is not a typo!)
3 paperback copies of my book, Snow Queen: Heart of Ice
Don’t forget to get your FREE copy of my new novella, The Princess and the Pea. It won’t be available anymore starting mid-September.
Books for you to check out:
If you want to see my personal reviews about these books, check out this Facebook Live video!
Rebel’s Blade by Frost Kay (The Aermian Feuds #1)
A brave and interesting heroine willing to fight for what she believes in.
Dragon School: First Flight by Sarah K.L. Wilson (Dragon School #1)
Amel isn’t a special snowflake OR a damsel in distress! Plus more dragons!
Sunbolt by Intisar Khanani (The Sunbolt Chronicles #1)
Fast paced action-filled fantasy with a heroine who has a secret.
Youtube Video:
This week I show you the bones of some of my past stories: the notebooks that contain old scribbles and plot notes! (Also, for your consideration, please enjoy my “crazy eyes” expression that Youtube used as the movie image.)
Thanks for watching, Champions! Have a lovely week, and stay tuned for info about Royal Magic! 
July 13, 2018
Summer Reading Event Week 2
Happy Firday, Champions! The Summer Reading Event fun continues with awesome giveaways, and more great books with kickbutt leading ladies!
Giveaways:
Ebook copies of Slouch Witch by Helen Harper
Ebook copies of The Magical Beings’ Rehabilitation Center: The Complete Series Boxset
Books for you to check out: (For a breakdown on what I like about them, check out this Facebook Live session!)
Slouch Witch by Helen Harper (The Lazy Girl’s Guide to Magic 1)
Not so typical urban fantasy heroine with a highly opinionated cat familiar.
A Gift of Poison by Kate Avery Ellison (The Kingmakers’ War #1)
Do you want the ability to call dragons? (Me too!) But it’s not all fun and games for Briand.
The Smoke-Scented Girl by Melissa McShane (Dalanine #1)
Lots of twists and turns in this magical version of Victorian England!
Vampires Drink Tomato Juice by K.M. Shea (Magical Beings’ Rehabilitation Center #1)
(Yup this one is one of my books.) If you like humor in your Urban Fantasy/Paranormal Romance this series has received the most “I couldn’t stop laughing!” reviews and comments than anything else I’ve written.
Youtube video:
In this week’s Youtube video I show off some of the different notebooks I’ve taken notes in, showing off past maps from the Timeless Fairy Tales and Second Age of Retha!
And that covers all the events for this week! Thanks for reading, and have a wonderful weekend!
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July 11, 2018
The Princess and the Pea: The Moral
Hello Champions! Just a reminder that today–and tomorrow, July 12–Vampires Drink Tomato Juice is free as a part of our Summer Reading Event! Snag a copy for yourself, and feel free to tell a friend or two, or twelve.
July 6, 2018
Summer Reading Event Week 1
Greetings, Champions, and welcome to the first week of the 2018 Summer Reading Event! (We have a lot going on!) Here’s the news for this week.
FREE new Timeless Fairy Tales Prequel
I was working on a super secret project this summer, and here it is! A brand new prequel novella from the Timeless Fairy Tales series, The Princess and the Pea. Note it is set several decades before the start of the Timeless Fairy Tales series so it only offers a glimpse of a couple of characters from that series. This will NOT be available for sale on Amazon, so download it before the event ends and be sure to share it with friends/family/anyone who might like it!
Giveaways:
Ebook copies of Jade by Joseph R. Lallo
(I’ve read this one guys, and loved it! If you like my Timeless Fairy tale series I highly recommend you try this book – even if you don’t win the giveaway)
Signed Princess Ahira paperback
This week’s Book Recommendations:
The Book of Deacon by Joseph R. Lallo (The Book of Deacon Book 1)
High fantasy series with plenty of action, twists and interesting characters! It is also FREE to download, what are you waiting for?
Wanted by Jo Ho (Chase Ryder Book 1)
A kick butt urban fantasy heroine with the coolest, smartest dog ever. (Perfect Dog approved this book. :))
Gryphon Riders Complete Trilogy by Derek Alan Siddoway
Gryphons! (Do I really need to say anything else?!?)
If you’re looking for more information, Check out this Facebook video in which I go over this week’s books!
Intro Youtube video: A short video that gives a quick explanation of the program as well as a shout out to those who helped me put it together.
That’s it for this week! Come again next week–we have another free book! (One of mine, muwhaha!)
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July 2, 2018
The Princess and the Pea Available Now!
As part of the 2018 Summer Reading Event, I’m giving away Princess and the Pea, a prequel novella to the Timeless Fairy Tales! It’s free, and available to everyone–so be sure to tell your friends/family who might like a copy for themselves! And be sure to snag your copy soon, because it’s available only for the duration of the Summer Reading Event.
This story–which has been added to the Timeless Fairy Tales Timeline—takes places place approximately 15 to 20 years before the events of Beauty and the Beast.
I finished writing it just in time for the event–I owe a big thanks to Rock-Star-Assistant-Meg, Editor #1 the Comma Queen, Britta, and Myrrhlynn for pitching in to make it possible to launch it this week.
I hope you enjoy it, Champions, and keep an eye out for future in posts in which I go over the original story and the rather confusing moral. Until then, enjoy the Summer Reading Event!
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Princess and the Pea: The original tale
Edit: Woops! This entry got added accidentally, so you get a double bonus of two posts in a day! Sorry for the mix-up!
The Princess and the Pea was written by Hans Christian Andersen, who published it in 1835. Unlike the Little Mermaid, which is an original fairy tale by Andersen, The Princess and the Pea was based on traditional folk tales Andersen heard as a child.
The story goes as follows:
Once upon a time there was a (super snobby) prince decided he wanted to marry a princess. But not just any princess a real princess. (Because there are tons of fakes out there. Obviously.) He traveled the world searching for a real princess, but was unable to find one, and it seemed like there was something off about all the princesses he did meet.
So the prince returned home. One night, during a terrible storm, someone knocked on the castle door. The prince’s father–the King–went and opened it, revealing a soggy, mud spattered princess who claimed to be a real princess.
The prince’s mother–the queen–was suspicious, so she hurried to the bedchamber the so-called real princess was going to stay in, and took off all the bedding of the bed, placed a single pea there, then had twenty mattresses laid on top of it and twenty down beds on top of the mattresses. (Question: how did this real princess not suffocate from sinking into that many down beds? Second question: Why did the queen have twenty mattresses hanging around?)
An illustration by Edmund Dulac of the princess on the mattress. Note the room’s high ceiling to allow for all those mattresses!The queen then sent the princess to the chamber and was told to sleep there all night. In the morning she asked the princess how she slept. The (ungrateful, whiny) princess lamented that she slept terribly poorly and couldn’t sleep all night because there was something so hard in the bed she got bruises on her whole body. (Uh-huh, not only is she a terrible house-guest, she’s apparently incapable of rolling on to her side.)
This (somehow?) proved to the King, Queen, and prince that she was a real princess–because she felt the pea through all the mattresses and down beds. And “Nobody but a real princess could be as sensitive as that.”
So the prince took her as his wife, and the pea was “put in a museum where it may still be seen, if no one has stolen it.” (Because everyone wants the pea that a whiny princess claimed gave her bruises. It makes the pea super valuable.)
And that’s the story! Charming, hmm? To be fair, I don’t think the story translates well into English, and Andersen chose some really poor wording in trying to get the moral across–which isn’t as terrible as it seems. We’ll talk about it in my next blog post on the story’s moral. Until then, Champions, enjoy the Summer Reading Event!
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June 29, 2018
Summer Reading Event!
Champions! Thank you for joining me today as I announce what I (and my editors, cover artist, and Rock-Star-Assistant-Meg) have been working on for weeks! This summer, starting July 1st and ending August 31st, I’m holding a Summer Reading Event!
Each week I’ll recommend three or four new books for you to check out. Lots of them are in KU, some of them are free, and all of them are good! Tons of authors have agreed to be a part of this program, and I can’t wait to introduce you to their books. But that’s not all! There will also be weekly giveaways, free short stories, youtube videos, facebook live events, and more! (Some of the giveaway prizes are: paperback copies of my books, a few audio book copies of Red Rope of Fate, and ebooks for some of the featured stories from other authors!)
The biggest gift I’m giving to you as part of this event, however, is *drum roll please* a Free Prequel novella for the Timeless Fairy Tale series: The Princess and The Pea. (Available in July!)
Fun fact: the character on this cover actually isn’t the main character (Lis) but her friend, Vorah!While the fun doesn’t start until Sunday/Monday, you can get a glimpse of what’s going on the event page. Once the event starts, you can go directly to its page under the “For Champions” section of the website. (As you can tell by the images, Rock Star Meg and Coverartist Myrrhlynn got together and popped a few of my already available short stories into a Kindle format so through out the summer you’ll be able to download them to your kindle/reading device in a proper and pretty format now instead of having to read them on my website!)
I’m so excited about this event–I wanted to do something fun for us all and to have it serve as a thank you to all of you, Champions. 
June 27, 2018
New Cover Art: Elves of Lessa
Greetings, Champions! I’ve been busy working on the still unnamed Red Rope of Fate sequel. I’m in the editing stage, so everything is looking good for that mid to late July release.
But I have some fun news! With the launch of the sequel, both books will be getting illustrated covers. This was a tough decision. I like the current Red Rope of Fate cover a lot, but in the end it had to be a marketing decision. The current cover is more of a fairy tale style, and I’d like to make it a bit more clear that Red Rope is more of a fantasy-romance story.
So I asked Nibleart–my illustrator for my Second Age of Retha series–to create the covers! (I felt so bad for him though, because Solus from Second Age of Retha and Arion are the only two male protagonists in all my books who have the dark hair/blue eyes combo and wear armor! So this was a testament to his styling skills.)
But, without further ado…here is the new cover for Red Rope of Fate!
In addition to the character art, I have to say he really NAILED the background. I asked him to put them inside a castle since they spend the whole book in Haven, and wowza did Nibleart deliver! (Also, Tari’s dress brings me such joy since it’s very reminiscent of her practice uniform. Loveitloveitloveit!)
He’s still working on the cover for the sequel, but it is in a similar style. I can’t wait to show you all the final product, though! This cover will be going up this weekend, so if the photo covers are more your style, you might want to snag this book now.
That’s all for today, Champions. Stay tuned later this week, though, as I have an exciting announcement I’ll soon be sharing!
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