The Next Big Thing
The Next Big Thing...
It seems like it's been a lifetime since the last time I posted on my Goodreads blog. But if I catch the blogging bug, I might do more in the future. Who knows? Anyway, I’m participating in an event called The Next Big Thing. So what is The Next Big Thing? It's blog hopping with the goal to discover some new authors and books.
For those unfamiliar with a blog hop . . . you find something on one blog then you hop on over to the next blog link for a new author discovery.
In this hop we're going from blog-to-blog to discover some exciting books that we might not have heard about yet or that are still in WIPs. To let everyone know a bit about the books, we each answer 10 questions.
Thanks to author J. Ann for inviting me: http://www.jannnovels.blogspot.com/20...
So here is my contribution to the hop:
Q+A:
What is the (working title) of your book?
The Fairest Dream.
Where did the idea come from for the book?
My life-long obsession with fairy tales. This is my first chance to retell one of my personal favorites, in particular, the story of Cinderella.
What genre does your book fall under?
Fantasy.
Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition?
Interestingly, I haven’t put a whole lot of thought into who should play the characters in my book. But I’ve always envisioned the antagonist as Jennifer Connelly. She has the chops to play the role of one of my most complex characters.
What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?
A young woman becomes the servant of a rich countess and her three sisters and dreams of escaping the servant life and becoming rich and famous.
Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency?
While under a different incarnation, The Fairest Dream made its rounds to agents and publishers. But this time around, the honors of publishing the newly refurbished version will be mine.
How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript?
I have been working on this book for nearly a decade now. But the first draft took around one year to write.
What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?
Even though it’s a bit of a stretch, I prefer to compare my book to the film Ever After which stars Drew Barrymore. What’s interesting is that I hadn’t seen the movie until long after I wrote The Fairest Dream, but it was very interesting to see the similarities in the storyline and situations in both of the stories.
Who or What inspired you to write this book?
Everyone loves an underdog. In the case of The Fairest Dream, the inspiration for this book was actually myself. I wasn’t born with a silver spoon in my mouth and have had to work a variety of unimpressive jobs to support myself. I’ve cleaned public bathrooms, washed cars, cleaned parks, and even dredged lakes. No romantic stuff at all. So I had the idea to use my experience to tell a timeless adventure of a young woman who goes from rags-to-riches in true Cinderella fashion. What’s interesting to note is that it’s a part of my Arvan universe series. So readers familiar with some of my other Arvan books will recognize a few of the characters.
What else about your book might pique the reader's interest?
I think readers will find The Fairest Dream to be an inspirational tale of the power of having a dream and winning against all odds.
-------
For "Next Big Thing…" next week, fellow authors:
CeCe's Reading and Writing Safari
Tina Smith
It seems like it's been a lifetime since the last time I posted on my Goodreads blog. But if I catch the blogging bug, I might do more in the future. Who knows? Anyway, I’m participating in an event called The Next Big Thing. So what is The Next Big Thing? It's blog hopping with the goal to discover some new authors and books.
For those unfamiliar with a blog hop . . . you find something on one blog then you hop on over to the next blog link for a new author discovery.
In this hop we're going from blog-to-blog to discover some exciting books that we might not have heard about yet or that are still in WIPs. To let everyone know a bit about the books, we each answer 10 questions.
Thanks to author J. Ann for inviting me: http://www.jannnovels.blogspot.com/20...
So here is my contribution to the hop:
Q+A:
What is the (working title) of your book?
The Fairest Dream.
Where did the idea come from for the book?
My life-long obsession with fairy tales. This is my first chance to retell one of my personal favorites, in particular, the story of Cinderella.
What genre does your book fall under?
Fantasy.
Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition?
Interestingly, I haven’t put a whole lot of thought into who should play the characters in my book. But I’ve always envisioned the antagonist as Jennifer Connelly. She has the chops to play the role of one of my most complex characters.
What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?
A young woman becomes the servant of a rich countess and her three sisters and dreams of escaping the servant life and becoming rich and famous.
Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency?
While under a different incarnation, The Fairest Dream made its rounds to agents and publishers. But this time around, the honors of publishing the newly refurbished version will be mine.
How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript?
I have been working on this book for nearly a decade now. But the first draft took around one year to write.
What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?
Even though it’s a bit of a stretch, I prefer to compare my book to the film Ever After which stars Drew Barrymore. What’s interesting is that I hadn’t seen the movie until long after I wrote The Fairest Dream, but it was very interesting to see the similarities in the storyline and situations in both of the stories.
Who or What inspired you to write this book?
Everyone loves an underdog. In the case of The Fairest Dream, the inspiration for this book was actually myself. I wasn’t born with a silver spoon in my mouth and have had to work a variety of unimpressive jobs to support myself. I’ve cleaned public bathrooms, washed cars, cleaned parks, and even dredged lakes. No romantic stuff at all. So I had the idea to use my experience to tell a timeless adventure of a young woman who goes from rags-to-riches in true Cinderella fashion. What’s interesting to note is that it’s a part of my Arvan universe series. So readers familiar with some of my other Arvan books will recognize a few of the characters.
What else about your book might pique the reader's interest?
I think readers will find The Fairest Dream to be an inspirational tale of the power of having a dream and winning against all odds.
-------
For "Next Big Thing…" next week, fellow authors:
CeCe's Reading and Writing Safari
Tina Smith
date
newest »
newest »
Mickey wrote: "Kevis:You may have already read Ann Sexton's "Cinderella" but your new book reminded me of that rich, funny poem.
Good luck with it!
Mickey"
Hi Mickey. I haven't read that version of Cinderella. But I was surprised to find out only after I wrote "The Fairest Dream" that it had a lot in common with the movie "Ever After". But thanks for mentioning that Sexton's book, I think I'll want to check it out! ;)
Anne Sexton, "Cinderella"You always read about it:
the plumber with the twelve children
who wins the Irish Sweepstakes.
From toilets to riches.
That story.
Or the nursemaid,
some luscious sweet from Denmark
who captures the oldest son's heart.
from diapers to Dior.
That story.
Or a milkman who serves the wealthy,
eggs, cream, butter, yogurt, milk,
the white truck like an ambulance
who goes into real estate
and makes a pile.
From homogenized to martinis at lunch.
Or the charwoman
who is on the bus when it cracks up
and collects enough from the insurance.
From mops to Bonwit Teller.
That story.
Once
the wife of a rich man was on her deathbed
and she said to her daughter Cinderella:
Be devout. Be good. Then I will smile
down from heaven in the seam of a cloud.
The man took another wife who had
two daughters, pretty enough
but with hearts like blackjacks.
Cinderella was their maid.
She slept on the sooty hearth each night
and walked around looking like Al Jolson.
Her father brought presents home from town,
jewels and gowns for the other women
but the twig of a tree for Cinderella.
She planted that twig on her mother's grave
and it grew to a tree where a white dove sat.
Whenever she wished for anything the dove
would drop it like an egg upon the ground.
The bird is important, my dears, so heed him.
Next came the ball, as you all know.
It was a marriage market.
The prince was looking for a wife.
All but Cinderella were preparing
and gussying up for the event.
Cinderella begged to go too.
Her stepmother threw a dish of lentils
into the cinders and said: Pick them
up in an hour and you shall go.
The white dove brought all his friends;
all the warm wings of the fatherland came,
and picked up the lentils in a jiffy.
No, Cinderella, said the stepmother,
you have no clothes and cannot dance.
That's the way with stepmothers.
Cinderella went to the tree at the grave
and cried forth like a gospel singer:
Mama! Mama! My turtledove,
send me to the prince's ball!
The bird dropped down a golden dress
and delicate little slippers.
Rather a large package for a simple bird.
So she went. Which is no surprise.
Her stepmother and sisters didn't
recognize her without her cinder face
and the prince took her hand on the spot
and danced with no other the whole day.
As nightfall came she thought she'd better
get home. The prince walked her home
and she disappeared into the pigeon house
and although the prince took an axe and broke
it open she was gone. Back to her cinders.
These events repeated themselves for three days.
However on the third day the prince
covered the palace steps with cobbler's wax
and Cinderella's gold shoe stuck upon it.
Now he would find whom the shoe fit
and find his strange dancing girl for keeps.
He went to their house and the two sisters
were delighted because they had lovely feet.
The eldest went into a room to try the slipper on
but her big toe got in the way so she simply
sliced it off and put on the slipper.
The prince rode away with her until the white dove
told him to look at the blood pouring forth.
That is the way with amputations.
They just don't heal up like a wish.
The other sister cut off her heel
but the blood told as blood will.
The prince was getting tired.
He began to feel like a shoe salesman.
But he gave it one last try.
This time Cinderella fit into the shoe
like a love letter into its envelope.
At the wedding ceremony
the two sisters came to curry favor
and the white dove pecked their eyes out.
Two hollow spots were left
like soup spoons.
Cinderella and the prince
lived, they say, happily ever after,
like two dolls in a museum case
never bothered by diapers or dust,
never arguing over the timing of an egg,
never telling the same story twice,
never getting a middle-aged spread,
their darling smiles pasted on for eternity.
Regular Bobbsey Twins.
That story.
You may have already read Ann Sexton's "Cinderella" but your new book reminded me of that rich, funny poem.
Good luck with it!
Mickey