Goodreads asked Alydia Rackham:

Where did you get the idea for your most recent book?

Alydia Rackham Beauty and the Beast has always been my favorite fairy tale, but I have grown to love it so much more since I had the pleasure of playing Belle in a stage production of Disney’s version. I was fascinated by both of the main characters, the depth of the dynamic between them, and the concept of one person being able to see into another person—past the physical, past prejudices, past society’s perceptions—into a terribly guarded and wounded heart.
And the young man who played the Beast actually planted the seed of this very tale. One afternoon, after the production was finished, he jokingly (but wishfully) said to me “All right, let’s do the show again—but this time, you play the Beast.” My imagination caught on that idea. What would it be like if the “Beauty” was actually a young man, and the “Beast” was a princess, trapped by a wicked curse? From this inspiration, this story took root, budded and bloomed. He also allowed me the use of a certain, special name. And for those reasons, the new novel "Scales: A Fresh Telling of Beauty and the Beast" is dedicated to him.

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