For My Father...A Twist On An Old Tale

[Ravven]

I recently published my debut novel and am currently working on the sequel. The Clockwork Bluebird is a steampunk/fairytale retelling of The Children's Bluebird; you can see more information here: http://www.ravven.com/blog/words/the-... and I am also running a giveaway here: http://www.ravven.com/blog/launch-giv...

I have to explain a bit about this book. My dad used to read the original to my sisters and I, from an old book that was his as a kid - it meant a lot to me. I'd always thought about re-writing it, taking out all of the sugary bits, keeping the twisted stuff and updating it for modern audiences. Many years later, when my father was dying of cancer, I finally did it. In part it was a thank-you for giving us all such a love of reading.

If you're familiar with the original story, or have watched one of the movies (Shirley Temple starred in one version), you know that the plot follows a certain pattern. Try/fail/try/fail/try/fail/answer was at home all along. I haven't changed that, as I have changed so much else about the book...if I'd lost the core, I may as well have just written a completely different book.

So I wanted to ask...if any of you do read the book, can you let me know what you think? Were you familiar with the original story? If you weren't, did the plot structure seem too easy? I would very much love to hear from you.

[Cheryl]

I tried to read the original from Project Gutenberg and just didn't like it. I think the sugar-iness was the worst bit. Your take does sound interesting.