UPDATE: The winner is…Pansy!
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When you wish upon a star…
The dream that you wish will come true…
Once upon a time…
These are three phrases I love and that have inspired me over the years. I’ve always loved Disney’s fairy tale movies, and being a romance writer, I’ve always wanted my characters to have their fairy tale romance.
It wasn’t until November or so of last year when I had an idea. Why not write my own fairy tales? If you’ve read my work, you know how I enjoy twisting my stories up until my readers can’t guess the endings. So why not twist fairy tales around and make them more interesting, romantic, and suspenseful?
What is it about fairy tale stories that nearly everyone seems to love? Is it because in real life those types of romances usually don’t happen? Well, what if they do, but you just don’t realize it?
When the idea came to me to write fairy tale stories, but make them seem real (well, as real as could be even though some of the stories have wizards and witches), I decided to give it my all. Thankfully, by the time I’d gotten this idea, I had already started writing a young adult fantasy about three teenagers who were sucked into a book that was from a very early era. That’s when I decided to throw a Hansel & Gretel aspect to the story…and a witch, of course. I called my story, The Witch Hunt.
Once that story was finished, a few more fairy tale ideas came to mind. I had a previously published story that was a modern-day Cinderella romance, so I just added a few more scenes and fixed it up to be more of a Cinderella story. That romantic comedy is titled, Her Own Fairy Godmother, which is book #2 in the series.
The next book in the series was easy to write, especially when I saw the awesome book cover my cover artist had premade to sell. That specific book cover screamed Robin Hood, so naturally, I bought it, and wrote my story, Champion. At that point, I decided to start figuring out what fairy tale stories I wanted to write—and then find book covers for them. Within a week, I had all of my book covers (thanks to my cover artist, Sheri McGathy) and an idea about how I want their stories to flow.
Book #4 was my historical Cinderella story, Keep on Believing, which was released March 20th, 2016. I’m currently writing book #5, Once Enchanted, which is about Rapunzel. That will be released in April. It’s my goal to have a fairy tale story released nearly every month this year. So far I have eleven book covers. I’m sure I’ll think of more fairy tale stories to write for next year.
Here is the tentative schedule for my other stories in my fairy tale series, “Where Dreams Come True”:
Bella’s Beast (Beauty and the Beast) – May
Cloak of Red (Red Riding Hood – she’s not little anymore) – July
Saving Snow (Snow White) – August
To Love a Mermaid (Mermaid – she’s not little, either. lol) – September
Golden Heart (Rumpelstiltskin) – October
Beyond Imagination (Sleeping Beauty) – November
For those who do not know me, I write more than just fairy tales. The genres I’ve had published are: Colonial, Regency, Victorian, American Western, Titanic Era, contemporary, mystery/suspense, paranormal, time-travel, and romantic comedy.
GIVEAWAY
Leave a comment on this blog and tell me which fairy tale you enjoy reading – and you’ll be entered to win a FREE copy of my latest release, Keep on Believing (either Adobe PDF or Kindle formats).
About the Author
Marie Higgins is a best-selling, multi-published author of Christian and sweet romance novels; from refined bad-boy heroes who make your heart melt to the feisty heroines who somehow manage to love them regardless of their faults. She’s published over 30 heartwarming, on-the-edge-of-your-seat stories. She broadens her readership by writing mystery/suspense, humor, time-travel, paranormal, along with her love for historical romances. Her readers have dubbed her “Queen of Tease”, because of all her twists and turns and unexpected endings.
Visit her website / blog to discover more about her – http://mariehiggins84302.blogspot.com
Find her on Facebook – facebook.com/marie.higgins.7543
And Twitter – @MarieHigginsXOX
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I love the story of beauty and the beast!!!!
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I love Alice in Wonderland
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I love the story The Princess and the Pea.
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I love reading fairytale based stories! One of my favs is Sleeping Beauty.
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My favorite Fairytale is Sleeping Beauty ????????
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I have always been a sucker of the Cinderella story – in all it’s varied forms. It began way back with Roger and Hammerstein’s musical version. I was spell bound every year when it showed on TV and now own my own copy so I can watch whenever. I have even found an original “Masterpiece Theater copy – in black and white – starring Julie Andrews that is also in my collection. I so need another Cinderella story. 😀 Thank you for the opportunity.
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I still like Sleeping Beauty and Snow White. I think because they are my first ones.
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Marie, just contacted me to let me know that Pansy’s the winner! Congrats! Marie will be in contact shortly!
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I love reading about Rumpelstiltskin, Rapunzel, and so many others, including tales from other lands. I love fairy tales. 🙂