Snow White and Rose Red Mad Libs

“Ah, look,” you say, “another game.”

And you’re absolutely right. Yesterday, I had fun putting together a little Snow White and Rose Red Fairytale Tag for you all (because who doesn’t LOVE a good tag promoting a little-known fairytale???), and TODAY we’re going to be diving into one of my all-time favorite games: the Mad Lib.

I had originally thought that I would be posting a bunch of dry, informative posts here all week to talk about my newest book, The Bear of Rosethorn Ring. However, I was overwhelmed by the number of sweet bloggers who responded to my pleas for a blog tour, and so many of them asked for a guest post. I feared I wouldn’t have enough topics and posts to cover them all, but many of them had great ideas of their own, and (though it took a while to type everything up) it was a cinch to put together so many guest posts on topics I KNEW people wanted to read about.

And then, since all those amazing bloggers had taken care of all those posts, I decided: “Let’s have fun here at A Synesthete Writer this week. We’re just going to party.” We started the party off with a GIVEAWAY, and now we’re into party game #2.

Rules

1. Below is a snippet from Snow White and Rose Red with a good number of words taken out. YOUR job is to supply those missing words.
2. Each missing word is in its own labeled category (Noun, Verb, Adjective, etc.), and you may write in any category-appropriate word you wish. (i.e. Noun = laundry basket; Animal = armadillo; Person = Samuel Jackson; Adverb = eagerly)
3. Once your list of missing words is filled out, pop those words into the numbered blanks provided in the story.
4. Paste the whole story in a comment for everyone to enjoy!

The Word List

1. Noun
2. Adjective
3. Verb Ending in -ING
4. Adjective
5. Color
6. Number
7. Animal
8. Adjective
9. Verb
10. Adjective
11. Term of Endearment
12. Noun
13. Adjective
14. Adverb
15. Plural Noun
16. Adjective
17. Liquid
18. Exclamation
19. Adjective
20. Adverb
21. Famous Person
22. Term of Endearment
23. Adverb
24. Emotion
25. Sharp Object
26. Plural Noun
27. Noun
28. Adjective
29. Body Part
30. Common Phrase

Image is not mine; this gorgeousness was painted by Richard Doyle.

The Mad Lib Story

One afternoon, Mother sent Snow White and Rose Red into the forest to fetch some (1. NOUN). There they found a/an (2. ADJECTIVE) tree which lay felled on the ground, and close by the trunk something was (3. VERB ENDING IN -ING) backwards and forwards in the grass, but they could not make out what it was.

When they came nearer, they saw a/an (4. ADJECTIVE) dwarf with an old, withered face. He had a/an (5. COLOR) beard that was nearly (6. NUMBER) yards long. The end of the beard was caught in a crevice of the tree, and the dwarf was jumping about like a/an (7. ANIMAL) tied to a rope, and did not know what to do.

He glared at the girls with his (8. ADJECTIVE) eyes and cried: “Why do you stand there? Can you not come here and (9. VERB) me?”

“What are you up to, (10. ADJECTIVE) man?” asked Rose Red.

“You stupid, prying (11. TERM OF ENDERMENT)!” answered the dwarf. “I was going to split the tree to get a little (12. NOUN) for cooking. We dwarves need but (13. ADJECTIVE) food; however, it gets burned (14. ADVERB) when we use those thick logs. We don’t devour such large portions as you greedy (15. PLURAL NOUN). I had just driven the wedge safely in, and everything was going well; but the cursed wedge was too (16. ADJECTIVE) and suddenly sprang out, and the tree closed so quickly that I could not pull out my beautiful beard; so now it is stuck and I cannot get away, and the silly, (17. LIQUID)-faced things laugh! 18. EXCLAMATION)! how (19. ADJECTIVE) you are!”

The girls tried very hard, but they could not pull the beard out, it was caught too (20. ADVERB).

“I will run and fetch (21. FAMOUS PERSON),” said Rose Red.

“You senseless (22. TERM OF ENDEARMENT)!” snarled the dwarf. “Why should you fetch him/her? You are already two too many for me; can you not think of something (23. ADVERB)?”

“Don’t be (24. EMOTION),” said Snow White. “I will help you.” And she pulled her (25. SHARP OBJECT) out of her pocket, and cut off the end of the beard.

As soon as the dwarf felt himself free, he grabbed a sack filled with (26. PLURAL NOUN) that was lying between the roots of the tree. He lifted it up, grumbling to himself: “Uncouth slobs, to cut off a (27. NOUN) of my (28. ADJECTIVE) beard. Bad luck to you!’ and then he swung the bag upon his (29. BODY PART), and went off without even once looking at the girls or saying, “(30. COMMON PHRASE).”

~*~

How did your adventure go? I’m looking forward to reading everyone’s versions of the story!

Snag your own copy of The Bear of Rosethorn Ring today to read *my* version of Snow White and Rose Red rescuing the dwarf. It wasn’t exactly mad lib style, but I still had a lot of fun writing it!

Don’t forget to check out the other fun posts today!

April 7th Blog Tour Stops

• Inspiration for The Bear of Rosethorn Ring (Guest Post) @ Ink Castles
• Favorite Characters from the Twist Tales (Guest Post) @ Living Outside the Lines
• Book Review @ Shieldmaidens of Shiloh
• Book Review @ Live. Love. Read.

(I will update the links to direct posts once things start going live.)

God bless!

Advertisement

Giveaway at Fairy Tale Central!

If you haven’t noticed, it’s party time at Fairy Tale Central! And if you don’t follow that site regularly, you NEED to because it has just the best fairytale content of just about anywhere. *subtle cough and insistent nudging*

Since February 26th is National Tell a Fairy Tale Day, February at FTC has been dedicated to the celebration of fairytales in general. And we’ve been having so much fun doing just that.

HOWEVER, yesterday (February 23rd) was our party day, complete with amazing fairytale-related games AND a giveaway. Anyone who participates in the games before midnight hits (and everything turns back into a pumpkin) gets a chance to win not one, but TWO fairytale retellings: January Snow, a Jazz Age Snow White story by Hayden Wand, and winner’s choice of one MY books from Once Upon a Twist Tales.

What are you waiting for? Get on over there and enter!

~*~

I’m also VERY excited to say that BOTH the cover reveal date and the release date for The Bear of Rosethorn Ring will be announced soon. I’m still working out a few kinks, but you should expect the official announcement before the end of the month!

God bless!

Snow’s Kiss – A Snow Queen Story

It’s the Snow Queen month over at Fairy Tale Central! Where I’m at currently, we haven’t got any snow, so I keep reading through the posts to make it feel like winter. Seriously, January in the southern USA isn’t winter. I’ve got true northern blood running through my veins, and I ain’t apologizing.

 

Anyway, Arielle has once again given us a writing prompt to run wild with, based on the original fairytale of the Snow Queen. And since we all know that I love chasing plot bunnies… here’s my contribution. Again, this is reading like more of a first chapter to something, rather than an independent story. 

 

Enjoy! 

 

 

~*~

 

“Well, are you going to kiss me or not?” 

 

Gerhardt grinned at the scowl on her face. “We’ve been over this, your majesty. Kissing you would kill me, and I happen to value my life right now.” 

 

“Don’t call me that, peasant,” Fannara spat back, her mouth twisting in a scowl. “And it wouldn’t kill you. You know this is what your father wants.” She kept her voice low, and he knew why. 

September is for Red Hoods and Good Books

Did you know that Fairy Tale Central is celebrating a month of Little Red Riding Hood? I won’t give all the delicious details away here, since I think you need to head over there and check out all the fun posts yourself. Besides book reviews on RRH retellings, there’s also fairytale commentary, author interviews, and more!

However, I will say that my second book review for the site just went live today, so here’s the link for that. Cloaked is a shorter, sweet work by Rachel Kovaciny — and set in the wild west! I’ve very much enjoyed both of Rachel’s books that I’ve read so far, both of them from her Once Upon a Western fairytale retelling series. (The other was a Twelve Dancing Princesses retelling, titled Dancing and Doughnuts.) She did a great job incorporating all the original fairytale elements, and all without magic. Two thumbs up!

And, as part of the FTC Red Riding Hood festivities for this month, I’ve also published a book review for Girl in the Red Hood by Brittany Fichter on my review blog, KiriBeth. You can check that out here.

Girl in the Red Hood was the very first novel of Brittany’s that I’ve read, and I really enjoyed that one. I’ll be honest, I was a bit skeptical going into it, only because I don’t know how to approach this fairytale author who shares my last name. When I began publishing my fairytale works, I kept my maiden name of “Fichter” as my pen name, thinking it’d be a unique name that no one else would have. I mean, seriously. How many Fichters do you know? Can you even say the name properly? Probably not (no offense; it’s German). Lo and behold, there’s another Fichter out there publishing books — and not only that, she’s doing fairytale retellings, too! How uncanny is that? I’ve taken to calling her “the other Fichter” but I suppose she deserves to be “the first Fichter” since she was publishing books before I was.

Brittany incorporates magic in her books, so that definitely set us apart, but I quickly found out that we both love a lot of the same things in our books: genuine relationships, clean reads, sweet fairytale elements. I was very impressed. And I’m very much looking forward to reading more of her works. I’ve especially had my eye on her Nutcracker retelling, Clara’s Soldier, for a long time now.

Man, all this talk of Red Riding Hood books makes me in the mood to write one. My Little Writer will have my head if I try to do anything now, but I can’t help that a slightly gender-swapped retelling with a lumberjack as the lead has been badgering my brain most of this month.

What can I say? September is for red hoods.

What’s your favorite Little Red Riding Hood retelling? Have you read either of the books I’ve reviewed in the links above? Let me know in the comments!

God bless!

On the Topic of Fairytale Retellings

One thing fairytale retelling enthusiasts fight over more than anything else is adherence to the original fairytale. What makes this retelling good? What makes this one bad? Were enough of the original elements included to really classify the story as a retelling?

I am a self-declared fairytale retelling snob. And unashamed of that. The fantastical stories of the Grimm Brothers and Hans Christen Anderson and Charles Perrault and Andrew Lang and others have captured our attention since they first began appearing in print. Tales of beautiful princesses, brave knights and princes, mythical creatures, and magical beings enchant us just as much now as they did then.

Today’s readers, however, are clamoring for more. More than just the well-known, well-loved fairytale. They want clever twists and fantastical elements and great characters to fall in love with all over again.

But why? Why are retellings growing so popular in today’s modern age? It’s because we’re curious and demanding and unsatisfied. Many of the original fairytales included unrealistic, mind-bending characters and plot twists — things that went beyond just a simple suspension of disbelief. There are also enough holes in the plot to make a golf course jealous. Fairytales, in their current state, are ripe for retelling.

And so we retell them. But we don’t always retell them WELL. Or retell them at all, really.

(Ahead, some spoilers for the books and films I bring up. You have been warned.)

For example, I do not consider Melanie Dickerson’s The Orphan’s Wish to be a great Aladdin retelling. It was a fun story, pretty cliche IMHO for Dickerson (and thus predictable), but it failed in many of the original Aladdin elements.

Aladdin and the Wonderful Lamp is probably the most famous story from The Book of One Thousand and One Nights or The Arabian Nights. In one version of the tale, Aladdin is a poor, boy from the streets who lives with his mother. His sorcerer “uncle” shows up to ask Aladdin to help him get the genie’s lamp from the magical cave — which throws Aladdin into his own adventures with the lamp and winning the hand of the princess.

Melanie Dickerson’s Aladdin, however, seems to resemble that story merely only in name. Aladdin is a poor boy who meets and falls in love with the duke’s daughter at a young age. Then he goes off to make a name and fortune for himself, to become someone worthy of marrying the daughter. He finds employment for a friendly man and soon becomes a King Midas of sorts when his business ventures earn him the reputation of being able to turn whatever he touches into gold. The daughter, meanwhile, gets kidnapped (*sarcastic* surprise, surprise) and turns into a Swan Princess character where everyone believes her dead except her knight in shining armor.

Since Dickerson’s retellings are mainly historical, I completely understand why she doesn’t have the magical lamp and genie. However, I think she really didn’t try to incorporate any of the original tale’s elements in her story — except the very obvious theft of Abu from Disney’s 1992 film retelling. There’s no lamp, no single object that anyone fights over, no struggle for political power, no main antagonist to stand against Aladdin as the sorcerer did, etc. Other than the names, there’s very little in Dickerson’s story for me to label it a true retelling of Aladdin.

On the contrary, Ella Enchanted has long been upheld as a wonderful Cinderella retelling. Why? Because Gail Carson Levine kept many of the wonderful elements that we all love about Cinderella — more than just the main character’s name. Her father falls on hard times and, after the death of his beloved wife, marries again. Ella gets two horrid stepsisters. However, she has a fairy godmother who steps in to help when everything seems bleak. Ella goes to the ball, falls in love with the prince, loses her shoe, and then lives happily ever after.

Ella Enchanted mixes some of those elements up, as in when they happen in the story, or how they happen. And Levine adds a delicious twist — Ella has the curse of obedience. This presents a powerful ending to the tale when she must choose whether or not to marry her beloved prince and subject the both of them to someone else’s controlling the throne through her.

That, my friends, is what a good fairytale retelling does. It retells the story. The description is literally in the name. It doesn’t bleed everything we love about the original tale out of the story, but finds a new way to present things, to retell things.

And while I’m on the topic, I have a soap box I need to stand on. The Disney film adaptations, however classic, are also retellings. They’re adapted from the original tale. They’re not the original tale itself. So, please, please, please do NOT take Disney as the standard. Disney does a good job with including many of the original fairytale elements while still including a twist on the story. For example, Rapunzel has a REASON for having her long hair (it has magical healing powers that vanish when it’s cut). The Little Mermaid actually gets a happy ending after a showdown with the sea witch.

Disney is not the original. Disney is a reteller. I’m not against Disney elements in a fairytale retelling (anyone who’s read The Rose and the Balloon knows I’ve made my own nods to Disney), but Disney should not be the only thing from which you draw inspiration as you’re crafting a retelling. Don’t do what too many people do and just give us a watered-down version of Disney’s retelling. Because those stories are out there. I’ve read a good number of them and have been sorely disappointed.

Aladdin has a lamp. Cinderella goes to the ball. The Little Mermaid loses her voice in exchange for legs. Beauty is trapped in the Beast’s castle after trading places with her father. The Goose Girl is forced to switch identities with a servant. Snow White “dies” while eating an apple. Little Red Riding Hood wears a red cape and encounters a wolf. These elements alone do not create the fairytale. They are just the beginning of the fairytale, an element that introduces us to the rest of the story. If the original elements cease to be there, that story then ceases to be a retelling. 

A retelling RETELLS. If it doesn’t retell, then it’s just another story. If it steals everything from Disney, that’s plagiarism.

I realize there will be people who disagree with me on this. And I’m okay with that. But I will stand firm on my belief that a good fairytale retelling MUST adhere to the original tale in more than just the main character’s name. A good retelling takes the original elements and finds a new way to interpret and present them.

God bless!

Snow White Snippets

Let me tell you, honestly. My Little Writer is not happy with me. Not in the least. This summer has NOT gone the way it was supposed to. 

First off, I was supposed to be continuing edits on Secret of the Hazel Tree. And let me see… haven’t touched it all summer. 

I was also supposed to be finishing up the rough draft for Spindle Dreams. Uhh… well, I opened up the doc a few times in the last couple of months.

And, I was planning on finishing the first draft of the second Dragon Tamer book by Christmas. Hmmm… oh! I did work on that one a little bit at the beginning of the summer.

What was NOT on the agenda was a Snow White retelling. 

Well, yes. You see this happened…

And then this happened… 

And then it was all downhill from there.

And so, while my Little Writer is fuming at me, I’m going to take this opportunity to share a few snippets. I may do an informational post about the story sometime soon (maybe a character post as well), but for now – here’s snippets from Snow and Copper (title change very probable, since I don’t have anything about snow in the actual story).

Ahem, anyway.

~*~*~*~

Gwen Weiss was the only child at Lohr Manor to grow up never having worked in the copper mines. It wasn’t that she couldn’t work; she was just the daughter of the late Lord Weiss, and such a privilege tended to hinder the need to work. No one would allow her to step into the mines anyway, much to her chagrin. Having the heir to the largest estate in Ebbenhout killed in a cave-in or other mining disaster was not a risk anyone wanted to take. 


Gwen, however, liked to keep busy. By seventeen, she’d already read all of the interesting books in her father’s old library, learned how to bake seven different kinds of cake, knitted thirty-nine and a half scarves, and basically run out of new things to do at home. So that’s why she was currently chasing little Adva out of the road. 

~*~*~*~

Isaak and Katrin hurried away, leaving Gwen alone with a spoon, a boiling pot of potato stew, and two shouting children. Thankfully, Rochen and Adva were content to resume their chase around the maze of tables and chairs. The problems of grownups were hardly worth fussing over at their age, but Gwen couldn’t hold down the irritation rising in her heart. With one last glance to ascertain Rochen and Adva were fine, she stomped back to the kitchen and plunged the spoon into the heart of the stew. The mines technically were hers. It wasn’t fair that she was the only person on the entire manor not to have even seen them. 

She sloshed the spoon violently around in the pot, sending splashes of stew into the fire below with each turn. Turning eighteen would do a lot more for her than simply getting her inheritance. She was going to enjoy her new title and the new power it came with as much as she could. 


“One more month,” she muttered to herself. “And then they can’t deny me anymore.” 

~*~*~*~

Gwen woke the next morning to the unpleasing sound of rain beating against the window. Isaak had been right. She scowled. 

Of course, he’s always right. 

~*~*~*~

Gwen leaned back in her chair, wondering what to do next. That was the problem with being rich; there were often too many things to do and look at in one’s house that it became very boring very quickly. Guess it’s back to the library, then.

~*~*~*~

A soft laugh came from the closet. “Then it is Gwen. Do come in, and let me see you.”

Gwen reached for the closet door and slowly swung it open. She wasn’t sure exactly what to expect and, truthfully, what she saw was the last thing she had ever dreamed to expect.

The closet was empty save for a large mirror standing upright against the far wall. It was taller than Gwen and looked old – very old. Thick, gold trim encased the edges and delicate designs had been carved into the metal, making it even more beautiful. If it had been a normal mirror, Gwen should have been easily able to see her entire body in the glass; but this was not a normal mirror. Instead of her own reflection looking back at her, when she looked into the mirror she saw the face and form of a strange woman.

~*~*~*~

God bless!

GUESS WHAT??

I’m finally getting around to doing something I should have done months ago. 

I’M GOING TO BE PUBLISHED!

And before you start the confetti cannons, I am going to just say it: No, I am very sorry, but it’s not Secret of the Hazel Tree. Not just yet. I am making progress and moving closer to publication with that one, but there’s still too much to do to hope for that publication this summer.

However, I am very excited to announce the upcoming publication of my Beauty and the Beast short story. 

Promotional/working cover — not final cover.

The Rose and the Balloon

Further details will be coming soon, so be on the lookout!

God bless!

 

Rewriting Fairy Tales: Guest Post By Kendra

Hello there, Kendra E. Ardnek here. You may have heard of me from the Character Encounters that Kiri Liz takes part in every month. Perhaps you’ve heard of me from the Memorable Worlds posts that she did in honor of the release of my newest book, The Ankulen.

One thing you may or may not know about me is that I love fairy tales and fairy tale retellings. In fact, my first three published books are mostly retellings, and while The Ankulen is mostly Christian allegory, there is a fairy tale is mentioned in one chapter. At one time, I called myself the Arista of Fairy Tales, which basically meant that I knew everything there was to know about fairy tales, could control them, and bring them to life. Yeah … I indulged in strange fantasies as a child.

I love reading retellings, too. However, while there are many out there that I’ll recommend without hesitation (and probably talk your ear off while I give away the entire plot), there are others that I just can’t get into. Personally, I’d like for every retelling to fall into the first category. So that’s why I’ve come over to Kiri’s corner of the blogosphere, so I can tell all of her readers how to write the books I love so much.

How to Rewrite a Fairy Tale so that I Will Rave About It.

(Disclaimer: No, I don’t recommend following ALL of these suggestions. This might result in you writing my books, and I wouldn’t like that. Also, every example I give will be a real book, with the odd movie thrown in, but I don’t necessarily recommend every one, nor have I necessarily read every single one.)

Come up with an creative title.

As much as I enjoy the Disney versions, most of them annoy me on some level – except for Tangled. For the longest time, I thought it was the changes that annoyed me (I can be a very strict cannon purist), but when Tangled came out and I loved it, I realized that it wasn’t JUST the changes. You see, when they used the title of the original tale, that’s what my brain expected. Finding Belle (not Beauty) the only child of an inventor rather than the youngest daughter of a merchant annoyed me. Aurora’s two hour nap rather than hundred year sleep irked me. But Rapunzel being a princess and Flynn a thief? Well, I was a bit upset when I first found out, but once I saw the movie, I was fine with it. Why? Because the title wasn’t Rapunzel. My brain expected a retelling, not the actual fairy tale.

Really, it doesn’t matter to me what your title is (as long as it’s not THE original). If you want to do something obvious, like Beauty Sleep, that’s lovely. If you want to surprise me with a title that has nothing to do with the official tale, like Sew, It’s a Quest (my first book’s title), I’ll be ecstatic when I find out what I’m reading. Just have fun and let me know this is a retelling and not the real thing.

Forget Disney.

I like Disney princesses as much as the next dreamy-eyed girl, but I get very annoyed when I see people treating them like they official. I don’t mind a slight nod (like the mention of talking mice in Just Ella), but if your book is Disney on paper, I probably won’t finish it.

Retell a lesser known tale.

Most retellers choose either Cinderella or Beauty and the Beast. If they don’t do one of those, they pick one that Disney or some other well-known film company has popularized. And while I don’t mind reading some of these for the hundredth time if it’s well done, there’s only so many ways you can twist a tale. There are hundreds of fairy tales out there. Don’t limit yourself to twenty. If you don’t want to go too far out on a limb, pick one similar to a well-known tale. For Biddle’s Sake is a retelling of Puddocky, one of my favorite fairy tales. However, this tale shares traits with both Rapunzel and the Frog Prince, so while readers like me know it for what it is, lesser read people don’t sit around wondering where the story came from.

Mix and Match.

This is another way to sneak in obscure tales. Every reader of Sew, It’s a Quest knows that it’s a retelling of Sleeping Beauty, but what most don’t realize is that the Mountain Princess is not of my own invention either (actually, there are only two characters in the entire book that are purely original to me, but that’s a topic for another day). She comes from the fairy tale Casperl and the Princess, which is so obscure, the only place you’ll find it online (to my knowledge) is my blog. In fact, the more nods you can make to other fairy tales, the more I like it. A word of caution, though. Combining the two Snow Whites (Seven Dwarves and Rose Red) is something I’ve seen three too many times. So unless yours looks REALLY good, I’ll probably not even pick it up.

Don’t just stick with other fairy tales!

Add in legends (there’s a retelling of Jack and the Beanstalk that also has Robin Hood in it that I’d really like to read), myths (one of my favorite retellings of the Twelve Dancing Princesses is The Princess Curse, which mixes in the story of Hades and Persephone), Shakespeare (Cinderella and the Merchant of Venice, anyone? actually, no, that’s mine – no stealing), other classics (Kiri, I’m really looking forward to Twelfth Kingdom!) and even history (I’m just waiting for someone to rewrite Sleeping Beauty with Richard the Lionheart’s dad as the prince).

Have a REALLY good twist.

My favorite retelling ever is Ella Enchanted (though the movie can be skipped, in my opinion). Why, well, Ella has a really good voice, and she and the prince actually get to know each other before the fateful ball – but the clincher for me is the twist. Ella’s steps don’t make her a servant because she’s good and sweet and more beautiful than them and all that, but because she was “gifted” and/or “cursed” with obedience as a child. Any order she is given, no matter who gives it or what it is, she must obey.

Don’t hinge the plot on the Fairy Tale.

With the above example, it followed the plot of Cinderella almost to the letter (which is something cannon-purist me loves) but the conflict is different. Ella wasn’t an innocent girl with impossible dreams. (Come on, sing it with me, you know you want to – iiiiiimmmpooossssiblllle!!!) She was a fiercely determined young lady who wanted to get rid of her curse. Not that she was rebellious, but she wanted to be able to choose who she obeyed and not feel like a puppet. (Or endanger the prince if she married him.) The question wasn’t so much would she get to the ball and marry the prince – but would she ever be free from her curse.

Tell it from someone else’s point of view.

Everyone knows the hero’s and heroine’s stories, but what about the evil stepsister? No, I haven’t read Cofessions of an Evil Stepsister yet, but I’d like to. Or better yet, make a completely (or mostly) new character and tell it from her (or his) point of view. For instance, Do You Take This Quest? the sequel to my first book, is mostly from the perspective of the prince’s great-great-aunt, who had attended Sleeping Beauty’s fateful birthday party. In The Frog Who Would Be Prince, one of my favorite Frog Prince retellings, the main character is Tom, the boy who’s helping the frog find a princess to kiss him.

Don’t focus on the Romance.

Yeah, I know that most fairy tales are prince meets princess, they fall in love, they face a few trials, they get married. But I’m not a huge fan of the romance genre. I like to see character development, new exciting trials, relationships with new characters … not … kissing and how each makes the other’s heart go all a flutter.

Make me laugh.

This is, perhaps, the most important thing to remember. I can forgive the most glaring of faults, even suffer through a romance, but if a book doesn’t make me laugh (or at least crack a grin, I can be a very stoic reader), I probably won’t connect with it. I love all sorts of humor, as long as it’s clean and doesn’t victimize anyone.

I think I shall close here before this guest post becomes a book. Basically, if a book’s unique, well written, and not TOO serious or Grimm, I’ll probably like it.

Thank-you Kiri Liz, for having me over and letting me lecture your readers. Tell your twelve princesses that wonderful and that if they ever get impatient with waiting for you to write about them, they’re welcome to come have tea with me. My own Twelve are being stuck-up snobs right now, and arguing with their cousin about the legality of kidnapping Robin Hood’s son.

Kendra E. Ardnek is the author of many lovely stories, including a recently published novel, The Ankulen, which you can find HERE on Amazon. She posts all sorts of fun and writerly things over at Knitted By God’s Plan and her official website is located HERE.