Fools For Love Blog Hop - On Fairy Tales
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Welcome to JustRomance.Me's Fools For Love hop. If you came upon this post by accident but would like to join in the fun, just click the banner to the left and you can start at the beginning (or here). There are lots of ebooks up for grabs, and the Grand Prize is a Kindle Paperwhite. The live drawing and chat will be on Sunday, April 6th at 7PM Eastern.
You can probably tell by now that I have an affinity for fairy tales. Back when I was little, I cajoled my Dad into telling me several hundred variations of Sleeping Beauty. By the time I was six, he got desperate enough to make my heroine a kung-fu master miniature white rabbit (who still somehow manages to get saved by a Prince).
As a writer and fairy tale aficionado (who has repeatedly failed to convince her husband a trip to Disney World is warranted), I can't help but wonder what elements of these classic stories gives them relevancy throughout the ages. With Frozen on target to become the highest grossing animated feature film of all time, and Tangled managing to secure a permanent spot on many a DVD shelf, it's obvious there's something in these tales that resonate to people of all ages.
One of my theories is the association between love and risk. Fairy tale characters often make irrational and dangerous decisions for the sake of someone they care about. Whether it's Prince Phillip hacking his way through thorns and bramble to get to Briar Rose, or Gerda facing down the Snow Queen to save Kai, we seem have a soft spot for all these Fools for Love.
I've published two fairy tale-based romances thus far, and the third is navigating its way through content edits. My debut novella Tower in the Woods is a post-apocalyptic retelling of Rapunzel. My sniper heroine takes a huge risk by saving a mysterious stranger from zombies, and she later faces an even more significant choice after she falls in love with him.
The book has been nominated for the RONE Awards at In D’Tale Magazine (novella category), and you can check out their review of the book here. If you feel up to signing in and/or creating an account to vote (by April 6th at this link), I'd really appreciate it. No pressure. Just getting nominated fulfilled my positive encouragement needs for this year.
Catching Red is the second book in my Undead Fairy Tales series (they do not need to be read in order), and it's also set in post-apocalyptic D.C. Familial love and loyalty prompts Scarlet "Red" Ryding to dive headfirst into a hospital full of zombies, where she encounters covert Federal Agent Marcus Woodsman. An almost fatal infection and snowstorm forces them together, giving love the perfect opportunity to complicate their lives. After that, they both make tough decisions for the sake of saving each other.
Giveaway
As a reward to those who've managed to read this far down the post, I'm giving away a $5 Amazon Electronic Gift Card (this is separate from the prizes at JustRomance.Me). Since not everyone is comfortable commenting on blogs, I'm giving you several options (any of which will earn you 1 entry):
(a) leave a comment here stating your favorite fable/fairy tale;
(b) leave a comment on my Facebook page (right click, then choose Open Link in New Tab) stating your favorite fable/fairy tale; or
(c) send a Tweet mentioning me and this post (i.e. Check out @LaylaTarar's Fools for Love Post! - http://www.taraquan.com/blog/jrmfools);
If you picked option (a), please leave me a way to contact you in the comment. For the other options, I'll reach out to you through that social media. (Note to Facebook users: my message might land in your "other" box, so check back at this post on April 7th. The winner will be announced as a comment.)
Thanks for joining us on JustRomance.Me's Fool's For Love. Happy Hopping!
