Prince Charming, Etc.

Well, it's Friday. I've absolutely no idea how that happened, but somehow I have managed to finish the second draft of The Pollyanna Plan and complete the outline for my Christmas novella, which I'll start writing next week. Bring on the mistletoe!

Today, I'm pleased to welcome Laurey Buckland to the blog, talking about her new novel, A Girl's Guide to Fairy Tales. Great title, eh?

Over to Laurey!

Fairy tales seem to have saturated our media in the last few months in terms of films and television series , but that is not the reason I chose to base my first book on them. In fact, at the time I started writing, I thought I was on to something original. However, the fact the tales themselves have been around for centuries means that nothing that draws inspiration from them is truly original. So why bother?

Well…they were an appropriate theme for my story as fairy tales reflect universal themes of social class, love, money, appearance, the good, the bad, the ugly and everything in between – otherwise known as real life. Reality is where I set my story. No magic, no Fairy Godmothers to put things right or handsome princes to rescue damsels in distress. Just blood sweat and tears in a bid to discover that elusive happily ever after, which I believe every person on this planet seeks, whether they realise it or not.

One of the hardest parts though is realising when we have attained that happily-ever-after. What really defines it? What really makes us happy? That is what I wanted to explore and show how different those endings are for different people.

Despite only being 26-years-old, I have still had a decade of listening to countless stories from my girlfriends regarding love, life, work, sex, bad dates and good relationships, as well as having a few of my own stories to share.

I wanted my characters to become ‘every women,’ with facets and traits readers could relate to. Therefore for daydreamer Maddie, obsessive compulsive Clare, over dramatic Isobel and happy-go-lucky Sophie, life is more a world of tragic than magic. For Maddie it’s a constant battle against the monotony of a job she hates while her heart aches to be somewhere else, for Clare it’s a perpetual struggle to vanquish her teenage insecurities and to see herself for the woman she really is, for Isobel it’s a refusal to reveal her true self for fear it’s not what everyone imagined her to be and for Sophie it’s a willingness to believe in a rumour that threatens to poison her perfect relationship.

But with the love and support of their friends and a little bit of luck, the girls soon realise that happy ever afters are not just reserved for fairy tale fiction – as long as they start believing in them.

If you decide to read A Girl’s Guide to Fairy Tales, I hope you enjoy and perhaps find fragments of yourself in the characters I have come to love over the last year.

Thank you, Laurey. 

Ladies, what was your favourite fairy tale growing up? And men, did you fancy yourself to be a prince, ready to sweep your princess off her feet?

Have a great weekend!