Tales from the Past Part Four: Snow White

by Sharon Bryant

Snow White:The Grimm Brothers Version

The tale of Snow White is one of the darkest of the well-known Grimm brothers’ fairy tales. In their full version, it is Snow White’s mother, not her stepmother, who orders a huntsman to take her into the forest and kill her. The huntsman is unable to do so, and she escapes and finds refuge at the home of the Seven Dwarfs. The queen discovers Snow White is alive, using her magic mirror, then makes three attempts to murder her daughter using tight lacing, a poisoned comb, and finally a poisoned apple.

Snow White is put into a glass coffin by the dwarfs, and a handsome prince finds and kisses her, bringing her back to life. The Queen comes to Snow White’s wedding to check that her daughter is indeed alive. Snow White and the Prince force her to put on iron shoes, heated in the fire, and the Queen dances to her death.

 pixabay.com

A Tale Rarely Used in Romance Novels

Given the gruesome nature of this tale, it is not surprising that far more pleasant versions of the Snow White story are better known and utilised in films and children’s storybooks. For similar reasons, perhaps, the Snow White tale is infrequently used in romance novels.

In The Magic Mirror and the Seventh Dwarf by Tia Nevitt, Gretchen, a dwarf, leaves her village and joins a household of dwarfs and midgets in the hope of finding love. There she meets a princess who takes refuge in the house when necessary because the queen of the kingdom is trying to kill her. Prince Richard is enslaved by a magic mirror controlled by the queen. He must truthfully answer three questions asked by the queen twice daily. Given the nature of this curse, he tries to avoid people, but meets the princess and immediately falls in love. Gretchen and Richard must discover how to destroy the magic mirror before the queen murders them all.

Snow: A Retelling of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs by Tracy Lynn tells the story of Jessica who flees to London to escape the murderous rage of her jealous stepmother. She uses the name Snow, and joins and falls in love with a group of outcasts. Her stepmother discovers her whereabouts using the magic mirror and tries to convince Snow that she has changed and will now protect her. This book is not a romance but is well worth reading.

The Fairest Beauty by Melanie Dickerson is a beautifully written Snow White story. In this tale, the heroine, Sophie, is betrothed to a duke, but falls in love with his brother who rescues her from her stepmother's castle. They find refuge in the House of the Seven where a group of outcasts including a dwarf and a mentally incapacitated young man look after them and try to protect them from the stepmother who is determined to kill Sophie.


What is your favourite Snow White story? Did you see the film “Snow White and the Huntsman”? If so, what did you think of it?


I love to love:

My husband and I spent a couple of days travelling in the Mudgee area during the recent school holidays. It’s so much fun spending time together.


I love to laugh:

I’m rereading “The Happiest Refugee” by Anh Do at the moment. The humour and heartache of this story make it a must read.



I love to learn:

I heard Kate Forsyth speak at Sutherland Library during July. Her enthusiasm for history is infectious. She left me wanting to know more – a bit like the way I get so involved in reading her novels.

What is Love? Part 3 - Secrets and the Bad Boy

By Cassandra Samuels

So, here we are again. In this post I thought I'd talk about the more forbidden type of love. I'm not sure if you've heard the term 'the Romeo and Juliet Effect'. This is basically when a new relationship is formed but everyone thinks it's a bad idea, which in turn makes your attraction to that person heighten. In other words you want to be with the forbidden lover even more.

1936 film Romeo and Juliet starring Leslie Howard as Romeo and Norma Shearer as Juliet

 
Why is this so?

Well, part of the reason is freedom. We want to love who we want to love, right? We don't like to be told what to do. It inhibits our freedom. Therefore we will do everything in our power to keep our freedom of choice.

In romance this may be called the Bad Boy trope and it's a popular one. We all like a bad boy and we all want to tame him. Everyone knows they shouldn't be together; he's from the wrong side of the tracks, his past is often murky and he has a chip on his shoulder the size of Russia. He has scars, both physical and metaphorical.

courtesy of Psychology Meow

What do we love more? When the bad boy turns good (not too good) and becomes a man worthy of our heroine (perhaps he was worthy all along)? But to keep the bad boy she may at first try to keep him a secret.

What is more seductive than being told you shouldn't? Doing it anyway and keeping it to yourself, of course. If our heroine is having a relationship with someone she knows others will find inappropriate, she may decide to keep it hidden. It's a little bit naughty and exciting to boot.

picture courtesy of Kristina Flour and sourced from Unsplash.com

So why is a secret affair so enticing? When you are having a secret relationship it is on your mind more than usual. You are thinking about it all the time and how to keep it a secret. It feels more important - all those details you have to hide and all those lies you need to have in check. For to keep the relationship to yourself is to protect it. It's exhausting, and probably why secret relationships don't last long, especially if neither is willing to commit.

Do you like Bad Boy books? 

Let me know which one is your favourite. 

Mine is Lord of Scoundrels by Loretta Chase.

buy a copy here

Love to Love -  looking forward to some grandbabies being born this year.

Love to Laugh - at inside jokes.

Love to Learn - by going to the RWAust conference in August.

How to Write a Review

with Marilyn Forsyth

Image courtesy of Giphy

All writers know the critical importance of reader reviews to the discoverability and potential purchase of our books. The more reviews we get, the better for us 😉.

(Although, having said that, I’m reminded of an author friend of mine who had a review written about her mystery thriller in which the reviewer named the killer! It took her weeks to have the review pulled. What a disaster!)

Anyway, back to the blog…

Image courtesy of Pixabay

Why is it that asking for reviews can be like asking for an arm or a leg? Could it be because readers are simply unsure of how to go about actually writing a review?

If that's the case, here are some suggestions that might help (don't feel you have to use them all!):

1) Before you start writing, imagine that you are describing the book to a friend who has asked your opinion on it. Your friend will want to know not just what the book is about, but why you liked/didn’t like it and, importantly, why.

2) Mention the author in the first few sentences, then give a taste of the plot in general terms (no spoilers, plot twists or endings, please 😉). If it’s part of a series, you can mention it.

3) Say what you liked about the book. Here are some questions to
get you started:

Image courtesy of Pixabay

• Was the story believable?
• Did you enjoy the author’s style?
• Did you find the main characters credible/likable/relatable?
• Did the author make the setting come to life?
• Did the book keep you turning the pages?
• Did you laugh, cry, want to keep reading past the end?

Image courtesy of pexels.com

4) Anything that didn’t work for you about the book?

• Characters TSTL (too stupid to live)? 
• Frustrating ending? (Don’t give it away.)
• Trope didn’t do it for you? (Be fair. If you don’t like the trope, why read the book?)
• Story could have done with better editing?

5) Summarise your personal response to the book.

• Would you recommend it?
• Who should read it? (Fans of comedy, YA, historical romance, etc)
• Any authors or series it could be compared to?

Image courtesy of Pixabay

6) Rate the book. (Even if you just give a book a rating, it helps.)

Readers always want to know what other readers think of books. A good review focuses not so much on the plot of the book but on the reviewer’s thoughts and feelings about the story and the author’s ability to tell it. By providing an honest review you can not only unite readers with books they can love, but also help authors to get their books noticed.

Go on! Do it! Write that review!

Image courtesy of Giphy

*Follow the link to find Cassandra Samuels’ excellent post on how to physically get your book review up on a site: http://breathlessinthebush.blogspot.com.au/search/label/Book%20Reviews


As a reader, what encourages you to leave a review? As an author, have you struggled to get reviews? Any suggestions?

Love to Love getting a new kitchen. This is my thirty-year-old one; I'm going with black and white for the new one. I'll post a pic when it's done.

Love to Laugh at reruns of The Vicar of Dibley. Gotta love Dawn French.

Love to Learn by doing workshops. I recently attended a one-day self-publishing workshop, organized by our writing group, with the fabulous Cathleen Ross. I learned so much! Who knew it was so easy??