Sprinkling Retellings With A Touch of Original

I love adaptations and retellings. There's something about the challenge of taking something classic and making it your own. My first attempt was The Beast's Redemption my Beauty and the Beast story. I'm currently toying with the idea of another retelling and was thinking about how to pay homage to the original. This got me to thinking about what elements I included from the original fairy tale and other adaptations in The Beast's Redemption. 

If you haven't read The Beast's Redemption beware the spoilers below. I wanted to talk about the elements I included from the original fairy tale as well as other adaptations.

Names
My heroine is named Belle - the original name of Beauty (and the Disney version). Her surname and the hero's name are also French. My little nod to the fairy tale's origin.

Rose
I wanted the rose as a symbol in the story. It makes three appearances. 1) As a single red rose Alexander gives to Belle. 2) The rose emblem on the amulet Alexander wears. 3) The rose journal which has the answer to breaking the curse.

Gold Dress
I had fun inserting the gold ball gown from Disney's Beauty and the Beast. It isn't the same style, but it is gold and sets up a scene for Alexander to offer his assistance to Belle and show his kindness.

Curse
The curse is the core of the fairy tale and I tried to keep it at the core of The Beast's Redemption.

Lion
In Disney's Beauty and The Beast, The Beast looks similar to a lion. This gave me the inspiration for Alexander to be a mountain lion shape shifter.  

Father
In the original story, the father trades his lovely daughter to the Beast to save himself (it's a little more complicated than that as she does volunteer to go). I wanted to keep this idea of the father sending his daughter to the Beast which is why Mercer asks Belle to keep Alexander occupied after Alexander calls in a loan Mercer can not repay.

So now I get to think about my new retelling and how I'll include small and large elements from the original and other adaptations into my own story.

Speaking of adaptations, I can't wait for the latest big screen fairy tale adaptation:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

No Strings Attached Giveaway Hop - April 17 - April 22

Image
I'm giving away an e-copy of HORSE CHARMER or SPECTORS to one lucky winner. The winner will receive an Amazon or Smashwords e-certificate for the book of their choice (SPECTORS is only available through Amazon). You can enter the giveaway until April 22. Simply leave a blog comment below with a way to contact you and what book you would like.  The winner will be announced on April 24. HORSE CHARMER - A young adult fantasy about a sheltered princess who discovers her special gift with horses while on a quest to find her father's murderer.  SPECTORS - A space opera about a space pirate who's blackmailed by the military into running a dangerous mission.    <br> You can find lots of other great prizes and giveaways here:
Read more

Books to Movies Giveaway Hop

Image
One of my favorite subjects are books to movies. I LOVE watching adaptations and studying the skill of turning a book into a movie. Adaptations are getting a lot of attention now with the success of the Twilight and The Hunger Games series. I could go on and on about the skill it takes to adapt a movie from a book, but I won't bore you. Instead I'll just give you a couple of my favorites: Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen ~ Pride and Prejudice (A&E version) Emma by Jane Austen ~ Clueless The Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum ~ Tin Man Cinderella ~ Ever After How to Train Your Dragon by Cressida Cowell ~ How to Train Your Dragon For the hop I decided to giveaway a copy of another one of my favorite adaptations. This is the first movie I consciously remember knowing it was based on a book and actually went out and read the book. The specifics of the plot are different, but the characters and overall arc are the same. Besides Hayley Mills is charming in the role
Read more

Horse Charmer on Sale For Only $.99

Grab Horse Charmer while it is on sale on Amazon Kindle for only $.99 this week. A young adult fantasy about a sheltered princess who discovers her remarkable gifts with horses on a dangerous quest to find her father’s murderer. A gifted princess. A special horse. A quest for the truth. At sixteen years old, Cassia would rather spend her days in the royal stables than in the royal court. But as the eldest child of King Robet and Queen Sarahann she obediently performs her duties as the Princess of Karah. Her safe world changes forever when her father is murdered in the neighboring kingdom of Vespera. Cassia grapples with his loss as her mother prepares her for her new role as queen. Her first task - she must travel to Vespera to marry a prince she barely knows to fulfill the treaty her father signed just before his death. Nothing is as simple as it seems with political intrigues and unusual powers shadowing Cassia on her search to find out who killed her father and why.
Read more