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:

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