VALENTINE'S DAY IN JULY?

Okay, it’s not really Valentine’s Day, but I do have an extremely belated Valentine’s Day entry to post here for anyone who is a romantic all year round instead of just on February 14th.

You all have noticed that I have two of my books displayed on the homepage of this site. One is a humor book for adults. (I’ll talk about that book another time.) The other is a fairy tale that just so happens to take place during Valentine’s Day. I figured I’d reveal a little about the book for those of you who are curious about The Queen of Broken Hearts.

What is the title of your book, and what is it about?

It’s called The Queen of Broken Hearts, and it is a Valentine’s Day story about a lonely maiden named Corona who must overcome a tragic fate after her heart is struck by Cupid’s arrow.

The idea for the story

At age twelve, I decided I wanted to write a fairy tale after I discovered that my favorite Disney film The Little Mermaid was based on an old story of the same name by Hans Christian Andersen. I wanted to create something original that would be published and then turned into a Walt Disney animated film. I wanted a story that started with once upon a time and ended with and they lived happily ever after because that’s how fairy tales were written when I was a kid.

What makes The Queen of Broken Hearts special?

It’s not a re-imagined story based on an old classic. It is a new fairy tale depicting hope, magic and wonder in a fantasyland where dreams can come true that I hope will appeal to those who are looking for something original to enjoy.

What will your readers be surprised to discover in your book?

There are a few things that I guess will intrigue or surprise people. First, it takes place during a known holiday. I don’t think most fairy tales are connected to specific holidays. I chose Valentine’s Day because I wanted to use Cupid in the story because I thought it was interesting how storybook characters fall in love so easily. I wanted my characters to have more of a reasonable excuse as to why they fall in love fast, and figured being shot by Cupid’s arrow was a pretty good excuse.

The cast of characters do not consist of one race. Some are black, and some are Caucasian. One is a squirrel, and one is a talking flower. It’s great to not have limitations in a storybook.

Also, I realized that even though I was inspired by the old-fashion style of fairy tale writing, there aren’t really any stereotypical damsels in distress in my story. In fact, the females in the tale seem to be the heroines of the day who don’t focus on getting a prince and his castle at the end to have a happy ending. In my book, love is the main prize longing to be gained and preserved during the most romantic holiday of all.

And finally, the story ends up with the protagonist becoming a kind queen instead of a princess. That part was really interesting because for years, the main character Corona didn’t have a royal title. I always called the story The Queen of Broken Hearts in reference to the fact that she seemed to be the most lonely, sad person in the fantasy land I made up. (In other words, since she was the most sorrowful, she was like the queen of sorrow. Then she loses her lost love when her heart is pierced by Cupid’s arrow which explained her broken heart.)

It was only during the final revision that I thought that kids would embrace my title better if it had more of a straightforward meaning. So Corona actually becomes a queen of broken hearts at the story’s conclusion.

What is so appealing about the fairy tale genre?

People of all ages will always be charmed by the romanticism of this genre. Who doesn’t want to get lost occasionally in imaginary worlds where an ugly duckling is really a beautiful swan and dreams can come true if you wish upon a star? Who doesn’t want to believe in true love so powerful that it can awaken Sleeping Beauty and Snow White out of their coma-like slumbers or turn a frog and a beast back into princes?

They can change Rapunzel’s title to Tangled, but people still want to have the kind girl with the long hair freed from her tower prison. You can make the evil queen funny, scary, crazy or vulnerable, but people still want Snow White to hang out with dwarfs and be saved from the cruelty of a horrid stepmother. Why? Because basically fairy tales reflect some of the most basic human strengths and weaknesses of mankind. In the end, people still want good to defeat evil and love to conquer over all.