Where did the idea come from?
Reading books are all about escaping, aren't they? That's part of why I love a great story, so I can go some place where no one can find me. My thoughts are free to roam wherever they see fit.
As for The Second Side itself... it started kinda on accident. I'm not sure what dragged my mind out to the far reaches of possabilities that day, but something clearly did.
Beauty and the Beast is my absolute favorite fairy tale. Nothing comes even close, though I do certainly love other tales.
I was only 16 years old when I began to think about the story and realized that Beauty was the person the story followed. Not Beast. Not the others in the Castle.
So it begged the question, what other stories lied in that world that I hadn't heard yet?
Initially the story was narrated by Beuty and Beast's daughter but she didn't make the final cut.
As I started to explore more, I stumbled across the cast of characters that live in the story of Reversal of Beauty.
When I first put the pen to paper, I had no idea what I was doing. I'd tell you it looked like if a novel and a play had a child, that's what you would have read.
It took me over 10 years to get that story in working order and into the novel that now lives on the shelf.
Everything should have stopped there, I was, after all, done with my version of Beauty and the Beast... but then Cinderella came alone, then Jack and the Beanstalk.
A lot of the fairy tales followed where Beauty and the Beast lead them.
As for The Matta Goose Stories, there is a little tale about how she found me. Matta was so sassy and straight forward that she commanded my attention when she entered into my mind.
Another few years passed and I had moved from Los Angeles to Indiana to be near my family. One afternoon, I got to thinking about The Second Side having fairy tales and nursery rhymes. All I could think was, "Where are the Folklore & Fables?"
Yes, yes - I am quite aware that means a whole new set of stories wll need to be told. Learning how to balance all 3 series is quite a challenge, especially knowing I'm dealing with my own personal health on top of it all.
But these stories are just too much fun for me to ignore. And the idea that they are not as simmple as a childish tale we heard as kids, well that just makes them all the more worth telling if you ask me.
Though I do ask for patience. As the world sets itself up, it will only grow bigger and bigger. You will start to find corners of it that I don't even know about. Which makes it all the more exciting!
The World of Matta Rhymes
The Rules of the Game
I knew after I started writing Reversal of Beauty that some rules needed to be established. Otherwise things can get crazy quick!
So, here's what I have as my baseline - When is comes to the story itself, all the elements have to be there. (ie Beauty needs to live in Beast's Castle, Cinderella has to have lost her shoe, Beans need to build the beanstalk.)
You get the idea. However, the major difference is how we we connect those major plot points is quite different. What makes it even more fun is the fact that it makes sense.
What if Cinderella had OCD and she chose to clean the entire house? Gossip of the odd behavior was going to happen one way or another. Blaming the Stepmother just makes sense from the town's perspective. Though, it doesn't work out that well for the Countess.
Let me assure you, once logic starts getting involved with these fairy tales, everything starts making plenty of sense. Hence why I tend to say loud and proud - "The only way I can make snse of this world is to look at it sideways!"