Greetings, my friends!
I hope you are all ready for some snippets, because that is pretty much all I have for you today.
Last year I had this idea for a fairy tale retelling of Rapunzel, in which Rapunzel and the prince are both very young children and don’t actually fall in love…sounds exciting, right? Anyway, I actually WROTE it, which is impressive, and even though it’s still a first draft, it’s just a fun little story (with some angst, because apparently I can’t get away from THAT) and maybe I should just get to the snippets now because I’m running out of things to say and this is turning into a run-on sentence.
Actually, first I should introduce a few of the characters so that maybe the snippets make a little bit of sense.
Zerula– the Rapunzel character. She is about seven and has a facial deformity which freaks a lot of people out for some reason. But she’s 100% sweeter than the Phantom.
Prince Trellic- Prince Charming character. He is about twelve and heir to the throne of the kingdom of Trellis. He rides on ostrich instead of a horse. Not sure why. (I actually introduced you to him in this post.)
Beansby- Prince Trellic’s manservant. He’s…well, he’s Beansby. Not sure what else to say.
All right, let’s just go on to the snippets now.
Snippet #1
Snippet #2
Snippet #3
Snippet #4
Snippet #5
Snippet #6
Snippet #7
Snippet #8
Snippet #9
Snippet #10
Epilogue
Well, there you have it. Snippets!
What have you been writing recently? Have you ever attempted a fairy tale retelling? Which of these snippets do you like the best? Let me know in the comments!
The Story Sponge 
oh my.
this…this is wonderful.
i love this.
the story. the concept!!!
the ChArAcTeRs. *heart eyes*
i know beansby isn’t even the main character but i love him already. like, seriously, his name is beansby. 😭❤️
i LOVE all the snippets. (and you made me laugh out loud which is something that doesn’t happen often to me when reading snippets, so brownie points to you 😂). i don’t have a favorite but #4 is hilarious, and 5# 😥 and #9 is just perfection. 😄
in fact, it’s all perfection.
your writing style is a breath of fresh air in a world of packing-peanut-fiction. plz write a book soon. ❤️❤️❤️
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Thank you muchly, Eden!!! I am so glad that you like the snippets! Beansby is pretty great. Especially his name. 😉 He actually ended up being a much bigger character than I was anticipating when i started.
Wow, I’m so pleased that I made you laugh out loud! That is indeed a compliment. 🙂
Thank you again! Your comment is so encouraging.
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My first WIP is still in the middle of its 5th draft. Tale of the Cattail Forest is the story I am most committed to. Home to 13 character- seven Fairy Frogs and six Toads. Sparkle, Misty, Aries, Darcy, Felipe, Celeste, Tweetsie, Sarge, Marge, Norg, Claude, Effa and Rudy create Cattail Forest’s characters.
Tale of the Cattail Forest is my only Fairy Tale. It all got inspired by a Charlotte Greenway. The Fairy Frogs have a much bigger culture than the Toads. Aries leads the Fairy Frog while Sarge (my antagonist) leads the Toads. It is ultimately a story of friendship- Sparkle and Misty; and Darcy and Felipe are best friends. The other friendships are created as the plot unfolds.
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Wow, I have never gotten as far as a fifth draft before. That’s awesome! Best of luck with your story!
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I really have stayed committed to Tale of the Cattail Forest- that is why I was able to get to my 5th draft
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Yeah, that definitely takes commitment!
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On its 5th draft- getting close to the final draft. What is probably really difficult about any author is knowing which draft is the final.
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That’s true! So exciting though!
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I think during my 6th draft (when the time comes)- I will try to figure out where I want illustrations to go. I want Cattail Forest to have illustrations in it. Kinda of what Wind in the Willows does
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Oh my gosh I love all your snippets 😂 Your writing is so creative!
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Aw, thanks, I am glad you enjoyed them. 🙂
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Oh my goodness oh my goodness I LOVE your writing. And the idea of this Rapunzel retelling makes me exceedingly happy, especially as it frees me from the obligation of writing one myself. This is the perfect Rapunzel retelling. I am sure even without reading it. (But I hope I shall someday get to read it. I want to kind of a lot.)
“100% sweeter than the Phantom” – haha. Thank goodness. Rapunzel ought to be sweet. Beansby sounds like a gem. And Prince Trellic riding an ostrich reminds me of The Swiss Family Robinsons and is, thus, perfection not to be improved upon.
Seriously, the only thing that makes me grin as much as reading the snippets did is being slap-happy late at night with sisters and ice cream. #1 is SO FUNNY. And #7 made me actually laugh out loud, much to the cat’s surprise.
(Have you written many retellings? I tried to write a Twelve Dancing Princesses one once, but I gave up. I have another story I desperately want to write that is sort of a Pied Piper retelling but…more like it’s based on the actual history from which the Pied Piper legend MIGHT have come? So I’m not sure if it counts. I really like retellings, especially clever ones, but I haven’t actually written any myself!)
Anyway, congratulations on finishing this story! It looks truly lovely.
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Thank you so much! Your comment is so encouraging. I am glad you already know that Beansby is a gem, because he certainly is. And it makes me so happy that the ostrich thing makes me think of Swiss Family Robinson, because that’s what it makes me think of too! I might have even stolen it from that? But I don’t remember honestly.
Wow, I have made at least two people laugh out loud, and I am kind of in awe about that.
I started a Twelve Dancing Princesses retelling once too! I want to go back to it someday, but I’m not sure if I will. I also tried to do a Jack and the Beanstalk one but never got far… I think that’s it. I want to do more though. I love the idea of fairy tale retellings, and I have read some good ones, but I have a hard time coming up with them myself. I hope that you get to your Pied Piper idea!
Thank you, thank you! 🙂
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Oh this is adorable, adorable, so incredibly adorable. And sweet and sad (at points) and hilarious (at other points) and just absolutely downright delightful. All your character names. *heart eyes* And all your CHARACTERS. Dear Story Sponge, you will let us know when it’s available from bookstores, right?
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Thank you! I am so glad that you enjoyed the snippets, and that you found them sweet/sad and hilarious. I am feeling inspired to start editing it now, seeing as how eager people are to read it. 😉
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“It turned out it was not a sheep-hair-covered book, but a sheep-hair-covered sheep.” XD XD XD
Loved reading this! I’m a new follower of your blog, and I’ve loved reading through your posts. 😀
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That quote was truly inspired. 😉
Thank you! I really appreciate your support!
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STORY SPONGE I LOVE YOUR SNIPPETS. If I opened a book and started reading this writing, I know I would immediately think to myself: I’m about to love this book.
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Thank you so much, Annie!!! That is such a high compliment. I am so thrilled that you like my snippets that much!
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THAT WAS HILARIOUS AND AWESOME AND CREATIVE. *dissolves into satisfied sighs and giggles* Aah, all of them were so. good. but for some reason Number 9 made me laugh for a disturbing amount of time. 😂 You got my respect after the ostrich mention. Honestly horses are so overrated and ostriches make much nobler steeds. Number 6…lovely, my friend, lovely. Your writing style is so fresh and witty, with the dash of fairy tale whimsical-ness. I want to read the whole thing and I will not be happy until I do, so please, for the sake of my happiness, do not let me go through life without reading this retelling in all of its glory.
I have started a Princess and the Pea retelling, simply because it is short, under-retold, and ridiculous, which obviously gives me ample opportunity to make it longer and even more ridiculous (while also adding in a healthy amount of good old angst, of course.) Unsurprisingly, I have not yet finished it, but I hope to one day. 😉
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THANK YOU! I am so happy that you like them. 🙂 Your praise is very encouraging, and I am definitely feeling the need to start editing this story now since everyone is saying they want to read it.
Ooh, that’s awesome! A Princess and the Pea retelling could be super fun. 🙂 (And of course we can’t avoid adding in just a bit of angst.) I hope that someday you share some snippets of that with us!
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Wow! This looks super interesting! I love the non-romantic plot. Also, having the characters be children is super cool.
I love the 9th snippet, with the “undercooked pie” 😂
The book sounds super good and funny. I hope to read the whole book one day!
Fairytale retellings are my favorite! I’ve have attempted many. My most written is a mashup of Little Red Ridinghood and Beauty and the Beast.
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Thank you! I am pleased that you like it!
I like that one too. 🙂
Ooh, a Little Red Ridinghood/Beauty and the Beast retelling could be super cool! I love the idea of combining the fairy tales.
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