Friday, July 31, 2015

Launch Week - Five Enchanted Roses


And today marks the final day of our week-long celebration of Five Enchanted Roses and the five amazing authors whose work made this collection possible. Hayden Wand, the talented young mind behind, "The Wulver's Rose," brings you a vlog version of her answers to the interview questions. I hope you will enjoy this glimpse into her mind and heart!

But first, here's a little more about her story:


INTRODUCING
HAYDEN WAND


________________________________________

  
HAYDEN WAND is a Christian and a homeschool graduate who has loved the classic story of Beauty and the Beast since the age of three, when she saw the Disney movie for the first time. When she’s not writing, reading, or bribing her siblings to read the classics, you can find her baking, crafting, practicing her archery skills, or watching her favorite shows on the BBC. She lives in South Carolina with her parents and four energetic younger siblings.

 GIVEAWAY!

In honor of this exciting release, the authors of Five Enchanted Roses have teamed up with Rooglewood Press to offer an exciting Giveaway Bundle for one lucky winner! Included in the bundle will be:

1 print copy of Five Enchanted Roses 
1 "Book of Omens" red leather journal from Kaycee Browning
1 Lilla Rose cameo hair clip from Savannah Jezowski
1 pressed rose bookmark from Jenelle Schmidt
1 pair of jaguar sunglasses from Dorian Tsukioka
1 gorgeous rose and pearl necklace

If you would like to enter your name for a chance to win this awesome bundle, here's what you do:

 Share any of the following images (or any of the images from the previous posts in our Launch Week Celebration) on your social media sites -- Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, blogs, etc.

For every image that you share, copy a link and compile all your links into a list. Send your link list in an email to David Cross (david.cross@rooglewoodpress.com) using the subject header: "Five Enchanted Roses Giveaway." Be sure to send him your links NO LATER THAN MONDAY, AUGUST 3. The winner will be selected later that week.

You may also gain one free entry by leaving a comment for Hayden down below, congratulating her on her new story or asking her a question about "The Wulver's Rose."

 Have fun spreading the news about this awesome new collection from Rooglewood Press!




 



___________________________

Are you an aspiring author? Would you like to see your work featured in the next fairy tale collection from Rooglewood Press? Then don't miss your chance to enter the contest for Five Magic Spindles, currently in progress!


We look forward to reading YOUR stories . . .

Thursday, July 30, 2015

Launch Week - Five Enchanted Roses

 

And here we are, day four of our Launch Week celebration! Today I have the pleasure of hosting the author of "Rosara and the Jungle King," amazing talent, Dorian Tsukioka. Dorian has already published two other fairy tale retellings (including another version of "Beauty and the Beast," believe it or not!), proving her boundless imagination several times over! And her story in this collection is quite possibly her most beautiful, vivid, exciting adventure yet . . .

 

INTRODUCING
DORIAN TSUKIOKA

 How did you find out about the Five Enchanted Roses contest?
 
Dorian Tsukioka: A friend of mine (who also introduced me to Anne Elisabeth’s books) told me that Anne Elisabeth was hosting a writing contest for a retelling of Cinderella in 2013. I loved writing, but rarely finished anything. I decided to give it a try, and by golly, I finished my retelling of Cinderella and submitted it to the contest. 
 
Alas, I did not win that contest.

However, undaunted, I eagerly anticipated the next year’s contest, and in the summer of 2014, my friend informed me again of another fairy tale retelling contest, this time for Beauty and the Beast. I was so eager to try my hand that I wrote two stories!





Did your story idea spring immediately to mind or did you have to work to find it?

Dorian Tsukioka: I always have a seed of an idea in my head. But, the idea is never a complete story. For example, in "Rosara and the Jungle King," my initial idea was what if the girl was actually the beast? That kernel of an idea sprouted very quickly, but I had to work very hard on the actual plot. I asked myself all sorts of questions like What kind of beast would she be? Where would the story take place? Why is she a beast?. Answering those questions lead me to creating a loose outline and then I was able to start writing the story.

What makes this retelling of the classic tale uniquely special to you? 

Dorian's Inspiration for her heroine, Rosara.
Dorian Tsukioka: When I was brainstorming the idea for "Rosara," I knew I wanted to set the story in a very special and specific location. For some unknown reason, the Amazon rainforest came to mind. In college, I had studied about an indigenous Amazonian tribe called the Yanomami. All of this came back to me in a rush, and I knew I needed to set my story there. What if my Beauty was one of the Yanomami? What might that be like for her? This specific tribe provided a lot of inspiration for the tribe I created. The rainforest provided many different natural and supernatural beasts as well as a lovely, if dangerous, setting in which the story could unfold.

Heres a brief video that depicts some of the Yanomami peoples lives. (Note: It includes indigenous nudity.) 

If you had to pick a favorite fairy tale, which would it be and why?

Dorian Tsukioka: My favorite fairy tale from childhood was always Hansel and Gretyl.  It scared the pee out of me as a kid, and I loved it for that. I also loved the house made out of candy. If that was me out in the middle of the forest, I would have been a goner, too.

However, my favorite fairy tale retelling is the recent movie by Disney, Malificent.  I LOVED the story so much. Maleficent has always been my favorite Disney fairy tale villain, and I was so glad that she achieved some sort of redemption in the most recent retelling. 

Keeping in mind the many themes of the classic fairy tale, have you ever experienced a "Beauty and the Beast" moment in your life?

Dorian Tsukioka: One of the most obvious themes in Beauty and the Beast is dont judge a book by its cover. This is the story of my life. Not only regarding me, but also all the people that I meet. I try to keep in mind that although I can only a persons exterior, inside of them resides a divine spark you just have to look hard enough to see it.

Another theme that I love in this story is about grace and love. Just like the beast, many of can be unlovable for a myriad of reasons. However, love is a choice. If we choose to love someone in spite of their unlovable state, were just like Beauty who falls in love with the Beast. By choice, we see beyond the exterior to love whats inside, regardless of their beastly, unlovable nature. This is grace.

Sorry to get all philosophical, but these themes of grace, love, and seeing beyond the exterior to the diamond in the rough, is something I experience daily. Im the recipient of grace because Im often very unlovable and beastly.
 _________________

DORIAN TSUKIOKA writes fairy tale retellings, young adult fantasy, and science fiction wtih just a dash of romance thrown in. When she's not writing, Dorian teaches 5th graders in Kansas City, MO, or she can be found chasing after her two, pixie-esque daughters. She has a love of learning and teaching, and loves to talk about books with anyone who will listen, especially if the conversation includes cinnamon-chip scones and caramel lattes.

 GIVEAWAY!

  In honor of this exciting release, the authors of Five Enchanted Roses have teamed up with Rooglewood Press to offer an exciting Giveaway Bundle for one lucky winner! Included in the bundle will be:

1 print copy of Five Enchanted Roses
1 "Book of Omens" red leather journal from Kaycee Browning
1 Lilla Rose cameo hair clip from Savannah Jezowski
1 pressed rose bookmark from Jenelle Schmidt
1 pair of jaguar sunglasses from Dorian Tsukioka
1 gorgeous rose and pearl necklace


 Share any of the following images (or any of the images from our Launch Week Celebration) on your social media sites -- Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, blogs, etc.

For every image that you share, copy a link and compile all your links into a list. Send your link list in an email to David Cross (david.cross@rooglewoodpress.com) using the subject header: "Five Enchanted Roses Giveaway." Be sure to send him your links NO LATER THAN MONDAY, AUGUST 3. The winner will be selected later that week.

You may also gain one free entry by leaving a comment for Dorian down below, congratulating her on her new story or asking her a question about "Rosara and the Jungle King."

Have fun spreading the news about this awesome new collection from Rooglewood Press!






 __________________

Don't forget to purchase your copy of Five Enchanted Roses today! Add the book to your Goodreads shelves and let your reader friends know how much you enjoy these beautiful tales.



Wednesday, July 29, 2015

Launch Week - Five Enchanted Roses


Welcome back to our week-long celebration of Five Enchanted Roses and the amazing authors who made this collection worthwhile. Today we are featuring Jenelle Schmidt, whose clever story, "Stone Curse," is delighting readers with its unexpected plot twists and endearing characters . . .


INTRODUCING
JENELLE SCHMIDT

How did you find out about the Five Enchanted Roses contest?
 
Jenelle Schmidt: I found out about the Five Enchanted Roses contest because I was waiting anxiously for the announcement. In 2013, I had posted a short snippet of a fairy tale retelling I was sort of playing around with for “The Princess and the Glass Hill.” Anne Elisabeth emailed me and asked if I had ever thought of doing other retellings and informed me of the contest Rooglewood was hosting for a Cinderella retelling. I submitted a story for that and - even though I didn’t win - really enjoyed working on a shorter project and being able to finish a rough draft in less than a month.

When Rooglewood Press announced the following year that the fairy tale would be "Beauty and the Beast," I had already decided I wasn’t going to enter. I didn’t think I had time. However, my imagination had other ideas and the glimmering of a plot began to smolder in the corner of my mind. Eventually, the plot and characters began to clamor for more attention, and I realized that I was going to enter the contest after all.

 Did your story idea spring immediately to mind or did you have to work to find the right tale to tell?

Jenelle Schmidt: The basic gist of the story came together pretty quickly and all at once. I wanted it to be pretty different from the original, while still having a lot of familiar settings and themes. I wrote the first two scenes in rapid succession, conquering over 2,000 words in an afternoon. 

After that, everything came to a screeching halt. Who had cast the curse on the prince? And why had they done it? And how could it be broken? Without knowing those things, the story could not progress, and I was stumped for weeks. I would sit down to write and absolutely nothing would happen. I would write a scene to take the story in one direction and then give up after a few hundred words, aware that what I had written was all wrong and could not work. I was starting to get desperate, and beginning to think I wouldn’t finish this story in time.

Finally, my husband (my knight in shining armor!) came to my rescue. We had already discussed the story a few times, but now he sat down with me and we spent a few evenings just talking about the story and wrestling with the outline and plot. He kept asking me, "Why? Why was the curse cast? Who cast the curse? How will the curse be broken?" It was that last question that finally unlocked the door to the way the story had to play out. And once Derek suggested the character of Ritter, the rest of the outline fell into place and the story began to take shape. It wasn't always perfectly smooth sailing from there on out, but I didn't run into any more brick walls.

What makes this retelling of the classic tale uniquely special to you?

Jenelle Schmidt: There are a myriad of reasons this story is special to me. First is the character of Karyna. I struggled with her a lot and had a hard time getting her just right. I had to do a lot of character development for her during the edits, trying to figure out what motivated her, why she thought and felt and acted the way she did. The breakthrough came when I realized that she shared a personality type with my sister-in-law, whom I love, but who is also very different than me. Once I could “see” Karyna, she began to grow into a more well-developed person, and I was able to write her much more clearly.

Another thing was that I just really enjoyed getting to write a completely different version of "Beauty and the Beast." I liked “fixing” some of the plot holes that are inherent to the Disney version (for example, if you do a little math, you realize that in the Disney cartoon, the prince is cursed at the age of eleven for not letting a creepy old woman into his house on a dark and stormy night - a decision I always thought his parents would have applauded). I also had a lot of fun adding my twists; I got to “break the rules” of the story while still holding true to the idea and themes of the original.

And finally, this story is dear to my heart because I wrote it for my children. I have three precious kiddos, two of whom are beautiful little girls who love fairy tales and dressing up and pretending to be princesses. (The youngest is still a baby, so he’s not much into stories or games of imagination . . . yet!) But I am excited to share this story with all three of them, and I hope they enjoy it. I hope it inspires them. Because while many of my readers may envision my life as this glamorous series of author photo shoots, sitting in my writing cave furiously typing away, or receiving boxes of books on a daily basis... the reality is that I am a mom first, author second. My life is mostly full of listening to the thoughts and dreams of two little girls, looking at interesting leaves with a magnifying glass, exploring the back yard, building fairy gardens, learning letters, rocking, cuddling, teaching, and playing. Writing is what I do when all the children are sleeping. But I wouldn’t have it any other way. The writing is hard to get done with three little munchkins running around, but without them, I know I wouldn’t write nearly as much.

If you had to pick a favorite fairy tale, which would it be and why?

Jenelle Schmidt: I love fairy tales. My grandpa gave me a book of the more obscure ones when I was five or six, and I just fell in love with them. I never really thought about which fairy tale was my favorite, though there were several I would read over and over again. "The Twelve Dancing Princesses," "The Goose Girl," "The Snow Queen," "Rapunzel," and "The Princess on the Glass Hill." I tended to lean towards the stories that were a bit more obscure - though I also loved the more familiar tales: "Beauty and the Beast," "Cinderella," and "Sleeping Beauty."

Still enjoying the book of fairy tales my grandfather gave me!
I’d say that if I absolutely had to choose, though, I’d go with the "Twelve Dancing Princesses." Something about that story always intrigued me. I enjoyed the mystery of it, the open-ended nature (which allows for quite the variety of retellings), the magical realm that the princesses venture out to every night. It was my love of adventure which first drew me to this story and captured my heart. 

When I was little, my cousins were my best friends, and whenever we had sleep-overs at their house we would determine to stay up until all our parents were asleep and then slip out of the house to have an “adventure.” They lived on a very large piece of land, with a creek running through the middle of it. It was the perfect place to have large games of Capture the Flag. Most nights, we fell asleep before we got to go adventuring, but once in a while we would manage to stay awake. Our adventures never took us to magical realms, but our imaginations definitely did. 

Even as an adult, I still enjoy a good adventure. My early love of fairy tales turned easily into a love of fantasy and science fiction. Those genres are replete with daring exploits and thrilling escapades. It can be hard to experience those things in the midst of every day life, especially when you’ve got three very small children to keep track of. Most of the time, I am content to enjoy that sort of excitement through reading books and watching movies. However, every now and then I do get a chance to experience a bit of that adventure my soul longs for.

Keeping in mind the many themes of the classic fairy tale, have you ever experienced a "Beauty and the Beast" moment in your life?

Jenelle Schmidt: “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” Romans 5:8. One of the reasons I love the story of Beauty and the Beast is the number of Biblical themes running through it. Beauty’s father, for example, has always seemed to me to be a type of Job character - through no fault of his own, he loses everything. Then there is the sacrificial love displayed by both the father and Beauty, each willing to die in the other’s stead. And finally, there is the Beast, who must be loved before he appears lovable in order for the curse to be broken.

We are all, at some point, like the Beast. Unlovable and incapable of love. Like the Beast, we wear a curse, and we cannot free ourselves from it. Just like Beauty must love the Beast while he is still under the curse, while he is still ugly and scary, Christ loved us while we were still sinners. In the midst of our rebellion, he died for us - and His love is the only thing that can break the curse of sin.

I would have to say that the most profound “Beauty and the Beast” moment in my life came on the day I realized and understood that I could not climb up to Jesus on my own. That I was under a curse, and I could not lift it on my own. On that day, I accepted the gift of Jesus’ love for me, despite my beastliness. And it was on that day that I, like the Beast of the fairy tale, began to be transformed into something beautiful.

___________________ 

 

 JENELLE SCHDMIT grew up in the northern-midwest. She now resides with her husband and their three adorable children in North Carolina where the summers are too hot and there is never enough snow. Jenelle fell in love with reading at a young age during family storytimes. To this day she enjoys creating exciting adventure tales filled with poignant themes and compelling characters in the fantasy and sci-fi genres.
  




GIVEAWAY!


 In honor of this exciting release, the authors of Five Enchanted Roses have teamed up with Rooglewood Press to offer an exciting Giveaway Bundle for one lucky winner! Included in the bundle will be:

1 print copy of Five Enchanted Roses
1 "Book of Omens" red leather journal from Kaycee Browning
1 Lilla Rose cameo hair clip from Savannah Jezowski
1 pressed rose bookmark from Jenelle Schmidt
1 pair of jaguar sunglasses from Dorian Tsukioka
1 gorgeous rose and pearl necklace

If you would like to enter your name for a chance to win this awesome bundle, here's what you do:

 Share any of the following images (or any of the images from our Launch Week Celebration) on your social media sites -- Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, blogs, etc.

For every image that you share, copy a link and compile all your links into a list. Send your link list in an email to David Cross (david.cross@rooglewoodpress.com) using the subject header: "Five Enchanted Roses Giveaway." Be sure to send him your links NO LATER THAN MONDAY, AUGUST 3. The winner will be selected later that week.

You may also gain one free entry by leaving a comment for Jenelle down below, congratulating her on her new story or asking her a question about "Stone Curse."
  

Have fun spreading the news about this awesome new collection from Rooglewood Press!







  __________________

Don't forget to purchase your copy of Five Enchanted Roses today! Add the book to your Goodreads shelves and let your reader friends know how much you enjoy these beautiful tales.