Coming Up With Writing Ideas

Recently I took a trip with my family to Universal Studios in California. The trip was quick, but a lot of fun.

One problem. I got ZERO sleep. The beds were supposed to be "sleep number." What they actually were? Blow up mattresses that had only half the air in them. Every time my husband moved, I was shot into the air. He felt like he was going to roll off the bed. It wasn't good. The end result left me sleepless.

BUT, one thing that did occur during my lack of sleep? I got a bunch of different writing ideas.

One came while our driver took us from the hotel to the theme park.

Another on the plane back home.

Both ideas are feasible. And I'm very excited about them. It's funny though... how seemingly great book ideas come at the weirdest times.

My Blood and Snow series came from watching a commercial for "Snow White and the Seven Dwarves." The commercial tooted the movie had been digitally remastered. How exciting.

AND it was. From that commercial came the idea of Snow White becoming a vampire, which equals #awesome.

What about you? Where do your ideas come from?

                                                                                                 *pictures courtesy of google

Cover Reveal and a Paperback

In June of this year I released the first of 12 books in a new series entitled Blood and Snow. It's a fractured retelling of Snow White.

Here's the series summary:

"Lips red as rubies, hair dark as night. Drink your true love's blood, become the Vampire, Snow White."

Every thousand years the Vampire Queen selects a new body, always the fairest in the land, and this time she's chosen Snow White.

**BLOOD AND SNOW: Snow White lives in Salem, Massachusetts with her dad, stepmother, and her cat, Gatsby. Her entire life she's been teased for her fairy tale name, and the fact that her seven best friends happen to be guys whose names begin with the same letters as the seven dwarves.
Everything changes on a trip into Boston, where an unseen stranger bites her, and she's transformed into something not quite human.

**REVENANT IN TRAINING: Snow has been transformed into a revenant - not quite human and not quite vampire. She must discover how to live with the changes, hopefully without killing anyone.

**THE VAMPIRE CHRISTOPHER: As a revenant, Snow White craves blood. Especially the blood of her Hunter. But will drinking from him save or enslave her?

**BLOOD SOAKED PROMISES: Snow White must come to terms with her bloodlust. It's one thing to drink the blood of her Hunter, something else entirely to drink the blood of a human.


The first four books have released with the 5th, Prey and Magic, coming out this winter.

The super cool news is that a paperback version of the first four volumes is available. You can purchase the paperback copy HERE.

One comment I've heard over and over from fans? They wished Cindy, Snow White's best friend, had a more prominent role in the Blood and Snow books. And I couldn't agree more. Cindy is a fun character. She's vibrant, cool, and totally kick a**. All along I've had special plans for Cindy. She will have her own set of short stories, which is totally awesome.

The first of her books is entitled CINDY WITCH. It'll release Winter 2012.

Summary: 

Magic is her birthright.

Fashion is her forte.

It's been dictated that her destiny is to help Snow White.

But, Cindy is no sidekick.

And here's the cover:

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Snow White: The Enduring Fairytale

Walt Disney hit upon a gold mine when he turned time-honored tales into cinematic magic.  It's hard to think of a classic fairytale and NOT associate one of the "Disney Princesses" with it.  The tale of Snow White is no exception.

In addition to the TV drama Once Upon a Time, debuting last fall, we're seeing not one, but two, Snow White movies this year.  That made me think about WHY the fairytale is so loved through generations.  So I went back and looked at the history of Snow White.  Although the tale was being told in Europe long before the Grimm Brothers came along, their 1812 version is the best known.  One hundred years later, in 1912, Snow White was a Broadway musical.  Walt Disney made it into an animated movie in 1937.

 When you start looking, there are variations of Snow White told in multiple countries and in every form of media.  I learned that an X-rated version of the tale was released in 1976.  In 1987, ABC had a sitcom called The Charmings, based on Snow White and Prince Charming.  And Sigourney Weaver starred in a 1997 horror film based on the tale. 

While all of this is interesting, none of this tells me WHY.  Why is Snow White such a beloved tale?

I've got to think that part of the reason is because at it's core, Snow White is the epitome of good versus evil.  The lines are clearly defined; Snow White is innocent and pure, the Queen is vain and evil.  It's always fun to read a story where you know there is a bad guy but you don't know who it is until the end.  But here, there's no question about who's the dark force hunting Snow White.  And we know - KNOW - that in the end, good will triumph.

The story might also endure because there's an element of truth behind it. Some believe that the original myth was based on the life of Maria Sophia Margaretha Catherina von Erthal (say that 3x fast), a noble German girl whose father remarried.  The step-mother used her new noble status to the betterment of the children from her first marriage (to me, this sounds more like Cinderella, but that's a myth for another day).  Still, don't all children fear losing a parent? Being subjected to a bully - whether it's at school or at home?  Although Snow White takes bullying to the extreme, society likes to see bullies get what they deserve.

I'm sure there are a billion other literary reasons Snow White not only prevails, but dominates, among the fairytales.  But I want to know what you think?  And is the reason for Snow White's popularity something that readers want to see in the books they read today?


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Jessie Harrell is the author of Destined, a retelling of a particularly ancient fairy tale, the Greek myth of Eros and Psyche.  She loves all of the Disney Princesses as much as her daughters and knows that while she'll never be a princess, she's lucky to have found her own Prince Charming.  You can find out more about Destined on Jessie's website.

Originality

Has anyone else noticed all the remakes lately? I turn on the radio and a surprising number of "new" hits are actually remakes of old songs. Either that or they are at least heavily sampling something from the past. It's the same with movies. I could hardly believe it when they remade Footloose last year! And now in 2012 there are remakes like 21 Jump Street and Fright Night. Next year, I hear they are coming out with a new Superman and even remaking Steel Magnolias. It makes me wonder: Where are all the original ideas?

I think what bothers me most about some of these remakes is that sometimes it just seems that the studios or musical artists just want to make a quick buck. Rather than put in the time and effort of actually doing something new or original, they simply hire new actors to tell the same exact story in the same exact way. Then, they push it out to the public saying, "Remember this movie you loved when you were younger? You've just got to go see the remake, it's awesome!" Something about it feels so manufactured and passionless.

But what about when a true artist takes an old story and makes something new out of it? The Dark Knight series of Batman remakes has been amazing and I honestly can't wait for The Dark Knight Rises this summer. On the other hand, that series still has unique elements that weren't there in the original films. Of course, you could also say the films were just a remake of the comic books since that's where Batman got his true start, but at least the Batman Begins trilogy tells the story in a new way.

What about Snow White and the Huntsman? Old story. New twist. In the previews at least, I haven't seen any reference to seven dwarves. I haven't seen Snow White in the kitchen whistling and cooking for seven tiny men or roaming through the happy woods with deer. Instead, there are scenes with her in full body armor, wielding a sword and shield. I think I'm going to like this Snow White (even if I don't always love Kristen Stewart).



When a remake is done with a totally new twist, it can be powerful and exciting. Then again, when it's just a straight remake, I often get frustrated and confused. If you're not improving on it, why do it? Just to make money? I'd much rather see people take a risk on something original than something regurgitated. That's one reason I love this new revolution of self-publishing. I love the freedom so many authors have now of telling their own stories in their own unique way (or completely reimagining something old and giving it an exciting new twist). Less limitations and more creativity in story-telling is much more exciting to me than straight remakes of something that's been done several times before.

What are some of your favorite remakes? What about remakes that disappointed you? Is there something you've always wanted to see redone? I'd love to hear your opinions on this!

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Sarra Cannon

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Sarra Cannon grew up in a small town in Georgia where she learned that being popular always comes at a price. Now, she lives in North Carolina with her amazing husband and her teeny tiny Pomeranian,Snickerdoodle. Books and music are her greatest passions. She has never been a cheerleader, but it's possible she knows a few things about casting spells.


The first book in her popular Peachville High Demons series, Beautiful Demons, is now available for free at most ebook retailers.