Fairy Tales are rooted in oral traditions passed down through the centuries. Often told by women who needed to pass down information to their daughters in secret. Vital information, like, if you’re going to steal porridge from bears in the woods, don’t go to sleep in their house!
Once upon a time, fairy tales covered some pretty scary material—and they still do—but now they range from sweet little stories for preschoolers to terrifying adult epics. Sometimes those messages are very much stay to the paths and be good. One story that surprised me was The Ugly Duckling. Most people who read it today see an uplifting message that you can always grow up and become a wonderful person. Sadly, Hans Christian Andersen apparently meant it to imply that he was really a swan raised by commoners and his (almost certainly fictional) noble heritage shone through anyway. Ugh. I prefer the modern interpretation.
Still, fairy tales do constantly date, and are updated as every generation of authors adds their perspective on their old favourites. I did a little of that in my latest book.
In The Secret Story, set in the kingdom of Avondale in the world of Sylvalla and Freddy Fraderghast – Fairy Tales are also more than they seem. Fairy Godmothers are dangerous. Cinderella’s are not as uncommon as you might think. And yet they must all keep their secrets close.
Like the witches of Avondale, I’m also very good at keeping secrets. It’s a special skill, so take notice when I say…no, I’m not saying anything about my crafty story. Or how the secret meaning of fairy tales is shadowed in secrecy and allegory. Or even what knitting & tatting have to do with any of it, because, well – it’s a secret.😉
The Secret Story Blurb:
A horde of rats
A coven of witches desperate to stay hidden
A ball to die for—a ball that must remain secret at any cost
As a smithy’s daughter, Amarinda can only dream of going to the ball. But Amarinda’s daydreaming must end when her father is injured and she discovers her family is in debt to the evil crime lord Lady Dragonheart.
The harder Amarinda tries to help her family, the more she’s drawn into a hidden world of witches and power—and caught up in Lady Dragonheart’s schemes to steal the ‘cook book’ Amarinda needs to heal her father, infiltrate the Avondale ball, and seize the kingdom.
Will Amarinda’s father survive the night? Will she get to dance with the prince? And who will be turned into a rat? Find out by reading this secret story of a not-quite Cinderella, whose closest thing to a fairy godmother is, alas, old Granny Earwax.
The Secret Story is free on Bookfunnel until its release on Amazon. I’m hoping I can get some early reviews. So, if you like reading free books, please email me on AJ[at]ponderbooks.com to find out how to become a reviewer.
The Secret Story is also going wide. You can pick up a copy for 99c on most platforms using this D2D link: https://books2read.com/u/4DyLRd
That’s all for now, folks, have fun reading!
A.J. Ponder
3 Replies to “The Secret Story – Fairy Tales are more than they seem”