Sorry I haven't posted here in awhile but this semester has been REALLY stressful. I'm finally giving myself some downtime to write a new entry.
I'm working on my story Belle and the Beast. This tale is set in New Orelans during the 1830s, just after the Nat Turner Rebellion in Virginia. The Beast, Jesse Sinclair, is a cruel master until one night when his slaves give a runaway some shelter. Little does he knew that she's really in an enchantress.
Belle, meanwhile, is an abolitionist fresh from Philadelphia to New Orleans. She finds the idea of slavery revolting, and when she is taken to see the Beast, her goal is to runaway, taking his slaves with him. However, love is a funny thing...
Anyways, that was a brief synopsis of my new story.
While writing this story, I've been questioning the whole "Prince Charming" aspect that we find so often in stories.
Whether it's in fairy-tales where he's a suave prince or in an teen-angst book where he is a sparkling vampire. Basically, the idea of the perfect man.
I've even noticed some of this Price Charming-syndrom the Hunger Games. Peeta seems almost too good to be true.
Anyways, it's just made me hope that I haven't created a picture-perfect love interest, because, let's face it, no one is perfect.
I don't really have a point, but I'm thinking about bringing it back up in the AW fourms sometime soon.
However, do you think there are too many Prince Charmings in stories these days?
I have to admit that there are times when I want the suave Prince Charming to win (though, really, I wouldn't have considered Edward that, but I was already tuned into his stalker-esque tendencies before I read the books, so who knows how I would have felt going in unbiased). And, yet, so often I also want the normal boy-next-door to win too.
ReplyDeleteMy book has a male MC, and I had meant to make him Prince Charming for a girl who doesn't want to be swept off her feet. But the more I wrote him the less confident and suave he became. I think in the end, Prince Charming is great as a concept and for fantasies, but when we spend time with a character, we want more character to him than Prince Charming ever got.
Also, I've always thought your novel sounded interesting. Do you tease it ever?
Hi Sarah - I stopped over to talk about MY B&B retelling! Mine was set in !fantasyland lol, meaning a rip off of England/Ireland in the 1700s. My 'beast' was a lion and he was a prince but he was also kind of a jerk. He was so used to women just falling at their feet for him that he was very...pouncing on my MC (who was a bookish nerd lol). I also had him be very smart though - he read philosophy and scientific books, etc. and was capable of gathering an army for war.
ReplyDeleteI think you should give us teasers!!!! :)
Thanks for stopping by my blog. What happened to my B&B retelling was this: I wrote it for 2 years and finished it. YAY! An agent requested it off a blurb on Twitter. YAY! But then I never got around to editing it. Or well...I started it and realized that I could not do the edits. I wasn't ready. I was overwhelmed by them. It now sits in the hands of my friend who edited the entire thing- I gave it to her as a gift.
And I hate to admit this...but you're right Peeta is a little perfect. But ehh I love him anyway :-P
I like it when the nice guys when--I love the sweet, funny, nice guys. However, I don't like when they're perfect. They should get frusterated or lose their temper or something.
ReplyDeleteI have never considered doing a teaser for Belle and the Beast, but I might now. I'm still writing the first draft--I haven't even completed it yet--but when the time comes I may put a few samples on here. I'm really excited about it because I think it's a unique spin on this timeless tale. I've loved the Disney version since before I can remember, and even watching it now still makes me tear up a little bit. I'm listening to the soundtrack now as I type. Brings back such sweet memories.
Honestly, I don't think the problem is too many "Prince Charmings," but too many controlling jerkass love interests masquerading as Prince Charmings.
ReplyDeleteAs for Peeta--that is an interesting observation. I didn't like that character at all. At ALL. Probably because he's so pathetic and can't look after himself. Maybe that's part of the point--the inversion of the Damsel In Distress role to the boy, with the girl doing the rescuing, but I'm still not convinced that we need either of those roles to be filled at all. Anyway, I'm not sure the Prince Charming trope applies to him. He's a good kid, but he's not a MacGuffin. To be a Charming, Katniss would have to have marrying/steadily dating him as her final goal--that whole Happily Ever After thing. She does have a Happily Ever After in mind, but it's not centered around Peeta.
If that makes any sense.