Another new-for-me author, and her books sound so amazing!
Meet Kirsten...
Kirsten Fichter is a
twenty-something Christian writer who loves being the wife to her favorite
person ever, mommy to two precious blessings, a piano enthusiast, a dragon
buff, a serious bookworm, and an INFP synesthete. Fairytales have always
fascinated her, and she has made it her goal to rewrite as many as possible and
become known as the “Grimm Dickens” (i.e. mixing Grimm fairytales with a
Dickens style). She is present in many online circles under the name "Kiri
Liz" if you care about things like that. As you read this, she'll be
somewhere under a maple tree - trying very hard to finish the seventeen and
half other stories she unwisely started all at once.
LINKS
Spindle Dreams on Amazon
Kirsten's Books...
Once Upon a Twist Tales
are your favorite fairytales retold backwards and upside-down, with just a
little bit of steampunk thrown in for fun.
A
Beauty and the Beast Story (Once Upon a Twist Tales, #1)
In a kingdom where fauna and flora are held in higher esteem than breakfast, Dmitri is a prince who yearns for change and plans it in a single daring act that will alter his life forever. However, when his demented mother accidentally causes the destruction of a prized garden of roses, Dmitri is horrified when she proposes his hand in marriage to make up for it. Not only will a wife hamper his glorious plans, he doesn't even want one. Janelle has spent her whole life on her father's rose farm, tending the roses and staying simple. But she really yearns for something greater than the flower beds. But now there's a wrench thrown in the works – the crazy Queen Maeva wants her to marry the prince, and all for ruining her father's beloved roses. This is Beauty and the Beast with a twist like you've never seen it before.
Spindle Dreams: A Sleeping Beauty Story (Once Upon a Twist Tales, #2)
Marita Kadlec is the only daughter of Rohesia's poorest – and laziest – weaver. Her father prefers to spend his days gambling in the tavern, leaving the spinning up to Marita. She hates the family business because she's constantly pricking her finger on the spindle. She'd much rather be tinkering on an invention that she hasn't had the courage to show anyone yet. A special invention that will rid her of spinning for the rest of her life. Felix is a young nobleman plagued with the same nightmare – a giant machine, twisting and clanking, shrouded in fire, bent on pain and death. He's determined to find out what it means, no matter where the answers may lead him. This is Sleeping Beauty with a twist like you've never seen it before.
–
Teaser summary: She was never the one locked in
the tower, but trying to hide him and his secrets may cost her life.
Writing
Fantasy Without Magic
A note from Kirsten...
I'll be honest with you -- it is
very difficult to find fairytale retellings nowadays that don't include magic.
It's even tougher to find FANTASY retellings without magic. Somehow, someway,
magic must be included if it's to be considered a good fairytale retelling in a
fantasy setting, right?
WRONG.
Scratching magic and magical
components completely out of a fairytale doesn't make the story sub-par. True,
most of the original fairytales include magic of some kind; that's what we've
grown to expect of anything labeled "fairytale." But... if you know
how to handle a good plot, memorable characters, and compelling dialogue, magic
doesn't have to factor in for a second. It's a challenge -- but it's not
impossible.
I appreciate a good challenge.
That's what drove me to writing my own fairytale retellings. Besides myself, I
know of very few authors who dare to approach retellings without involving
magic of some kind. I've seen a lot of writers take to historical fiction as
their genre, letting history speak through the fairytale instead of letting
magic be the driving force. But I prefer to settle myself fully into fantasy,
where I can control more of the details without having to worry about keeping
things historically intact and accurate.
Plot and Fairytale Elements
When focusing on a fantasy
without magic, plot is probably the most important factor of the story. Plot is
always important, whether you have magic or not, since you have to have a good
way to keep the story moving forward. But a fantasy story will fall apart if
there's a boring plotline waddling down to the finish. For me, I let the
"what if" and "but why" questions influence my plot
greatly. A good way to do this with fairytales is to focus on one element of
the original fairytale and flesh that out.
For example, with my Beauty and
the Beast story, The Rose and the Balloon, I focused on the Beast's
rose. Why was it so important? Why would it be so bad if someone messed with
it/picked it? Even though the magical rose counting down the Beast's years from
the Disney film isn't from the original fairytale, I knew I wanted to play with
that. The trick was portraying the rose without its magic. Thus, a bit of
steampunk entered my story, and we had a solar-powered rose. From there, the
story kinda took off on its own. Magical elements don't have to remain magical;
there are a million and one ways to explain why something happened without
having to resort to magic.
Another fun thing to do with
fairytale elements is to turn them completely upside-down. What if Sleeping
Beauty's prince was the one with sleeping problems? That was the beginning
question that sparked my retelling, Spindle Dreams. Right after
that, I found myself asking "what if Sleeping Beauty was a spinner by trade?"
Find ways to incorporate as much of the original as possible without involving
magic to explain it for you.
Fantasy Genres
That's the other really fun thing
about fantasy. It has so many sub-genres that you're never truly confined to
the medieval-age tale with princesses and long dresses and tiaras. Fantasy has
expanded to include aspects of steampunk, political epics, alternative history,
and science fiction. And that's where you start when explaining a fairytale
without magic. For the most part, we live in a world that is scientific and has
an explanation for EVERYTHING. Let a book without magic do the same.
Consider this: steampunk alchemy
would be a perfect solution for a Rumplestiltskin story, would it not? Ancient
alchemists were always trying to turn something into gold. What about the
magical fairygodmother? She supplies Cinderella with a dress and shoes, so it
would make sense for her to be either a kleptomaniac or a seamstress. Rapunzel,
honestly, is one fairytale that uses very little magic; instead of a witch, I
turned the Gothel character in my retelling, Diamond, into an
impulsive and successful gambler.
Fantasy sub-genres give you the
leisure to explore a new side of fairytales. No one wants to open a retelling
and have it match piece by piece to a Disney film adaptation. Disney is only
another reteller when it comes to fairytales. And these sub-genres are
something that Disney has yet to fully explore -- particularly without magic.
You can keep the fantasy-esque
princesses and castles within the retelling, but you're not limited to that.
And I think that's one of the reasons why we have so few retellings that tell
the story without magic. We have a set idea that fairytales MUST include these
elements, and so we include them. The beauty about a retelling is just that,
however: it is a RETELLING. It doesn't have to be perfectly parallel with the
original. We have the liberty to retell the fairytale in whatever way we want.
Magic: A Short Discourse
Now why bother with taking magic
out of fairytales? Is there any harm to having magic in a fairytale? My answer:
No, of course not.
Many Christians have problems
with magic being present in literature of any kind. God is quite clear about
condemning the use of magic in multiple Bible passages. I have done quite a bit
of research on the subject, trying to learn for myself what God has to say
about it. My convictions on the subject are pretty hardcore, and I realize that
this is a highly controversial topic. But here's what my research has led me to
believe and what I uphold within the world of literature.
The danger with using magic in
any book is that magic is real. The witchcraft that God condemns over and over
in the Bible isn't a figment of people's imagination. It is a demonic power
that can be copied in real life, and its source comes directly from the
devil.
Fairytale magic is just that. A
fairytale. Legendary, mythical, and pretend. It stands clearly in a world of
fantasy/make-believe and cannot be copied in our world. This type of magic, I
believe, is not harmful, and is what makes up many of our beloved
fairytales.
For me, personally, writing with
magic is a struggle. It can create a lovely, clean tale when used correctly,
but it is also very dangerous. Because of that, I have decided to write my own
stories without using magic at all. For me, non-magical fantasy, especially
fairytale retellings, is an overlooked genre that deserves more attention, more
fantastic books. So, if you're interested in following my writing journey, that's
the niche where I'll be hiding.
