Welcome, one and all, to another guest post! Today, we’re joined by author K.S. Trenten, who will not only be talking about the art of reinventing fairytales, but also providing us with an excerpt of their story ‘Fairest’, which will be appearing the NineStar Press anthology, Once Upon A Rainbow.
Reinventing Fairytales
by K.S. Trenten
I’ve always been enraptured by the retelling of fairy tales. From the Disney renditions to popular ballets to thought provoking stories written by Robin McKinely, Tanith Lee, and Storm Constantine, I’ve enjoyed them all.
Watching, reading, and observing, I’ve absorbed a lesson drawn from the many others they offer up.
Fairy tales can be reworked into completely fresh forms. They can convey current issues alongside age old messages.
I wanted to convey a moden message along with the classic theme of true love.
For a long time, I didn’t think the world could understand it.
To my surprise, large portions of the world did. My princess’s journey and the happy ending she arrived at mirrors my own elation when country after country legalized gay marriage.
Perhaps the world wasn’t my enemy after all. This joyful sensation of not being alone in my convictions found its mirror in Rose’s conclusion.
Her questions, wondering if the witch she finds so very attractive is truly evil corresponds to a question I wondered for years.
Ever since reading Interview with the Vampire, I’ve loved m/m pairings with a passion I couldn’t explain.
There were no other slash fans that I knew of, nor yaoi fangirls. I had no one to talk about my passion with, which I was afraid of revealing to anyone.
I myself wasn’t sure if it wasn’t some sort of perversion.
My original existence as a slash fan was a dark and hidden one. I felt much like Briar, concealing myself from the light, afraid to reveal too much to those I loved.
At other times, I was like Oriana. I put on a bright face, trying to place a socially acceptable role, concealing my true heart. Being a slash fan was a vital part of my identity, but I couldn’t acknowledge it. I felt like that part was rotting inside of me.
These three fairy tale heroines became witches, each playing out a traditional part which mirrored the stages in my own development.
Oriana was the hatred and weakness, trying to find beauty in her magic mirror and failing.
Briar was the the dark secret, the passion that dared not be revealed.
Rose was the bravest, best part of me, perhaps better than I’ve ever dared to be. She faced the darkness and opened her arms to it. She accepted it and changed it.
These three aspects became characters in their own right, each playing a vital role in Fairest. Without each of them, this story wouldn’t exist.
This is the magic of fairy tales. We can pour ourselves into these classic characters, letting them act out our personal dramas in an enchanted format.
Every writer has a chance to bring something fresh to this medium.
Everyone has a chance to find themselves in these stories.
That’s why they’ll never grow old.
K.S. Trenten lives in the South Bay Area with her husband, her two cats, and a host of characters which inhabit her imagination.
Find K.S. Trenten at
The Cauldrons of Eternal Inspiration: inspirationcauldron.wordpress.com, inspirationcauldron.blogspot.com, cauldronkeeper.livejournal.com, and rhodrymavelyne.dreamwidth.org
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/rhodrymavelyne/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/rhodrymavelyne
tumblr: https://rhodrymavelyne.tumblr.com/
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/14876500.K_S_Trenten
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/author/kstrenten
K.S. Trenten’s contribution to Once Upon a Rainbow is Fairest, her f/f fantasy fairytale.
Keywords: f/f, fantasy, Young Adult, GLBTQ+ romance, f/f fairy tale, curse, fairest, tower, eyes, dream, sleep, dwarves, Snow White, Briar, Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella, wicked queen, magic mirror, cursed apple, spindle, witch
Publication Date: Originally May 11, 2016. It’s being released again in Once Upon a Rainbow on November 20, 2017.
Tagline: What will you change into?
Fairest Blurb
All of my life, I’ve been haunted by her dark eyes. At birth, she cursed me to prick my finger on the spindle and sleep for a century. She appears in my dreams, my reflections, shaping my desires. Who is she? My guardian has only revealed a few enigmatic words as to her identity, the fairest of them all. Follow me into the lonely Forest of Tears where the dwarves dwell, walking where she once walked. Gaze into the depths of the magic mirror which reveals her secrets. For I refuse to fear her, even if I should.
Excerpt:
MY FIRST MEMORY was of her dark eyes. They captured all the colors of my infant universe, even as they threatened to swallow me.
Her eyes should have been terrifying, but they weren’t.
Her blood red lips moved, shaping words I could not recall.
My parents remembered them only too well, as did everyone else who’d gathered at the castle for my christening.
“I, too, have a gift for this child. She shall grow up, with all the beauty and promise of the dawn, but her sun will never rise.”
My mother told me she nearly swooned with terror at the look of sheer malevolence the witch gave to the sunbeams playing about my cradle. She wanted to stop the witch from speaking, as did my father.
No one could move, no matter how much they wished to. Everyone stood still, spellbound by the witch’s gaze.
“Before the sun sets on the eve of her sixteenth year, the princess shall prick her finger on a spindle. With the first drop of her blood, a sleeping curse will fall upon her, claiming her for a hundred years.”
My mother tried to call in another witch to remove the curse. My father burned every spindle he could find.
For all their efforts, nothing could remove the curse.
The witch had disappeared into a cloud of green smoke. No one could find her after my christening, despite many attempts. The only thing she left behind, besides her curse, were dreams of dark eyes.
I wondered if she’d been real. Her appearance was the sort of thing I’d heard about in old legends. The way she haunted my dreams was too much like giggled tales of falling in love.
Buy Links
Nine Star Press: https://ninestarpress.com/product/once-upon-a-rainbow-volume-one/
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Once-Upon-Rainbow-Mickie-Ashling-ebook/dp/B0774WM688/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1509900824&sr=8-1&keywords=once+upon+a+rainbow%2C+by+k.s.+trenten
Matt Doyle Media 
Thank you so much for having me, Matt!
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You’re very welcome!
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