Beauty & the Beast Writing Contest

I'm sure many of our readers here at the BB are also writers...am I right? It just comes with the territory. ;) If you're a writer looking for a fun writing prompt and a possible opportunity to be published in a novella collection, check out this announcement from Rooglewood Press!

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Rooglewood Press is delighted to introduce their second fairy tale novella contest—

 

Five Enchanted Roses 

a collection of “Beauty and the Beast” stories 

The challenge is to write a retelling of the beloved fairy tale in any genre or setting you like. Make certain your story is recognizably “Beauty and the Beast,” but have fun with it as well. Make it yours!

Rooglewood Press will be selecting five winners to be published in the Five Enchanted Roses collection, which will be packaged up with the gorgeous cover you see displayed here. Perhaps your name will be one of the five displayed on this cover?

All the contest rules and information (how to enter, story details, deadline etc.) may be found on the Rooglewood Press website. Just click HERE and you will go right to the page.

Rooglewood Press’s first collection, Five Glass Slippers, is available for pre-order now and will be released on June 14. Do grab yourself a copy and see what these talented writers have done with the timeless “Cinderella” tale!

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Note: This cover illustration was rendered by Julia Popova, “ForestGirl.” You can find out more about this gifted artist on her website: www.forestgirl.ru

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YA Book Review ~ The Silent Swan

About the Book

"Once upon a time – better known as 'now' - Gabriel Pritz reigns as king of his high school. Easy grades, perfect baseball season, a pretty date for prom—he's coasting into a golden future. Until his parents demand he cook dinner once a week. Caught between kitchen fires and ballpark withdrawal, Gabe is thrown into Tam Swann's orbit. Hostile, friendless, and stubborn, she's exactly the sort of person he'd prefer to avoid.

Tam's sphere of influence expands beyond Gabe's sad domestic skills, rapidly invading everything from his favorite game to parts of his soul he didn't know existed. It's uncomfortable, it's hard work, it's...making him a better man. And that's just what she does to people she doesn't like. The better he gets to know her, the more he has to face the truth: this sharp, heart-breaking outcast is worth fighting for. How many families, fairy tales, and felons will he go through to ride to the rescue of the bravest person he's ever met?"

Amber's Review

The Silent Swan is an intriguing and refreshing fairytale retelling, albeit a story that I didn't completely "get." The tale begins with a senior boy who is very much caught up in his own world of baseball games and student government and girls. Unsurprisingly, his point of view is a bit annoying at first, but it truly made his character growth that much more enjoyable to witness. Having the whole story told from his perspective was an interesting twist - one that I applaud, but also one that might have kept me from being completely connected.

A lot of the dialogue between the brothers (and even between all of the characters at different times, really) felt like an "inside joke" I just wasn't comprehending - so there's one strike. The strange and at times disrespectful parent-children relationships constitutes strike two. And the book is quite long...a quality which did allow for some great character exploration, but alas, it just felt too unnecessarily dragged out at times, especially toward the end when scene after scene revolved around the same activity. Combined with my confusion over certain plot elements (again, it felt like some things were going over my head and just not "clicking"), there's strike three.

Does that mean the book is "out"? Nope - it just means that there were some obstacles that kept this from reaching "favorite" status for me, despite its promising moments.

I did love the mystery at the beginning. I loved Gabe's moral wrestling - his struggling with his conscience. I loved the camaraderie between brothers (both Gabe's and Tam's)...the fun cooking scenes...the sympathetic peek into a young man's mind (a tad bit frightening, but enlightening, LOL)...and even the baseball references and scenes did win me over with how they were portrayed, even though I'm not a huge fan of the game.

All in all, The Silent Swan was fascinating, although it didn't impress me as much as I thought it might and was hoping it would after being initially hooked by the story. It's certainly a unique retelling - entirely contemporary, no magic in sight. If you like generally clean YA (the male fixation on the physical is portrayed to some degree, and there are a few instances of minor crude language), and if you're looking for a different sort of story to lose yourself in for a while, you might want to check this one out!

*With thanks to the author and IFB Tours for providing me with an e-ARC of the book in exchange for my honest opinion.*

About the Author

"Lex Keating has been engaged in a passionate affair with books ever since the Velveteen Rabbit wanted to be real. She graduated from a liberal arts college with a BA in literature, and currently resides near Charleston, South Carolina, in a swamp full of barbarians and all their cats. She has been a teacher, a paralegal, a computer programmer, and a hospice caregiver. She currently divides her time between studying old fairy tales and making up new ones." You can connect with the author on Facebook.

Extras

• You can pre-order the paperback, or you can purchase the book in Kindle format (currently only $.99!). 

• Check out the other blog tour post links HERE (or by clicking the image at the top of the post).

• Enter the blog tour giveaway for a paperback copy of the book (U.S. only) via the Rafflecopter form below:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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Using the Big Debate to Build a Story by Author Rachel Hauck

One of the great tools for writing a romance is the big debate. The Why/Why Not or the Why Not/Why*. Rachel, you might be saying, what are you talking about?

Why/Why Not

This scenario is when the hero and heroine start the story in love. Or maybe when they first meet, it’s nothing but heart palpitations and love fireworks. They are perfect for each other. But well, then something happens and suddenly they aren’t so right. Maybe a past love returns or he’s shipped out with his platoon. Maybe she’s in an accident and in a comma. In other words, something comes along that keeps them apart. It can be a physical or emotional element.

Of course, they overcome the obstacle, return to true love and have a Happily Ever After.

Why Not/Why

This is when the hero and heroine meet and it’s fireworks all right, the explosive kind. They can’t stand each other. They are on the opposite sides of an issue or a relationship or a career post. All roads lead to, “These two should never fall in love.” But well, then something happens and suddenly they are on the same team. They start to see the internal beauty in each other and forget about the external struggles. They find they have a lot in common and love blooms.

Of course, there’s one final battle that test their love but they over come and find their Happily Ever After.

In my book Once Upon A Prince, it’s a Why/ Why Not scenario. He’s the prince of a small European nation and about to become the King. She’s an out of work landscape architect from small St. Simon’s Island, Georgia. How could they ever be together?

They like each other a lot. And in a short time span start to fall in love, but the walls around their happily ever after are daunting and impenetrable.

Then like a true hero, Prince Nathaniel saves the day. And love wins.

Writing romance is so fun because everything in life requires love and romance, music and flowers. I love how Prince Nathaniel and Susanna met and fell in love. It’s almost as if it could’ve really happened.

It might just happen to you!

*courtesy of My Book Therapy.

www.twitter.com/rachelhauck

www.facebook.com/rachelhauck

Rachel Hauck is the bestselling author of ACFW Book of the Year winner Sweet Caroline, RITA Finalist Love Starts With Elle, bestselling and RITA Finalist The Wedding Dress, and of the critically acclaimed fiction collaboration with multi-platinum country artist Sara Evans, The Songbird Novels. Hauck’s latest release, Once Upon A Prince, is already receiving rave reviews, including a Starred Review from Publishers Weekly.

She is the past president of American Christian Fiction Writers and now serves on the Executive Board. Hauck is also one of five author contributors to Southern Belle View Daily.

Visit her website at www.rachelhauck.com to sign up for her newsletter, read her blog and follow her on Facebook(Rachel Hayes Hauck) and Twitter (@RachelHauck).

Review of Once Upon a Prince by Sally Black

This was a highly entertaining book to read. I enjoyed the fairy tale romance, which was much like Cinderella, an ordinary girl rescued by the handsome Prince Charming. I like how Rachel Hauck spun her story of Christian romance with a historical background, adding modern day royalty characters to the story. 

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