Tag: Writing

The People the Fairies Forget

On By cherylmahoneyIn Fiction Friday2 Comments

First, a Happy Guy Fawkes Day to everyone!  And an acknowledgment to Edith Nesbit and her book, The House of Arden, which taught me the November 5th rhyme before V for Vendetta made it trendy.  I’ll review Nesbit another day…

…but today is Friday, and on Fridays I plan to share my own writing.  For my first “Fiction Friday,” I thought I’d start with my biggest current project.  As you know if you’ve glanced at my “About the Author” page or my user profile, I’m an aspiring novelist, and right now I’m mostly aspiring with The People the Fairies Forget.

I love novels that retell fairy tales, so I wrote one myself.  It follows the adventures of Tarragon (or Tarry, for friends), who is an unusual fairy–no sparkles, no little wings, and did I mention he’s male?  Also unlike his sparkly fairy colleagues, he’s much more interested in ordinary people than in royalty (for one thing, commoner girls are more willing to dance at a party).

Tarry tells us his tale as he tries to help the ordinary people who end up as the unintended victims of familiar fairy tales–the kitchen maid who falls asleep with the rest of the castle when Sleeping Beauty pricks her finger…the girl who gets stuck engaged to the prince when Cinderella’s slipper fits her, even though she’d rather marry someone else…Beauty’s brother, who’d rather not be whisked off to live at the Beast-turned-Prince’s castle.  The stories are familiar, but the focus is different, as new stories lurking in the corners of the fairy tale emerge into the spotlight.

The People the Fairies Forget is a completed novel, so if you know an agent or a publisher who might be interested, I’d love to hear from you!  My email address is cherylmahoney42@gmail.com.  Here’s the first five pages–which are also available at the link above.

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            If I’d had the sense to stay away from the royal christening, it might have saved a great heap of trouble.  But I never could resist a good party, or the excellent food people invariably serve at good parties.

            I made my way through the crowd at the christening, brushing past silks and satins and trusting that my hair was shaggy enough to hide my pointed ears.  That always makes it easier for me to mingle among humans.  I was trusting to the size of the crowd to keep anyone from noticing that I hadn’t been invited.  A lack of an invitation never bothers me.  Unlike some fairies I could name if I cared to, I don’t launch curses just because someone forgets to add me onto the guest list for their festivities.  Besides, there’s nothing like a curse to kill a mood and spoil everyone’s appetite, which wouldn’t help me enjoy the party at all. Continue reading “The People the Fairies Forget” →

Quotable Peggy Christian

On By cherylmahoneyIn QuotableLeave a comment

“A page of print is like a secret passage that leads you to worlds so far away, you cannot imagine them until the magic of reading carries you there.”

—Peggy Christian, in The Bookstore Mouse

Once Upon a Time…

On By cherylmahoneyIn Ruminations2 Comments

And so it begins.  Welcome to the first post of “Tales of the Marvelous.”  This blog is–or will be–based around a passion for books, writing, and discussions about both.  So if you’re looking for suggestions for good books, or just like talking about them, you’re in the right place!

On Mondays and Wednesdays, I plan to post reviews of marvelous (and not so marvelous) tales I’ve read.  Young adult fantasy is a major focus, but not an exclusive one.  I’ll try to point you–or a YA reader you know–to some good books, and warn you about some not so good ones.  If you’ve read a book I’m writing about, I hope you’ll tell me what you think too–and feel free to give me suggestions on books to review.

On Fridays, I’ll share my own tales, which I hope you’ll find marvelous!  Even if you don’t, feedback (constructive, please!) is always welcome.

In between, I’ll share anything else that seems of interest, be it favorite quotes or ruminations on life.

You might wonder why I choose to focus mainly on juvenile and young adult.  For one thing, I’d like to note that I do read books for “grown-ups” too.  And I’m selective in my J and YA reading–some really are juvenile in every sense of the word.  I try to find the ones that have cross-age appeal, and the best do.  The best J and YA books are really not that different in most ways from grown-up books–except they’re cleaner, and they’re more likely to have happy endings.  Because I’m a clean humor, happy ending kind of girl, I like that.

I’m also an aspiring novelist, writing YA, so in a way it’s like research too…

So that you’ll have some idea what kind of books I’ll be recommending…I like books with strong heroines, with humor, and with at least a little romance.  I have a weakness for cocky heroes who can pull off impossible stunts.  I like a little mystery and suspense, but I don’t like anything too horrifying.  I don’t like what I call “troubled teen” books, with a few exceptions; I’m sure they have their purpose, but I’m not a fan.  I like books that tell a good story and also have a point, without letting either one get in the way of the other.  I like stories about chasing dreams.  I like that in J and YA books, you can have pirates and dragons and noble virtues, and that things tend to work out in the end.

Thanks for joining me, here at the beginning of the blog.  Whatever brought you here, welcome.  Stay a while, and I’ll try to find you a tale…