Once upon a time, during my quest to complete my university education, I had the great luck to take an English class that dealt with fairy tales. For four months we engaged in hot debates about what message each tale tried to convey, what elements were necessary for a retelling of a particular fairy tale, and who did it better: The Grimm brothers, Hans Christian Anderson, Perrault, or Walt Disney?
No other class could match this one for sheer fun. I sped through the readings, often reading ahead, and for once in my academic career, I actively engaged in class discussions. Fairy tales brought out a passion in me that I lacked for my chosen field of study (psychology), and so it's no wonder that they heavily influence the novels I write. Now I'd like to share some of the lessons from that class, or at least, my takes on the lessons from that class with the world.
The first tale I'll tackle, since my current novel deals with it, is Bluebeard, a lovely, cautionary tale about a man who kills his wives.
Happy reading.
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