Sunday 25 November 2012

Guest Post: Laurey Buckland talks fairy tales

Today I'm pleased to welcome another debut author, Laurey Buckland, to my blog to talk about why she decided to choose fairy tales as a theme for her first book.

Fairy tales have saturated our media over the last year in terms of films and television series, but that is not the reason I chose to base my debut novel on them. In fact, at the time I started writing, I thought I was on to something original. However, the fact the tales themselves have been around for centuries means that nothing that draws inspiration from them is truly original. So why bother? 
 
Well…they were an appropriate theme for my story as fairy tales reflect universal themes of social class, love, money, appearance, the good, the bad, the ugly and everything in between – otherwise known as real life. Reality is where I set my story. No magic, no Fairy Godmothers to put things right or handsome princes to rescue damsels in distress. Just blood sweat and tears in a bid to discover that elusive happily ever after, which I believe every person on this planet seeks, whether they realise it or not.

One of the hardest parts though is realising when we have attained that happily-ever-after. What really defines it? What really makes us happy? That is what I wanted to explore and show how different those endings can be for different people. At 27-years-old, I have spent more than a decade of getting to together with girlfriends and regaling each other with countless stories (over the obligatory glass of wine as that helps true feelings flow) regarding love, life, work, sex, bad dates and good relationships.

I wanted my characters to become 'every women,'  with facets and traits readers can hopefully relate to.  So meet daydreamer Maddie, obsessive compulsive Clare, over dramatic Isobel and happy-go-lucky Sophie, who seem to live in a world of tragic rather than magic.  They are four friends who I am sure you have met many times before.  Perhaps you are even one of them.

For Maddie life is a constant battle against monotony of a job she hates while her heart aches to be somewhere else.  She longs to follow her dreams but lacks the self-belief and courage to take the risk.

Clare is struggling to vanquish her teenage insecurities about her appearance and is unable to see herself for the beautiful woman she really is - an ugly duckling some might say, who would rather believe the worst in men than accept the best about herself.

Isobel lives life according to other's expectations - mostly her mothers.  But the life of little lies she's weaved whether it be her over-confidence, her uncompromising strength or even the indifference she shows to those she believes dislike her, means she is too afraid to let her guard down and reveal the real girl she is for fear people will use it against her.

Sophie already has what most girls dream of - the perfect job and the perfect boyfriend who worships the ground she walks on. However, believing that such happiness is too good to be true, she lets rumour and suspicion poison the life she’s built. 

Yet, with the love and support of their friends and a little bit of luck, the girls soon realise that happy ever afters are not just reserved for fairy tale fiction – as long as they start believing in them…and each other. 

Everyone deserves a happily ever after - what's yours?

A Girl's Guide to Fairy Tales is out now as an eBook and is available from Amazon UK, Amazon US or iTunes so if this sounds like your type of book, why not grab yourself a copy today.

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