Ever since the outbreak of the Plague, life hasn’t been easy, and for seventeen-year-old Alice Carroll, it just got worse. Her sister, Dinah, has contracted the ‘un-deadly’ Momerath Virus and without a cure, will soon be worse than dead. She’ll be momerath.

Alice must leave the safety of the Sector and venture into Momerath Territory to find the antidote – if it exists. Chasing a rumor about a mysterious doctor with the cure, Alice falls down the rabbit hole into Wanderland, where ravenous momerath aren’t the only danger lurking.

Guest Post

How do you handle a fairy tale retelling?

When I write a retelling, it’s all about the ‘twist.’ My favorite thing about retellings is that they take classic stories and make them something entirely new, so to me, making sure that they have a great spin is essential. Also, I find that once I have that, the rest of the story seems to fall in place.

Once I know my twist, I do my research! And by research, I mean go back to the original. I want my retellings to really let readers experience their favorite stories in a new way, so I love throwing nods to the originals in as many ways as I can. Sometimes it is in character names and traits, or places, or events in the story. But regardless of what pieces I take, I always try my best to stay true to the original storyline, while making it my own. So keeping my twist in mind, I start searching for the building elements for my story.

After I have finished my research (and have written notes all over my book), I start outlining. I wish I could tell you my process for outlining is super sophisticated and enlightening, but really, it’s not. I start by writing what I want my beginning, middle, and end to be and then put in the big events that will happen in each. After each basic point is set, I go through once more and ‘bulk it up’ with the pieces that I want to incorporate from the original, and add in a few more connecting details so it reads like a very (VERY) rough synopsis. Sometimes I leave notes for myself that I think are witty or clever, but usually, it’s just me being a dork and thinking that I’m funny, but it makes going back to the outline more entertaining at least.

When that is finished, and I have my story skeleton, I dive in (again, SUPER sophisticated, I know) and start writing! At this point, there is a massive amount of coffee consumption, lots of story inspired music, and general headbanging against the keyboard. After a few months of this process repeated daily, somehow, a story appears! It’s kind of like magic. But I think that’s what I love most about retellings. They continue the lives of classic stories that inspire millions to love literature and believe in magic of their own. By working with retellings, I get to experience a little of this each time I write, and it’s magic.

Retelling magic.