Paper and Thorns has Arrived

 About a month ago, Paper and Thorns made its debut into the world. After some delays getting the Kindle edition up and running, I'm glad to say that this series is firmly established.

Yes, you read right. Series. But more on that later.

If you have missed my previous glimpses into Paper and Thorns, here's a little backstory. I have always loved the story of "Beauty and the Beast" (see also my recent post about the story over at SpeculativeFaith). Back when Disney's live action remake of the animated film came out, my artist friend Mirriam sketched what she thought the Beast should have looked like (I'll give you a hint: there were lots of horns and menace going on). The design sparked an idea and I started chipping away at the story of that Beast and what his happy ending might (or might not) look like.

After a couple of false starts, Paper and Thorns really took off. It's a short book (less than 100 pages), and that is purposeful. I tend to struggle keeping a story brief unless I start out with the intention of it being a short story (and even then, sometimes the idea just begs to be something larger). With Paper and Thorns, I saw an opportunity to challenge myself to write something that wasn't novel-length, while allowing for a little more development than most of my short stories (which tend to be 5000-7500 words, about 1/4-1/3 of Paper and Thorns' final length). I'm happy to say that I met that challenge, and it has opened up the possibility of doing more, smaller books in between my massive stories like the Albion series. 

Speaking of series, you'll notice I said "more" books like this one, and "series" at the start of the post.

Yes, Paper and Thorns is the start of a new series, titled Princes Never Prosper. That title comes from a Fae proverb in the world of the book: "Curses and kisses may answer your wishes, but princes never prosper." To the Fae, it's a warning that happy endings are not easy and don't always come to everyone. They have to be worked for and fought to be kept. (For those of you who've read the book and are saying, "I don't remember that line!" don't worry. It's not there. As I said, this is something the Fae of this world say. But I promise it will show up in a future installment.)

Princes Never Prosper is going to be home to a lot of retellings, including fairy tales, Greek myths, and even a few classic adventure tales. At the moment, I have plans to retell "Rapunzel," "Sleeping Beauty," "Tam Lin," "The Wild Swans," "The Little Mermaid," "Cinderella," "Snow White and Rose Red," Peter Pan, Treasure Island, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, The Phantom of the Opera, A Midsummer Night's Dream, The Nutcracker, and many more in some capacity. Most of these will be novellas like Paper and Thorns, though I have at least two full-length novels planned as well.

Although I had previously mentioned the possibility of Paper and Thorns crossing over with Albion Academy, I have come to realize this is unlikely to happen. This world is distinct from the world of Albion Academy and the bulk of my other stories, and it needs to be for the sake of letting these stories paint their own version of the Fae. (And trust me, the Fae have a lot going on in this series.)

If you think some of those stories sound exciting and others aren't your cup of tea, that's okay. This series isn't going to be as heavily serialized as something like the Albion books. There will be characters appearing in multiple books and storylines that develop as the series progresses, but I am striving for each story to stand on its own as much as possible, unless there are stories which are intentionally intertwined, as my Greek stories will be. In those cases, my current plan is to publish those novellas together in a larger collection either initially or soon after completion.

So what's next for Princes Never Prosper? I'm working on the second novella now. It's a "Tam Lin" story that fills in the backstory of a popular secondary character from Paper and Thorns while still giving us a glimpse of what comes after Molly and the Beast's story.

In the meantime, please check out Paper and Thorns, if you haven't already.

Art by the fabulous Mirriam Neal

What if Beauty cursed the Beast?

They were never supposed to meet, but from their first encounter backstage, Molly and the Beast found themselves drawn into each other's worlds. It looked like happily ever after, until Molly's Fae mother tracked them down. Now time is running out, and the only way for the Beast to save Molly is to complete three impossible tasks. But can true love break an unbreakable curse?

Paper and Thorns is the first novella in the Princes Never Prosper series, which filters beloved fairy tales through a contemporary lens. It is available on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and Books-A-Million. The Kindle edition is here, and the ebook is also available at most other ebook retailers like Nook and Kobo. You can add it on Goodreads here.

If you are interested in reviewing Paper and Thorns and would like to request a digital review copy, please fill out the "Get in Touch" form on the left of the page or send an email to me here and specify whether you would prefer an epub, PDF, or mobi/Kindle file.