Bianca Sommerland - The Making of 'Not So Snow White'

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The Making of 'Not So Snow White' by by Bianca Sommerland

Believe it or not, that was the original title for Rosemary Entwined. Not a title I'd ever planned to keep--more a label I slapped on the story unfolding in my mind. Actually, unfolding is too tame a word. From the second I first indulged in the idea of a ménage involving seven men--using the plot of Snow White as the skeleton and adding paranormal elements for the flesh and blood--the story took on a life of its own and trampled through my mind like a giant, rabid plot bunny. All the fragile seedlings of more tentative ideas had to be replanted out of harm's way. The men were already crowding out the other heroes lounging about in my subconscious, demanding names, telling me all about their lives before I'd found them.

'But wait!' I said 'Give me a minute to think up good names for you! You're moving too fast!'

They all laughed at me. Told me they already had names.

For some reason, I didn't think having heroes named 'Happy' or 'Dopey' would be very sexy. But despite my doubt, it worked out. Felix and Alaire sound good as far as I'm concerned. Kurt was just obvious. Before long I had seven names and seven very distinct personalities.

Then Rosemary slipped in and the men went silent. Of course, at that time, her name wasn't Rosemary. She was just 'the heroine', the woman who all these men would lust after.

My muse didn't like that idea. He stopped talking to me for awhile. Cut me off, refused to give me a reason why.

I spent a couple of days filling the blanks with research, doing my best to get the creative juices flowing again. No matter what I did, I just couldn't get past this nameless woman who just wasn't good enough for the men I'd already come to love. She didn't deserve them and I couldn't see how to fix that.

Instead of trying to force matters, I went back to the story of Snow White and ripped it apart in my head. What didn't I like about the story? What could I do to make it my own, to put my own erotic, romantic spin on the classic tale?

Well, the story had its heroes. I already knew exactly what I would do with my prince. But the heroine...

Then it hit me. What kind of fairytale has a heroine? Don't they usually have damsels in distress so pure it's nauseating? The classic too stupid to live (for those of you who don't know me, I harp on that a lot, those women are the bane of my existence) maiden wouldn't hold the interest of my heroes for long. So how did I find a woman who would deserve the love and respect of all these wonderful men?

I started by making sure she didn't believe she deserved them either. Not a new concept, but it was a good start. The more research I did, the easier it became to see how this could happen. Rosemary--whose name was the topic of another post, so I won't get into it now--needs every one of those men to survive. She's known all her life that without a nest of loyal men, she wouldn't survive. She grew up believing she would never be beautiful enough to earn that kind of devotion.

One constant in all the retellings of Snow White is the narcissism of the Queen. Whether she is Snow White's step-mother, or her actual mother, in the story, her motives revolve around making sure she is the most beautiful in the land. But why? Why would it matter so much?

From that point on, the story seemed to write itself. The answers came to me and I couldn't write fast enough to get them all down. I knew what kind of creature would need the 'nest' I'd made the core of the story, I'd figured out how Rosemary survived being raised by a demon who'd view her as a threat. I even found ways to use some of the key elements from the original tales as a nice little twist.

And then I came up with the key to making this very lucky girl absolutely miserable. Actually, I think as a writer, the more you like a character, the easier it is to answer 'What's the worst thing I can do to this person?'.

This line explains it all:

One kiss might save her, but if Rosemary has to lose even one of her men, she doesn't want a prince.

Aww, isn't that sweet. Too bad she doesn't have a choice. Finding a prince isn't an option.

Here's a little excerpt I chose to show the moment Rosemary is faced with the dilemma. Naturally it comes shortly after everything seems to be going well for her. Her past catches up with her, almost kills her:

EXCERPT:

As though her thoughts had called him, Kurt stepped into the room. “I've figured it out.” He frowned when Shiloh skittered away from the bed to put space between them. Then he continued, “If the nest was complete, we would share powers. Felix would have been able to break the spell using either my talents or Shiloh's. I thought having seven would be enough, but I hadn't considered an essential part might be missing.”

“An essential part.” Rosemary's brow furrowed. She tried to think of all she knew of nests. What could be missing?

“You need a prince, Rosemary. You haven't chosen one, which means the one you need is still out there somewhere.” He ran his hand over his hair, expression dark. “You'll have to find him and let one of us go.”

“No.” Rosemary looked at Shiloh who had wilted as though she'd chosen to abandon him already.

“It's not happening.”

“You don't have a choice.” Kurt stepped up to the bed and rested his hands on the edge. She could see him fighting to hold the shards of his control together. Everything he'd been pushing her towards made what she had to do that much harder and he took full responsibility. Whatever accusations she wanted to throw at him were held back by the knowledge that nothing she could say would be worse than what he was saying to himself.

But she couldn't help a last ditch effort to deny him. “I have a choice. I'm the queen and I've chosen my nest as it stands.”

“Fighting this will kill you.” He dropped his eyes when she gave him a closed off look. “If you won't think of yourself, think of the others. We are bound to you. If you die, so do we all.”

So there you have it. Pretty simple, eh? ;)

For more of Bianca Sommerland visit: http://imnoangelauthorsblog.wordpress.com/

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