Everybody Loves A Fairy Tale

By: Helena Fairfax

Congratulations to "Kris K", the winner of Helena's giveaway. Thank you to all who participated!

What is the power that fairy tales have over us?  Have you ever met anyone who doesn’t love a happy ending?  The fairy tales we love today have survived for centuries of telling and retelling.  Before print, these stories were passed down in an oral tradition from ageing grandparents to their enthralled grandchildren.  Then came the first ever printed books, beautifully bound, with illustrations that delighted and amazed the readers.  I still remember how, as a child, the picture of the witch in my copy of Rapunzel used to terrify me!

And now, thanks to the likes of Walt Disney and Pixar, we can see these stories brought to life right before us in 3D, and we can cry at our hero’s tribulations, and rejoice when our heroine triumphs over adversity, and we leave the cinema with a tremendous feeling of emotional satisfaction that all has ended as it should.

And in real life, how we long for our fairy tales to come true!  Just think of weddings, for example.  I’m a British author, and in 2011 the whole of the UK had a day’s holiday to celebrate the wedding of Prince William and his girlfriend.  Just like in a fairy tale, people lined the streets, there were street parties, a fabulous wedding dress, a golden carriage, and all contained in an atmosphere of real joy.  We hope so hard for the fairy tale to be true.  Even the most hardened cynic would wish a fairy tale ending for our handsome Prince, who has had to cope with his own adversity.

When it came to writing The Silk Romance, I wanted to recreate that fairy tale feeling in a modern setting.  I wanted to create a handsome hero who is fundamentally a decent and likable guy.  I wanted to put him together with an affectionate heroine, who is kind and cheerful.  I gave them a ball and a night of happiness…and then I snatched it all away from them in the most cruel and wicked stepmother way.

Throughout the rest of the novel, I wanted the reader to will these two characters to get the happy ending they so thoroughly deserved, and for the fairy tale to end as it should.  When one of my British readers contacted me, I was thrilled to think I might have succeeded.  Here are her words on finishing the book (and please do excuse the British language!) ‘It’s bloody brilliant!  Had me in tears last night and am now overjoyed. They’re a lovely couple.  I really, really enjoyed it.’

I was so happy at my reader’s reaction.  Isn’t that great feeling of emotional satisfaction what we love most at the end of a fairy tale?  And of course we love a happy ending, but don’t let anyone ever tell you these stories are for dreamers.  Here’s what Albert Einstein has to say: ‘If you want your children to be intelligent, read them fairy tales. If you want them to be more intelligent, read them more fairy tales.’

So there we are – fairy tales are good for the soul and good for the brain!

 Here’s the blurb to The Silk Romance:

Jean-Luc Olivier is a courageous racing-driver, a hero to millions, with the world before him.  Sophie Challoner is a penniless student, whose face is unknown beyond her own rundown estate in London.  The night they spend together in Paris seems to Sophie like a fairytale—a Cinderella story without the happy ending. One night of happiness is all Sophie allows herself. She runs away from Jean-Luc and returns to England to keep a sacred promise.

Safely back home with her father and brother, and immersed in her college work, Sophie tries her best to forget their encounter, but she reckons without Jean-Luc.  He is determined to find out why she left him, and intrigued to discover the real Sophie.  He engineers a student placement Sophie can’t refuse, and so, unwillingly, she finds herself back in France, working for Jean-Luc in the silk mill he now owns.

Thrown together for a few short weeks in Lyon, the romantic city of silk, their mutual love begins to grow.  But it seems the fates are conspiring against Sophie’s happiness.  Jean-Luc has secrets of his own.  Then, when disaster strikes at home in London, Sophie is faced with a choice—stay in this glamorous world with the man she loves, or return to her family to keep the promise she made her mother.

If you’ve enjoyed my post, I’d love you to call in on my Facebook page.  Or you can also find me on Twitter @helenafairfax, or on Goodreads.  And I have my own blog at www.helenafairfax.com.  Please do get in touch - I love to meet new people!

The Silk Romance is available as an e-book from MuseItUp Publishing, Amazon UK / Amazon US  B&N, Kobo and other major e-tailers.

And if you’d like to know a little more about me, here’s my author bio:

Helena Fairfax was born in Uganda and came to England as a child.  She’s grown used to the cold now and that’s just as well, because nowadays she lives in an old Victorian mill town in Yorkshire, right next door to windswept Brontë country.  She has an affectionate, if half-crazed, rescue dog and together they tramp the moors every day—one of them wishing she were Emily Brontë, the other vainly chasing pheasants.   When she’s not out on the moors you’ll find Helena either creating romantic heroes and heroines of her own or else with her nose firmly buried in a book, enjoying someone else’s stories.  Her patient husband and her brilliant children support her in her daydreams and are the loves of her life.

Thank you to the ladies of Just Contemporary Romance for having me on your blog.  I’ve loved being here among so many other fabulous books and authors!

Giveaway:
Helena will be giving away a digital copy of THE SILK ROMANCE to one lucky person leaving a comment or email entry.

Giveaway ends 11:59pm EST Aug. 4th. Please supply your email in the post. You may use spaces or full text for security. (ex. jsmith at gmail dot com) If you do not wish to supply your email, or have trouble posting, please email maureen@JustContemporaryRomance.com with a subject title of JCR GIVEAWAY to be entered in the current giveaway.