beauty and the beast

When Once Upon A Dream Has A Beast: Bloodstone

Posted on by Chelsey M. Ortega

“I know you

I walked with you 

Once upon a dream

I know you

The gleam in your eyes

Is so familiar a gleam…”

The adult version of Sleeping Beauty involves sensual dreams with a sexy, but faceless hunk; who also happens to be a beast – at least, that’s how others view him.

In Bloodstone by Helen C. Johannes, the heroine Mirianna has a dream lover who makes the men in her village pale in comparison. So Mirianna has saved herself for this dream man, constantly searching for him during the day. 

Durren has been cursed for fifteen years. No one can look upon his face without dying. So he completely covers himself in black clothing from head to foot, earning the feared nickname of the Shadow Man. He also dreams of a beauty who shudders under his touch for reasons other than fear. 

“And I know it’s true

That visions are seldom

As they seem.

But if I know you

I know what you’ll do.

You’ll love me at once

The way you did

Once upon a dream.”

Except that’s not what happens when Mirianna and Durren finally meet in person. Durren is in possession of the legendary bloodstones (gems made from dragon blood), and Mirianna’s father needs them to make jewelry for a client. Mirianna fears the Shadow Man and feels manipulated by him when she learns her dream lover is the legendary beast of the land. And Durren feels unworthy of Mirianna’s affections. But he gives in to his urges, and uses the threat of the real beast, Krad, to take Mirianna home with him. If she agrees to live with him, he’ll save the rest of her traveling party from the Krad. 

“Tale as old as time

True as it can be

Barely even friends

Then somebody bends

Unexpectedly

Just a little change

Small to say the least 

Both a little scared

Neither one prepared

Beauty and the beast.” 

Mirianna and Durren will navigate treachery, past mistakes, and life threatening plots with the help of a lioness and a blind boy. Amongst the danger and drama, they will be given the opportunity to fall in love and save the world.

I’m excited to introduce you to Helen C. Johannes, who has agreed to an interview. Helen is the author of three fantastic high fantasy romances: The Prince of Val-Feyridge, The Lord or Druemarwin, and Bloodstone. And a mid-grade fantasy Frederick Fly-Catcher. Helen lives in the Midwest with her husband and grown children.

How did you come up with bloodstones? Are they based on any existing jewel or gemstone?

They are loosely based on the Apache tear and obsidian. The Apache tear is darkly translucent, and obsidian is such a deep, glossy black, like clotted blood. I wanted something that would both be petrified hard and yet capable of radiating light when struck by the sun.

How I came up with the idea goes back to my father’s expeditions to Alaska to dredge for gold, and the stories he told about finding garnets among the gold flecks while panning. That’s the inspiration for the Shadow Man panning the stream in the early chapters and encountering the she-lion. My father and his friends, fortunately, never encountered anything larger than Alaskan ground squirrels.

I really admire your worldbuilding creativity in not just Bloodstone, but The Prince of Val-Feyridge and The Lord of Drumarwin. How do you come up with these lands, histories, cultures, and names? How much time does it take to create such extensive worlds?

This is challenging to answer since I’m very much an “into the mist” writer, and I create what I need when I need it, seemingly out of the stuff of my imagination. However, I’ve been fortunate to have traveled widely in Europe and the UK and to have studied medieval history before I concentrated on German and English language and literature. That connection to very old places and the treasure trove of myths, legends, and fairy tales, along with a love of tramping through castles, has given me a pretty solid grounding. You’ll probably recognize some Germanic as well as Old English in my names of people and places. And I must not forget mentioning how much The Lord of the Rings affected me when I read the books as a high school senior.

As far as names, some come almost instantly along with the full character (Rees and Pumble), some require refining or changing entirely (Syryk, Brandelmore), and some take half the book to decide what they want to be called (I’m looking at you, Shadow Man).

Were the connections to beloved fairy tales deliberate?

Having a big, illustrated collection of fairy tales as my first remembered childhood book probably is the reason fairy tales resonate with me. That and growing up on Disney’s animated versions of those tales. I don’t know that the connection is always deliberate so much as that the tales are archetypal stories embedded in our culture.

Bloodstone at its heart is a Beauty-and-the-Beast-type story, and I had that in mind from the beginning, but for The Prince of Val-Feyridge and Lord of Druemarwin, the Cinderella and Princess and the Pea connections arose organically from the characters and their journeys.

What are you currently working on? Do readers get to return to any previous worlds? Or are you bringing us someplace new?

I’ve just published my second children’s book, The Dis’Aster Family’s Halloween, a picture book based on characters my children created. My first children’s book is Frederick Fly-Catcher, a middle grade fantasy chapter book. Currently, I’m working on a throwback 1960’s YA romantic suspense/gothic (there’s something freeing about a setting that’s pre-computers and cell phones). And I’m mulling a return to a novella in the Crown of Tolem world. I gave myself plenty of characters to work with there.

Helen C. Johannes is one of my favorite fantasy authors. She has such an amazing imagination when it comes to world building, and a talent with words to show the reader that magical world. The clear connections between beloved fairy tales made the foreshadowing and guessing that much more fun. If you like your high fantasy intertwined with romance, then Bloodstone is for you. 

Follow Helen at her blog: https://helencjohannes.blogspot.com/

ACOTAR: Beauty and the Beast Meets the Goblet of Fire

Posted on by Chelsey M. Ortega

Across social media, I keep seeing this title pop up: A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas. Then, my editor recommended that I read the full series to help with some of the ideas I pitched for the sequel to Bondwitch. And when your editor tells you to read something, you read it. So, I moved it up to the top of my to-read list. I finished the first book and am halfway through the second, A Court of Mist and Fury.

ACOTAR was published in 2015, so I think it’s been out long enough that I can discuss it in depth without being accused of spoilers. However, if you haven’t read it and you care about going in blind, stop reading now. But I can promise, I will not give away a very important side plot, and I will not give away the end. 

The story begins with our human protagonist, Feyre, hunting in the woods. I actually got strong Hunger Games vibes in that first chapter. Feyre is the narrator, and she introduces her world to the reader while she hunts a doe. Feyre’s family is dirt poor, and her hunting is what feeds and clothes them. They live on the edge of the human world  and faerie world. Faeries are not small Tinker-Bell-and-friends creatures. They are powerful, dangerous and evil. The doe Feyre is hunting gets killed by a wolf. Feyre kills the wolf – with the understanding that it could be a faerie in disguise – skins it, and takes the deer’s body back home with the wolf’s skin.

The next night a beast breaks into Feyre’s house – the way Maas describes this beast made me imagine the zouwu from Fantastic Beasts The Crimes of Grindelwald. The beast can talk, and the wolf Feyre killed was a faerie. According to the beast, the treaty between faeries and humans allows faeries to exact revenge if a human kills a faerie. The faerie decides that Feyre will pay for the life she took by returning to his home with him and living the rest of her life in Prythian, the faerie land. 

At this point, the Beauty and the Beast parallels begin.

The Beast is a High Fae named Tamlin, he is the High Lord of the Spring Court. In his faerie form he is large and attractive, except a gold masquerade mask covers most of his face. In fact, all of his subjects wear masquerade masks. About fifty years before, they were cursed during a masquerade party and the masks were stuck on their faces. Although Tamlin may be the physical beast, Feyre is the one with a hardened heart that Tamlin and the other faeries will slowly soften during her stay. 

“Lumier and Cogsworth” are combined into one character named Lucien. He is Tamlin’s best friend and right hand man. He’s not particularly fond of Feyre, and leads her to believe he would prefer her dead. The two eventually grow on each other and develop a teasing friendship. 

“Mrs. Potts” is a faerie servant named Alis. She is assigned to be Feyre’s personal maid in helping her dress, do her hair, etc. Alis is not warm and welcoming. Feyre is a job to her, and making Feyre accept and follow faerie culture and fashion is her goal – at least from what Feyre can see. Alis’ “Chip” are her two orphaned nephews, but we don’t get to meet them, just learn about them. 

Other Easter Eggs include Feyre getting attacked  in the surrounding forest by some unsavory creatures, and Tamlin comes to her rescue. Another time, Tamlin returns to the castle in the middle of the night with a bleeding and injured hand. Feyre cleans it and patches it up for him. And last, Feyre loves to paint. Tamlin unlocks the art gallery in the castle for Feyre and gives her a room full of canvas, paints, and brushes. 

Feyre and Tamlin develop feelings for each other, and right when things are going well, their first large hurdle arrives. Rhysand is the High Lord of the Night Court. Tamlin and Lucien do not like him at all. Rhysand serves a woman named Amarantha that everyone seems to fear. Tamlin doesn’t believe that Rhysand will keep Feyre’s existence a secret, and sends Feyre back to the human world. The Beast lets Belle go. Tamlin tells Feyre he loves her, but she is so hurt he is sending her away that she refuses to say it back. 

While Feyre was away, Tamlin had imprinted false memories into her family’s minds and gifted them with a fortune. She struggles to fit in back home, and after a couple weeks finds herself traveling back to Prythian to demand Tamlin take her back. She arrives at a desolate and nearly destroyed castle. Alis is the only one left. She tells Feyre everything.

The Spring Court had been cursed fifty years ago by Amarantha as punishment for Tamlin refusing her advances. The way to break the curse was for a human woman to kill a faerie with hate in her heart and then fall in love with Tamlin and agree to marry him. Tamlin sent Feyre away three days before the deadline to break the curse. And as soon as that deadline was up, Amarantha dragged Tamlin and his court back to her own: Under the Mountain.  

And now, the Goblet of Fire begins.

Feyre travels to Under the Mountain where she is thrown in front of Amarantha and Tamlin. Feyre confesses her love to Tamlin. Amarantha offers Feyre a deal: beat three challenges, and Tamlin and his court will be freed. 

Much like young Harry, Feyre’s first challenge is to survive a dangerous flesh eating creature. She is dropped into a maze of tunnels belonging to a giant worm with razor sharp teeth. Unlike Harry, Feyre can’t just get by the giant worm. She has to kill the giant worm before it kills her. This challenge is where Feyre will prove to Amarantha’s court that humans can be strong and brave.  

Feyre’s second challenge also involves a riddle and saving someone she cares for. And no it’s not Tamlin. Amarantha wouldn’t risk her desired toy. Feyre and Lucien are stuck in a pit, metal bars separating them. A ceiling of spikes is slowly lowering toward them. Carved on the wall is a riddle. The answer to the riddle tells Feyre which of three levers to pull to stop the lowering of the spikes. There’s one major problem: Feyre is illiterate. An unexpected ally will help Feyre through this challenge.  

The third challenge doesn’t match Harry’s third task in the Triwizard tournament. And in fact, I’m not sure if I want to tell you what it is. What I will say is it is the most heart wrenching of everything that has happened so far and will lead to the grand finale. The ending was very unexpected for me and I’m still recovering from it.

A Court of Thorns and Roses is one of the more interesting books I’ve read recently. If you want an emotional roller coaster set to a magical backdrop, this book is for you. I’m so glad my editor recommended it. 5 stars.