Fun with Fairy Tale Romances by Linda Jones

Fairy tales are having a renaissance of sorts. With the popularity of the show Once Upon a Time and the critically acclaimed holiday blockbuster Into the Woods, in theaters now, starring Meryl Streep, Johnny Depp, Chris Pine, Anna Kendrick and Emily Blunt, it is clear fairy tales are here to stay.

Fairy tales are popular in the romance world as well. Bestselling, veteran romance author Linda Jones is best-known for her fairy tale romances, and as a special treat, she has decided to tell us her own tale. Learn how Linda begun writing fairy tale romances and where she finds her inspiration! 

As a special treat, today only Big Bad Wolf, a modern, romantic twist on Little Red Riding Hood, by Linda Jones is on sale for $1.99 from Early Bird Books!

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I will admit the first fairy tale romance I wrote was not entirely my idea. My editor called and invited me to participate in a yearlong series of fairy tale romances. I was a new author on the scene and, therefore, not the first to be invited, so the traditional romantic fairy tales — Sleeping Beauty, Snow White, Cinderella— had already been claimed by other authors. So there I was, pacing in my office like a madwoman, trying to come up with an idea. My youngest son, eleven at the time, came into the room to ask me what was wrong. “Fairy tales,” I said, snapping my fingers in his direction. “Name some fairy tales.” He did. Starting with The Three Little Pigs. I quickly rejected that one, and he continued, undaunted, with Goldilocks and the Three Bears. Again, I rejected his idea. This was supposed to be a romance, after all, and I told him so. He suggested that at the end of the story, Brad Pitt could jump through the window and save the girl. No, I said, the hero would have to be one of the bears.

That was my lightbulb moment. Of course, the hero would have to be one of the bears. In an instant the Barrett brothers — and Someone’s Been Sleeping in my Bed— were born. It was supposed to be a one time thing—a limited, twelve month series, but one day months later I was driving when the old classic Li’l Red Riding Hood (by Sam the Sham and the Pharaohs!) came on the radio, and I had another of those moments. I pitched the idea of Big Bad Wolf, and again, my editor went for it. She even joked that one day I’d write a fairy tale romance based on The Three Little Pigs. We both laughed, but eventually . . . I did.

When you’re sitting around talking to friends bemoaning the fact that you can never do that story because you can’t give your heroine the last name Pigg and someone says, “My maiden name was Pigg,” well, it was meant to be. Thus, Let Me Come In was born.

I ended up writing several twisted—mangled, tongue-in-cheek, maybe a little perverted—fairy tale romances, and each one came about in a similar way. A phrase, a song, a picture. Something was triggered in my brain and the stories unfolded from there. I found inspiration in the more modern, less nightmare-inspiring versions of these classic stories, as well as in the original Grimm tales. Talk about twisted . . .

And I loved every minute of it. Writing these fairy tale romances was perhaps the most fun I ever had at the computer. I hope they are just as much fun for the reader as they were for me!