THE SAME, ONLY DIFFERENT
by Cathy Yardley

Does anybody else watch the show TOP CHEF? It's one of my guiltiest pleasures. One of my favorite challenges is when they give the chefs "traditional" dishes--fried chicken, pork & beans, whatever--and have them reinvent a classic in a new style. It forces them to become wildly creative with something that's ordinary. The limitation is what creates the innovation.

I've always loved fairy tales. (I saw Disney's BEAUTY & THE BEAST twenty eight times. In the theater. Swear to God.) As much fun as the animated movies are, I especially love the original versions. They're deliciously dark, gothic, sexy, scary, surprising.

I knew I wanted to "reinvent" these classics: put them in modern day, but still touch on the recognizable elements. That's how I came up with CRAVE: THE SEDUCTION OF SNOW WHITE. Everyone knows the stories: that's the challenge. How do you do something the same, but make it totally fresh, relevant, riveting, and hot?

I had no idea what a blast answering that question was going to be. This book is the first in a trilogy of "reinvented" fairy tales. I have had the most fun of my life writing them. The next two are RAVISH: THE AWAKENING OF SLEEPING BEAUTY and ENSLAVE: THE TAMING OF THE BEAST. (You can imagine how much I'm looking forward to that one, especially!)

So, I'm posing the question to you: what's your favorite fairy tale, myth, legend? And what authors have written the most enjoyable and fresh interpretations of that story?