Why Science Fiction & Fairy Tales?

I enjoy science fiction and fantasy, fairy tales for adults. Sometime grim, sometimes fun, always a little strange. At the turn of 2016/ 17 I published my first book, a science fiction novel. It was an interesting journey, new characters plotting, the twists and turns of life slipping away. And then the unexpected. I intended to write another science fiction story when I unearthed some long lost, forgotten tales. Stories of another time. None complete. Waiting hidden for a writers hand.

I was particularly inspired by “The Princess Behind”, although it was not called that then. A revealing insight into a world so organised and strange. As an outsider peering in I wondered how could people live like that? Surely it cannot get more  strange? Yet it did, every move, every page drew me in. I was lost with the princess, joining her searching for explanation and meaning. And then the journey embraced a new twist and ended. It felt too short, yet I could see no way forward. I pondered some time on a resolution and then found it, in a simple step. The Princess’s next step. The journey continued.

Zena the Wondrous Beetle was a very different story yet shared similarities. Zena, a beetle, lives in another world. Her plight casts our plight in a fresh light. One of the tale’s earlier titles was “The way life is arranged.” The beetles have little sense of discrimination, unfairness, or plight, it is simply the way life is arranged. The tale of Zena is short and says so much. There is little at this stage that I can add.

So what next? I am still dusting, polishing and tidying these new found fairy tales and hope, soon, to publish a number of the more polished tales in a collection. No doubt, more mysteries and surprises will come to light…