What is it about fairytales
that continue to capture our imagination and the imaginations of our children? A more profound question is
this. Why do so many writers feel compelled to reinvent the fairytale?
Well, today I have with me,
Bobbi A. Chukran, who has just written a very entertaining, lively and humorous
book called, Princess Primrose and the
Curse of the Big Sleep. The inspiration of this book (her twentieth!) has
come from not one fairytale but several, which she has interweaved into one
story.
Moribunda McEvil (a wicked witch) is
furious when she learns from Snitch, a tattletale fairy, that she has a
beautiful niece, (Princess Primrose), whom she's never seen.
With the help of her sidekick Eargore (a spell gone really, really
wrong), she quickly sets out to ruin Primrose's life by putting a sleeping
curse on her.
In a fit of remorse, Snitch runs to
the palace to warn Queen Floribunda and King Rosario about the
curse, but in his hurry he misunderstands and gets everything
wrong. The Queen hires S. White & R. Rapunzel, Inquiry Agents, to
help. But by the time they get to the
palace, it's too late--Princess Primrose has had an accident and fallen into a
Big Sleep.
With the assistance of their
seven elven sidekicks (Nosy, Snoops, Sherlock, Stealthy, Creeper,
Gumshoe and Marlowe), and a young witch who can only reverse spells (Miss
Slumberkins), Snow White and Rapunzel Rapunzel search the kingdom for
a Prince. What they end up with is a an enchanted frog
who's afraid of germs (Prince Thaddeus A. Pole, AKA “Tad”), a
motley assortment of enchanted creatures and Weasel the Wizard,
who makes a bargain with the detectives for an essential potion
that will save the day.
Filled with twisted stories, fairy
tale mash-ups, fun word play, misunderstandings and hilarious
dialogue (and a happy, yet twisted ending), this story
will delight anyone who still believes in magic.
You'll never look at a frog
the same way again.
AMM: Bobbi, I’m going
to start with a question I believe most children would love to ask you. What
inspires you to write?
BAC: A lot of the times I'm
inspired to write because of a title that pops into my head, or I think about
how cool it would be if I did a different version of some classic, always with
a different ending. Many of my short stories and plays start this way.
Some are based on real-life situations (like a neighbor cutting down a
perfectly healthy tree), or are inspired by a theme, such as a holiday story,
but most just come in as snippets here and there. I always see a story
played out in my mind like a movie--I guess that's why I can write both plays
and books.
AMM: What a
gift to be able to visualize your stories in movie form! So what made you
decide you would like to write for kids?
BAC: I didn't make a
conscious decision to write for kids in the beginning. Although my mystery
novel, Lone Star Death, was for
adults, I had written three non-fiction early readers as a work-for-hire
project and thought I'd like to eventually write more for kids. My first play, Annierella & the (Very Awesome) Good
Queen Fairy Cowmother, was written as an adult play. I always saw it as a
sort of PG-rated Monty Python skit. But of course, when you write
anything that's based on a fairy story (in this case, a very loose Texas-style
adaptation of Cinderella but with a totally different ending), people assume
it's a kid's story. A director read about the play on a Yahoo group and
asked if I'd submit it for a youth theatre festival he does in North Dakota
during the summer. Of course I said YES! The play won several
awards, and since then, I've written a long string of similar plays that have
been done by kids. Annierella
was eventually published by Brooklyn Publishers and has been produced across
the country and the sequel (Annierella
and the (Not So) Secret Garden) is premiering in North Dakota this
week! The same group also did Little
Red Riding Boots & Cooter Coyote, Master of Disguise last year, and it
also won awards.
Princess Primrose won an award from a children's theatre in
Arizona, so I decided to turn it into a novel. People don't usually read
a lot of plays, and I wanted to get the story out there.
AMM: Very impressive, and huge kudos to you, Bobbi.
I’ve noticed you have something else working in your favor: humor, which is a
talent unto itself. Does that come naturally to you?
BAC: The humor that creeps into my stories comes mostly from the
characters, and the antics they get up to in my head. Once I have the
bare bones of the plot, and the characters, they really do start acting out and
sometimes it's like taking dictation. I've been told that I'm funny in real
life, so I guess it just tends to seep into the story. I don't consciously try
to be funny. I do like reading humorous books, and love watching funny plays,
classic cartoons, British comedies and movies, and I think that helps. Although
the characters in Princess Primrose
took off on their own, I did catch myself thinking what would be really crazy
to do in this particular scene? What would a jester do in this case? So
then I turned it around, and made him sad. People aren't expecting that.
AMM: And you
also illustrate your books. How does that work? Do you first see the vision of what you want,
draw it and then write? OR do you first write the story and then draw the
illustrations?
BAC: Princess
Primrose and the Curse of the Big Sleep is the only kid's book that I've illustrated. I have done photos
for other non-fiction books, but not these types of drawings. I do have an art
degree, and over the years have been in an inner struggle: art or
writing? I've pretty much been able to do both, but thought it would be
cool to combine them in a book. Since I'd already written the play this
book is based on, I sort of had an idea what the characters looked like in my
head. However, I also doodle strange characters, and after I draw them,
like to put them into stories. So other books might spring out of those
drawings.
AMM: You’re
lucky. I wish I could draw. It must be so rewarding to go beyond words and ‘concretize’
the image of a character, or place. What age group have you written Princess Primrose and the Curse of the Big
Sleep for? And how did you come up with this take on such a timeless story.
BAC: Realistically, I expect
that kids in middle grades will like it, and appreciate the characters and
humor. The play was written for all ages to perform, from 8 on up through
adult. In the case of Princess
Primrose and the Curse of The Big Sleep, I wanted to combine a handful of
different fairy tales into one story. Since I also write and love to read
mystery stories, I wanted to do a spoof on noir detective stories, so I
wondered, who would be good for the main detective characters? I always
write about strong female characters, so Snow White and Rapunzel popped into my
head. With Snow White, of course, came the seven little dwarves, except I
made them elves. So then I asked, what other kinds of characters would populate
a story of this type? I added a princess, an enchanted frog, a queen and
king, a court jester, a wicked witch and a wizard. I have SO much fun
naming the characters. So by the time the story was plotted out, I had
mixed the stories of Sleeping Beauty, the Frog Prince, Snow White, Rapunzel,
etc. except in a crazy, mixed-up way. All of my comedies, plays and
stories, seem to develop along these lines.
AMM: That is so
cool!!! I have one final question. What’s next for you?
BAC: What's next? Good
question! LOL. I just published a short comedy caper holiday story, and
since I write PG-rated stuff, it's suitable for all ages. I have a whole
backlog of plays, short stories and book ideas that I want to get out there, so
am slowly working my way through the pile. Working on both kid's books and
plays, and adult-level stories keeps me from getting bored.
Bobbi
A. Chukran is a native Texan who now lives in Taylor, a small town outside
Austin. Bobbi earned an art degree from the University of Texas in ‘81,
majoring in studio art/design.
Bobbi
has always loved writing stories, and her first book was published in
1984. Over the years, Bobbi has combined
writing and art careers, but didn’t start writing for kids until 2000 when
three of her non-fiction early readers were published by The Wright Group.
Never
content to get bored or to choose Just One Thing, since then Bobbi has also written
mystery fiction, poetry, short stories, and award-winning plays for young
people. Plays are her favorite thing to write. Four of Bobbi’s plays have won
awards in national competitions. Many of
Bobbi’s books and stories start out as plays.
Princess Primrose and the Curse of the
Big Sleep is Bobbi’s twentieth
published book.
Bobbi
blogs about writing at http://bobbichukran.blogspot.com
and her official website is at: http://bobbichukran.com
Princess Primrose and the Curse of the Big Sleep can be purchased at:
http://www.amazon.com/Princess-Primrose-Curse-Sleep-ebook/dp/B00CZFI76M
http://www.amazon.com/Princess-Primrose-Curse-Big-Sleep/dp/0944577091
http://www.amazon.com/Princess-Primrose-Curse-Sleep-ebook/dp/B00CZFI76M
http://www.amazon.com/Princess-Primrose-Curse-Big-Sleep/dp/0944577091
Great interview! Thanks Ann Marie and Bobbi!
ReplyDeleteIt was my pleasure, Brianna!
ReplyDelete