About Once Upon A Princess Saga:
“I have better things to do.”
“Like what?” Rose asked. “Waste your life on a fool’s journey, under a silly girl’s orders?”
“I have never considered saving your life to be the same as wasting mine, Rosary.” He came and stood in front of her, the ease of his presence replaced by an unusual heat rather than familiar warmth. Rose had never before been bothered by the six inches he stood taller than her, but all of a sudden the shadow of his strength imposed itself on her.
The cursed beauty of the moonlight revealed the clarity and sharpness of his eyes as she gazed up at him. “What if you did waste your life though? What if?”
“If I have wasted my life, I have wasted it on you. Willingly."
“Like what?” Rose asked. “Waste your life on a fool’s journey, under a silly girl’s orders?”
“I have never considered saving your life to be the same as wasting mine, Rosary.” He came and stood in front of her, the ease of his presence replaced by an unusual heat rather than familiar warmth. Rose had never before been bothered by the six inches he stood taller than her, but all of a sudden the shadow of his strength imposed itself on her.
The cursed beauty of the moonlight revealed the clarity and sharpness of his eyes as she gazed up at him. “What if you did waste your life though? What if?”
“If I have wasted my life, I have wasted it on you. Willingly."
For four years, Princess Aurora of
Rhone — Rose to her friends — has searched the world for a way to break the curse
placed on her by Magdalina, the wicked ruler of the fairies at war with her
kingdom. Under the curse, Rose is doomed to die on her eighteenth birthday
after pricking her finger on the spindle of a spinning wheel. And time is
running out.
On the eve of her seventeenth birthday,
Rose makes the journey home with her friends — Theo, a priest with a penchant for
revenge; Mary, a young and talented fairy; and Ethan and Sophia, siblings with
a troubled past – as pressure from her father, King Stefanos, leaves her with two
equally unsatisfying options: abdicate the throne, or get married.
Enjoy this novella series retelling of
the Sleeping Beauty, with new characters, new plot twists, and plenty of action
and adventure. Perfect for teen and young adult historical fantasy readers.
Book #1, Beauty’s Curse, is free on all eBook platforms!
Purchase Links
Amazon
// Barnes & Noble // Kobo
// GooglePlay // iBooks
~AUTHOR INTERVIEW with C.S. Johnson~
1) What gave you the inspiration for the storyline?
I really liked Disney’s Sleeping Beauty when
I was younger, and I still appreciate it for its animation and music and
everything that makes it magical. But the storyline itself always bothered me.
I mean, the king and queen took away all of Aurora’s choices, really. I think
she ends up being a very passive character in her own story. She doesn’t make
many of her own decisions, and even though she is a nice person, a good singer,
and beautiful, there’s nothing to test her character along the way. I’m one of
those people who says that you can’t be brave if you don’t know you’re facing
danger, so when I thought about the storyline, I thought it would make a better
story if the princess had the choice to face her destiny. Thus, Rose’s story
began!
2) Are there any hidden themes in the book that you hope readers will
discover?
I’m not sure they’re hidden very well. If you change the
ending of the story (which, if you read to “Beauty’s Gift,” you’ll see what I
mean specifically), there are a lot of other things you change in getting
there. In allowing Rose to know about her curse, to have her subjected to her
kingdom’s pity and her parents’ own ill-informed decisions, there were a lot of
other things I ended up focusing on that the fairy tale didn’t have. Rose grows
up knowing she will die, and when, and how. This changes a lot of things, and
her fear is that that will come to be. Fear, rather than the curse, becomes the
enemy. Anxiety, worry, stress, and anger all work their way through the books,
along with questions like why does God allow suffering, why is life worth
fighting for, who can we really trust … I like to ask my readers a lot of
questions I guess!
3) Are any of the characters based on real people you know?
Many of my characters are all different parts of me,
but I included Ethan’s character as an ode to one of my high school students.
The thing about being a teenager, and even a young adult, in today’s world
anyway, is that it is very easy to get stuck like feeling like a kid, and to
get stuck thinking your life will always be defined by what is happening now or
by the bad things that you have experienced in the past. I wanted to write a
character for him to show him that it life can get better, because there are
good people around, and there are people that we find or find us that just make
life better.
4) Who has influenced you most as a writer?
I don’t know, to be honest. I think my dad gets some credit
here, because he would talk all the time, and I would never be able to say
much. But I did have a lot to say. I think I learned how to tell stories so I
could still talk with people. In many ways, this is true; I have said before,
multiple times, that all my writing is a love letter to God, but when I write
down the stories, it’s almost like other people can hear our conversation, and
they’re allowed to listen in and influence some of the direction of the
conversation, too.
My mom has been a big help, too. She is my cheerleader, and
always the first one to buy my books and tell her friends. She was also a big
help in that she was the one who inspired my love of reading, and I don’t think
I would be a writer without having been a good reader first.
5) If you could have any three literary characters over to your place
for game night, who would you invite, what would you play, what would you
serve, and why?
I would invite Aslan from The Chronicles of Narnia,
the Cheshire Cat from Alice in Wonderland, and Obi-Wan Kenobi
from Star Wars.
I would play Scrabble or Bananagrams, because I like word
games. For some reason, one I can’t really explain, I tend to win those a lot.
Besides that, I would consider playing chess. I like the strategy of the game.
Of course, I would content with playing with a ball of yarn with the cats,
too.
I would serve tea and coffee and probably some muffins or
cookies, and maybe some blue milk, just for kicks. I like my caffeine and
sugar, even if they are both horrible for me. I’d include some treats for the
kitties, of course, along with some cream.
About the Author
C. S. Johnson
is the author of several young adult novels, including sci-fi and fantasy
adventures such as the Starlight Chronicles series, the Once Upon a Princess
saga, and the Divine Space Pirates trilogy. With a gift for sarcasm and an
apologetic heart, she currently lives in Atlanta with her family. Find out more
at http://www.csjohnson.me.
Giveaway #1
Want to participate in a treasure hunt?
At the end of each book in this series is a special collectible clue.
Collect all four books, and get all four special prizes, FREE!
Love reading fairytales? Enter to the world of C.S.
Johnson’s Once Upon A Princess Saga
by entering to win a paperback of Beauty’s
Curse, the entire saga in ebook format, four specially designed t-shirts of
a quote from the series, and two handy mugs for your favorite drink.
Facebook Party Information:
Calling all book
readers! Join us as we celebrate C.S.Johnson's ONCE UPON A PRINCESS SAGA on
October 6th from 8:30PM to 10:30PM EST (7:30PM CDT and 5:30PM PST).
Grab your favorite drink and snack and be prepared for a fun night of chatting with the author and special guests, games, and giveaways.
Special guests Chandler Brett, Jeff Sartini, and Disney Princess Addict will also be sharing their books and joining in the fun.
As a note: The giveaways held on this event page are in no way sponsored, endorsed or administered by, or associated with, Facebook. Any questions or comments regarding the party will be directed to the host (Laura A. Grace), not Facebook.
Grab your favorite drink and snack and be prepared for a fun night of chatting with the author and special guests, games, and giveaways.
Special guests Chandler Brett, Jeff Sartini, and Disney Princess Addict will also be sharing their books and joining in the fun.
As a note: The giveaways held on this event page are in no way sponsored, endorsed or administered by, or associated with, Facebook. Any questions or comments regarding the party will be directed to the host (Laura A. Grace), not Facebook.
Blog Tour Schedule:
Monday, September 25th
- Book Spotlight – The Twirling Book Princess
Tuesday, September 26th
Wednesday, September 27th
Thursday, September 28th
Friday, September 29th
Saturday, September 30th
- Author Interview – Official Blog of Shannon A. Hiner
Monday, October 2nd
Tuesday, October 3rd
Wednesday, October 4th
- Book Review – A Book A Day
Thursday, October 5th
Friday, October 6th
Saturday, October 7th
Monday, October 9th
- Wrap-Up Post – Unicorn Quester
What a great interview! I love how she mentioned she would want to hang out with Obi-Wan Kenobi from Star Wars!
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for participating in the blog tour!