Seducing the Sheriff of Nottingham, page 57
part #5 of A Kinda Fairytale Series
As I worked, Nicholas’ backstory began to take on some traits similar to Pinocchio. It just seemed like the story tied in with the concept of the gargoyles being created beings. I think my Kinda Fairytale series is best when lots of different myths are blended together. The Adventures of Pinocchio, in particular, gave me plenty of weird details to toss into the mix and also helped me to clarify some existing ideas I’d had. (Nicholas’ “reverse conscience” and the gorilla judge, for example.) I credit Pinocchio’s author, Carlo Collodi for his extremely inventive storytelling.
Personally, I found the Disney cartoon Pinocchio quite scary as a child. And the 1883 book was downright terrifying in its random cruelty. It’s one of the bestselling books of all time. I’m certainly not criticizing it as a work of art. But as an eight year old, I didn’t even want my mom to finish reading it to me. I was too upset after (Spoiler Alert!) a certain cricket got smooshed with a hammer. It would no doubt be a different experience, if I revisited it as an adult, but the Pinocchio references used here reflect the creepy vibe the story gave me, as a little girl. I think that off-kilter feeling of impending doom works well with Nottingham’s decaying atmosphere.
The Looking Glass Campaigns were a big part of Best Knight Ever (the fourth book in this series) and the idea of faraway battles dovetailed nicely with King Richard’s crusades in the original Robin Hood tales. So, it made sense to me that Nicholas had been fighting in Lyonesse, for a time. The Looking Glass Campaigns had been over for five years in Best Knight Ever, which places them in this book’s timeline.
I also see letter-writing as kind of olde-timey and romantic, which fits with the Robin Hood stories, in my head. So, I made notes passing around kind of a theme throughout the book. This led to the idea that Nicholas had been receiving Robin’s wartime mail from Marion and fell in love with her. And THAT explained why he was so head-over-heels for her, right from the start of the book. Once I started writing Nicholas and Marion’s journey out, it all sort of came together for me. These two not-quite Good-not-quite-Bad characters were soon happily wreaking havoc together.
Another side note: When a Scot Ties the Knot by Tessa Dare and Love in the Afternoon by Lisa Kleypas are historical romances that also heavily feature love letters in their plots. I highly recommend both, if you enjoy the trope.
In all Kinda Fairytale books, I always want to incorporate plenty of elements of the primary “original” story into my own writing. Otherwise, what would be the point of using famous myths as a starting point? However, the Robin Hood tales are a bit more stripped-down in their world-building details, when compared to some legends. (For instance, the Camelot myths are full of weird stuff.) But still, some pieces of the traditional tales need to be in a Robin Hood book for it to even be a Robin Hood book. Merry Men. Sherwood Forest. Bows and arrows. All that stuff’s been added over the past eight-hundred years of storytelling. And there are a lot of strange and interesting hats in all the visual media surrounding it. So, I tossed them in, as well. I also borrowed every Robin Hood character name I could find. Including “Clorinda the Shepherdess,” who strangely became one of my favorite characters to write. Her self-centered, mean-girl pragmatism made me laugh. And no one annoyed Marion more. Not even Robin.
Adding appropriate “Robin Hood” stuff was made even more complex, because the tales are inextricably linked with actual places in England. In my own head, there was simply no way I could set the story anywhere but Nottingham and have it be “Robin Hood” enough. However, my Kinda Fairytale stories are not set in the real world. (Obviously.) I therefore decided to take creative license and create my own fictional kingdom of Nottingham, unrelated to the actual city. They just happen to share a name and have a forest. I feel like this compromise was the best way to go about it. In other news, I would very much like to visit the real Nottingham and see the setting for the traditional tales. I think it would be amazing!
Trevelyan, Last of the Green Dragons appears in this book, because I get a surprising number of requests for him, considering he was such a jackass in Wicked Ugly Bad. When readers like a character, I try to feature them more. As I said, that story is set a decade after Seducing the Sheriff of Nottingham, so I thought it was an interesting chance to go back and see why Trevelyan made some of the choices he did. Most of my “Bad” characters are not such terrible people, once you get to know them. But, Trevelyan works hard to be horrible all the way through. I enjoy his self-centered dialogue and gleeful villainy, so he’ll get his own book soon. (I hope.)
A story only comes alive in the readers’ heads, so I don’t like to impose my exact ideas of what things look like or sound like in a book. I describe events, people, places, etc… the way I “see” them, but everyone’s imagination is different. I want to leave some room for personal interpretation from the audience. That said, in my head, Marion’s May Day Queen talent show performance sounds like a HUGE karaoke version of Celine Dion’s It’s All Coming Back to Me Now. Only kinda mixed with a belted-out performance of “Don’t Rain on My Parade” from the musical Funny Girl. But also there’s a country element and maybe some of Gloria Gaynor’s I Will Survive and Meatloaf’s Anything for Love tossed in someplace there, too. Hopefully, that clears everything right up.
As a final note, I want to send a shout-out to my sister and mom, for their help with this book. Early in the writing process, I was trying to find the right resolution to Marion’s vengeance against Nottingham. I randomly asked my sister, Elizabeth, “Hey, how would you destroy a city and burn it to ash?” Without looking up from her computer, Liz casually answered, “Hire barbarians.” Thus, Nessus and the centaur army were created, which I think tied everything together nicely.
Then, at the end of the writing process, I gave my mom a draft of this book to read. Somewhere around the Maypole Ball chapter, she told me, “I’m surprised Marion’s not just hitting everyone with a hammer to find the Wraith.” And hell if that wasn’t the most Marion idea I’d ever heard! Of course she would do that. It immediately got added to the book and made me laugh out loud. I appreciate the help with crafting this story… and knowing that I am not the only crazy one in my family.
If you want to discuss those scary donkeys in Disney’s Pinocchio, why medieval hats have such strange names, which upcoming books I’m working on, or anything else, you can contact us at starturtlepublishing@gmail.com The same email address can be used to sign up for our mailing list for news about our upcoming books. We also have a Facebook page, which we update fairly regularly, and a new and improved website at www.starturtlepublishing.com. I hope to see you there!
Also by Cassandra Gannon
The Elemental Phases Series
Warrior from the Shadowland
Guardian of the Earth House
Exile in the Water Kingdom
Treasure of the Fire Kingdom
Queen of the Magnetland
Magic of the Wood House
A Kinda Fairytale Series
Wicked Ugly Bad
Beast in Shining Armor
The Kingpin of Camelot
Best Knight Ever
Seducing the Sheriff of Nottingham
Coming Soon: Happily Ever Witch
Other Books
Love in the Time of Zombies
Not Another Vampire Book
Vampire Charming
The Worst Romance Novel in the World: Eternal Passion at Sunset (Novella)
Cowboy from the Future
Once Upon a Caveman
Ghost Walk
If you enjoy Cassandra’s books, you may also enjoy books by her sister, Elizabeth Gannon.
The Consortium of Chaos series
Yesterday’s Heroes
The Son of Sun and Sand
The Guy Your Friends Warned You About
Electrical Hazard
The Only Fish in the Sea
Not Currently Evil
The Mad Scientist’s Guide to Dating
Broke and Famous
Formerly the Next Big Thing
Other books
The Snow Queen
Travels with a Fairytale Monster
Everyone Hates Fairytale Pirates
Captive of a Fairytale Barbarian
Cassandra Gannon, Seducing the Sheriff of Nottingham
