A to Z Blog Challenge -- B -- Beauty and the Beast Story NOT YOUR AVERAGE BEAUTY

Welcome to Day 2 of this year's April blog event -- the A to Z Blog Challenge!

Today it is my pleasure to introduce you to Michelle Helliwell, currently serving as president of my local chapter of Romance Writers of America.

Our writers' group Romance Writers of Atlantic Canada just celebrated 15 years together this past September.

This is Michelle signing copies of her debut release last June at her book launch for NOT YOUR AVERAGE BEAUTY, a Beauty and the Beast inspired Regency romance.

What does that mean, exactly?

Well, retelling a myth or a fairy tale in a new way gives readers two things that they desire every time they open a book: a sense of familiarity in a genre sense, meaning that if they open a romance they expect to find a Happily Ever After by the end, or if they open a thriller they expect to find the murder solved by the end. Yet they don't simply want to read the same old, same old. They want something fresh, something new.

Stating in the book's back cover blurb that it's a Beauty and the Beast story sets up certain expectations in the reader:

- a dark, troubled hero (check)

- a heroine who looks past the obvious to see the real situation (check)

- a curse (check)

- an imposing estate with an impressive library (check)

NOT YOUR AVERAGE BEAUTY takes us into a world where we're longing to go, and delivers characters we're certain that we want to meet. Retelling this story in her own voice gives Michelle Helliwell's readers that freshness that we also desire.

Is this the furry, grotesque 'beast' from the classic fairy tale or the animated musical? No, rather a member of the nobility who suspects he has been cursed to act out in a mindless, beastly fashion.

Do the cups and saucers talk? Is there overt magic involved? Is there perhaps an underlying folk belief in curses in a rural British village, instead?

If you're already a big fan of Once Upon a Time as I am, then you already know the allure of settling in for a fairy tale retold.

  

An Afternoon at the Theatre

Mom had to get a doctor's appointment taken care of this morning, and I got Gram all settled for the day as I do most weekends, to give Mom a break from all the eye drops, puffers, nitro patch, tea and toast.

Soon Gram was all set for the day in her rocking chair, TV turned to PBS to watch the cooks, her wireless headphones on so she can hear without making us all deaf. Oh, how we love those headphones!

Mom got back from her appointment, I took my dog for a walk, then we set off for an afternoon at the theatre. My husband was home with one ear out for anything Gram might need. I drove us down to the ferry, which we took across the harbour to Halifax. It was another beautiful day. We walked up from the ferry to Neptune Theatre, Halifax's professional live theatre venue. At only 479 seats, it's small and intimate.

We met up with my sister and her boyfriend, plus two of his sisters, their spouses and children. My cousin's husband and their daughter were also there. Settling into our seats, it never crossed my mind to regret not being outside on this gorgeous sunny day. When the houselights go down and the orchestra or band starts up, the rush of joy that goes through me is one of my favorite things about being alive.

We saw "Beauty and the Beast", a scaled-down version of the Broadway/Disney adaptation. Because of the small size of the theatre, there is only room for three dancing couples, whereas I assume the Broadway version might have eight or ten. The set manages to give a sense of spectacle while not overpowering the physical space.

Standout performances belonged to Julie Martell as Belle, whose voice was wonderful; Rejean Cournoyer as Gaston, who really lit up the stage and had a marvellous booming dramatic baritone, as well as great comic timing; and Tory Doctor as Lumiere, very charismatic, great body language and wonderful comic acting. His throw-away of "Let me give you a candle with that" (his hands were candles that he could light from inside the costume) was priceless.

For eight years I was insanely lucky to work as an usher at the Hummingbird Centre in Toronto, and I miss the feeling of being inside the house during a show. Whenever I get a chance like today to enjoy that wonderful charge of energy, I'm there! That theatre is very large - 3200 seats. Too large, in many ways. So I'm used to seeing productions stretched over the large scale of that venue. The creative solutions the different teams have come up with for the shows I've seen at Neptune really impress me.

After the show, my sister and her boyfriend drove us over the bridge to Mom's car, and Mom and I headed home. A beautiful day, a wonderful show, lots of rose imagery in the set design. Very happy today!