Blinding Light: A Sleeping Beauty and Snow Queen Remix

Author's Note

Hello readers! Welcome to the fourth book in the Light Series! As with all of my books, this can be read as a standalone. Of course, if you want to find reoccurring characters and understand a couple of their backgrounds a little better, you'll want to at least read book one or perhaps book three. Otherwise, read on! But keep in mind I may point you in the direction of a certain book if you ask a deep enough question.

This story, as the title says, is a remix/retelling of both Sleeping Beauty and the Tale of the Snow Queen. To start off, I have to thank CayleighKennedy. She taught me what a remix is in the first place. A remix is when you mix up the plot of a retelling so badly, combining it with other stories or elements to the point that you can't simply call it a retelling anymore. As for the selected stories themselves, that's fairly straightforward. For those of you unfamiliar with the Snow Queen, it is a tale by Hans Christian Andersen, and Disney's Frozen is technically the closest I can get to a one-word summary. I will stick an entire summary of both the original Sleeping Beauty (it's horrific) as well as the Tale of the Snow Queen in the Ending Author's Note at the end of this book if you are curious to know more.

Also, this retelling is an LGBTQIA+ romance, specifically, a lesbian romance. If that isn't your cup of tea, that's fine. I hope to see you in the next book instead.

Last book I said I was going to try something new by having quotes as themes/summaries for every chapter. I will not be doing that for this book because that was surprisingly difficult and I'm not sure I have it in me to try and do that again for another 20-30 chapters. Instead, the "special" feature in this book will be the language. Specifically, Spanish. In the tags, I put Spanish for a reason.

To be clear, this book is in English. But several characters do speak Spanish/are considered Hispanic. Any time a character speaks Spanish, it will be translated in bold brackets off to the side like this:

"Me encanta hablar en Español." [I love to speak in Spanish.]

I will make sure to translate everything because I find it annoying when I have to translate things for myself (typically it's Italian, actually). And please be aware that I am by no means completely fluent in Spanish. English is my first and most sophisticated language (Read: It's my only language). In a way, this book is a way for me to practice and improve my Spanish. Therefore, I will not be using anything too advanced, or google translate. There will probably be mistakes too. I only ask that you have patience with me, as I try to learn. And, of course, you are welcome to learn along with me!

Still with me? Hop on your magic brooms, or vacuums if you prefer Disney's Hocus Pocus, and fly to Nazeen with me! (Summary posted below):

Princess Isabelle has been cursed for as long as she can remember. How, she doesn't know. But she knows by whom, as does the entire kingdom of Nazeen.

The Snow Queen of the border mountains.

Cursed to live her final days before her eighteenth birthday in pain before succumbing to a unique form of cancer, Princess Isabelle is put into a medically induced coma to relieve her pain a year before her death. In that time, her father, King Silas, tries harder than ever to find someone, anyone, who will face the Snow Queen and save his daughter.

***

Viviana Morales has always felt a drive to help everyone around her. When she hears about her dying princess, her next thought is only of how she can help.

After some machinations, and a bit of cursing, Viviana gives up and takes matters entirely into her own hands, deciding to deal with the Snow Queen with or without the King's approval.

But nothing is what it seems and when Viviana finds out the truth, it'll be up to her to decide who lives and who dies.