| 8𝘅 𝗙𝗘𝗔𝗧𝗨𝗥𝗘𝗗 · A YA Beauty and the Beast gender-swapped retelling. Bit of a Stranger Things vibe going on, too!
Life was going mega well for Beatrice-Bea Laurent, a soon-to-be 18-year-old certified Insta star slash posh gal.
She was spen...
Do come in, grab a comfy seat 🛋, and be very welcome to Once Upon a You. ❣️
I bet the title and the cover are already allowing you to guess that this is a young adult romance novel!
Its creation owes its existence to my undying love for a a Disney cartoon "Beauty and the Beast."
It is, it was and it shall remain my favourite Disney film! (I am sorry, "Lion King!) 🥺
Having seen "Beauty and the Beast," as a lil' Lyn, there was something about its background premise that wouldn't leave me alone. It kept nagging at me, lurking in the creative corner of my brain.
To me, there is something poetic about falling in love with a bared soul, heart and mind, rather than basing the affection on a mere physical attraction. I think that Belle was the only princess who fell for the Beast before he was all hot and sexy? She fell for HIM and not his muscu bod!
Such connection, bound to transcend time and space is what I want to explore in this novel, following all the familiar "Beauty and the Beast" tropes, too!
The second source of inspiration for "Once Upon a You" is of course our lately all time favourite TV show, "Stranger Things," by Duffer brothers! This show effortlessly matches the 80's nostalgia and vibes, the teen humor with paranormal and horror notes in a way that makes them engrossing, exciting and unpredictable.
Those are dem styles I can only hope to emulate!
After having spent couple of weeks tweaking existent ideas and brainstorming like crazy, all the cogs clicked into place and the clock finally started ticking.
Err... It seems that I always come up with the craziest ideas! All my projects I do end up just being something for fun and ultimately connecting with my fellow writers 💜, testing out new genre waters!
I love getting feedback of any kind, and this book is in its first drafting stage, so if you want to tell me how you feel about what I wrote so far, see errors of any kind, or have helpful comments and suggestions:
Do not hesitate to shoot! 🔫
Oh, and I almost forgot! 🤦🏼♀️
Bonus perk, as always:
You get to see the process of creation of my cover 😹!
Stage 1-- Back when the title was different o.O (Hey if ye like this title, TELL MEEEE! I was struggling with the title xD)
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Stage 2-- We're getting somewhere now, but, Evelyn, does the lass need that tail 🙄!
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Stage 3-- Ahh, ye see, lass, now THAT'S MORE LIKE IT! Mission complete! 👍🏻
Maybe you have noticed I used the names Bea and Ross Thorne on purpose 😛 Names as old as time... Just like their tale!
A tropey, known-by-all ticking clock:
Bea Laurent is cursed! She has a month to get uncursed or the curse shall becUm permanent! Can Ross Thorne aid in the un-cursing? Shall their budding affection prevail?
If you dig the chapters, don't forget to star them or give me your opinion on them! That allows me to tap into the readers' thoughts and see what I'm doing well, and what I can improve upon! ❣️
I am still veeery new in these Young Adult waters so, me work might need loads of adjustments.
Thank you so much for passing by and reading my new bookie. I do hope you'll enjoy it when it drops, if you get the chance to check it out!
Meanwhile ye may peruse the wondersul, earlet - cuddling rendition of "Evermore" by Dan Stevens! ❣️❣️❣️
(It is all the way up on the top of this Author's Note, fer yer enjoyment!)
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