Today I am thrilled to be joined by Laura Kenyon for a Q&A session.
Laura, can you tell us about your new book
Skipping Midnight is the third and final novel in the Desperately Ever After series, which imagines what would happen if our favorite fairy tale princesses were the best of friends and had dreams, dilemmas, and libidos of the modern woman. Set in a fictional realm based on New York City, it’s a cross between Sex and the City, Desperate Housewives, and the Brothers Grimm. Like most concluding novels, Skipping Midnight opens when things are at their darkest. I don’t want to give away too much about the previous books, so I’ll let the official blurb explain the rest below.
Tell us about the characters in this book.
While there are six main women in the series — Belle, Rapunzel, Dawn (Sleeping Beauty), Cinderella, Snow White and Penelopea (the Princess and the Pea), Skipping Midnight centers around the first three.
Belle is still picking up the pieces after the fallout caused by her husband’s infidelity. (Did she really expect that Beast curse to change his old habbits forever?)
Rapunzel, sex-crazed socialite and one-woman powerhouse, seems to be on a self-destructive quest to make up for 20 years locked away in a tower.
Dawn, whose 300-year sleeping curse ended in two kids, an unfamiliar era, and a husband she barely knows, is still coming to terms with the return of her childhood sweetheart, whom she believed to be dead.
(It might be worth noting that these characters were inspired mostly by the original fairy tales, not the Disney films.)
Who is your favourite?
When I started the series, I would definitely have said Rapunzel was my favorite character. Spunky and strong and with one heck of a backstory! But now that I’ve reached the end, I’m going to surprise even myself by saying Belle. They both grew and changed significantly over the course of the three books, but Belle really began as an insult to every self-respecting female (again, I’m going off the original stories, not the Disney film!). But she goes through a LOT, not to give anything away, and by the end really grows into the sort of strong woman anyone can look up to.
What was the hardest part of writing this book?
Ha, how much time do you have?! Birth of a child, medical surprises, another pregnancy, a major move, dealing with my toddler’s “terrible twos,” fixing up a new house, and of course just the conflicting feelings that I want to finish this story but I don’t want to say goodbye!
Do you have a favourite scene from this book? What is it and why?
Yes. When Rapunzel finally reunites with Grethel, the witch who everyone sees as a villain because she took Rapunzel from her parents as an infant in exchange for the rampion to which they were addicted. But to Rapunzel, Grethel is also the only mother she’s ever known. Their relationship is complicated to say the least. But it is also sweet, tragic, and much stronger than either believed.
What are your 3 desert island books?
Stay by Allie Larson
Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert
The Giver by Lois Lowry
Is there a book you wished you wrote?
The entire Harry Potter series! That would have been so much fun. The way JK Rowling created that world, made up all those words, and gave life to characters who felt like real friends … she’s a genius!
What is your favourite season?
While I absolutely love the winter holiday period, February and March in New England can be just so depressing and dreary. Autumn is by far my favorite from start to finish. I love the colors, the harvest festivities, and even the smell of everything decaying. Does that sound wrong?!
What do you love about writing?
The release and the freedom to create a person or an experience that I don’t have access to in real life.
Is there anything you hate about writing?
Not being able to make the time. And revising. I could revise for eternity. …
You have a day off – no children/work/responsibilities…what do you do?
Oh my God, I am drooling over the thought of this! Honestly, right now I’d settle for being able to use the bathroom without my dog whacking the knob with his nose and my toddler trying to kick down the door. But let’s see. A day off with no responsibilities, no kids, no work? I would sleep late; take a long, hot shower; catch up on some reading over a vanilla latte at a local cafe; splurge on a back massage and mani-pedi; and spend the afternoon on the couch, watching whatever chick flick I’m feeling at the moment (or Gilmore Girls), doing some online shopping, and eating whatever the heck I want!
Skipping Midnight by Laura Kenyon Also by this author: Desperately Ever After, Damsels in Distress
on 16th November 2016
Pages: 343
Goodreads
Amazon Kindle, Audible
One part Sex and the City. Two parts Desperate Housewives. Three parts Brothers Grimm.
For the women of Marestam, “happily ever after" has always come with a grain of salt. Be it infidelity or aging, deferred dreams or lost love, or even the pressures of raising a family, they have always seen each other through life’s trials with laughter, wine, and a brand new take on old-fashioned chivalry. But when rage and treachery take over, everything they hold dear comes under attack.
Suddenly, the monarchies are crumbling, Cinderella is missing, Belle is harboring the secret of all secrets, Rapunzel is facing the one dilemma she spent her whole life trying to avoid, and Dawn could lose everything she’s finally learned to love. In order to save everyone and unmask the wolf in their midst, this iconic group of friends must follow a dogmatic fairy no one trusts, invoke a magic no one understands, and face a past they thought they had buried long ago.
Rapunzel, Belle, Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella, and the rest of Marestam’s favorite females return in this third and final novel in Laura Kenyon's Desperately Ever After series, which takes a whimsical look at our most beloved fairy tale princesses several years after true love’s kiss.
At heart, it’s a tale of ordinary women coming to terms with how their lives have turned out. They just happen to live in castles.
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The final chapter in the Amazon #1 bestselling Desperately Ever After series (women’s fiction fantasy, women’s fiction humor, and paranormal fantasy). Says New York Times bestselling author Stephanie Evanovich: “Laura Kenyon makes happily ever after desperately delicious!"
About Laura Kenyon
Laura Kenyon is an award-winning journalist and graduate of Boston College. Her stories
and articles have appeared in Kiwi Magazine, Westchester Magazine, Just Labs, Serendipity, The Improper Bostonian, InD’tale Magazine, and Westchester/Hudson Valley Weddings, as well as in myriad newspapers and at PrickoftheSpindle.com. She lives in Connecticut with her husband and their silver Labrador retriever. DESPERATELY EVER AFTER is her first novel.
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