My Love Affair With Fairy Tales by Kristine Grayson (and GIVEAWAY!)

I don’t remember when I first encountered fairy tales. I do recall thinking no one was more beautiful than the wasp-waisted Cinderella from the Disney film. I don’t recall what I thought of Prince Charming, way back then.


When I was four, my parents took me to Disneyland. I have a vivid memory of going on the Snow White ride, which went through a cave. Somewhere in that cave, the Wicked Witch stirred her caldron and glared and me. I screamed, “Let’s get out of here!” and would have jumped off the boat if my father hadn’t grabbed me.

I remember the terror, because back then, fairy tales were real. (In fact, that memory is so vivid that thirty years later, when I went back to Disneyland and the ride remained, I wouldn’t even look at it. I figured it was cheesy, and I didn’t want to know. In my memory, it’s beautiful and horrifying and alive.)

But the strongest influence on my fairy tale life was a babysitter whose name I no longer remember. The daughter of one of my father’s colleagues, she read fairy tales to me—obscure fairy tales, from many cultures. Then, because she was heading to college, she gave me her fairy tale books. I still have them. They’re battered now, but treasured.

And clearly, they jumble up in my head. Sancho Panza in Utterly Charming has a secret identity from Norse mythology. (He has others as well. You can find out more about him in Completely Smitten from WMG Publishing.) I steal from Greek Myths, Celtic lore, fairy tales, and Shakespeare. I figure that when you’re writing a book about make-believe, you should reference the best.

Even though I fracture them, I love fairy tales. I love the hidden meanings and the scary women, the handsome men, and the weird spells. I love them all, which is why I play with them.

Maybe I love them the most because deep down, I do believe in happily ever after. I just believe that HEA doesn’t just happen; it takes work. And that’s the only thing that the fairy tales miss.

About Kristine Grayson (from her website)

Kristine Grayson always wanted to be a romance writer when she grew up. She became one in the late 1990s with the publication of her first romance novel, Utterly Charming. Since then, she has published five more novels, including Absolutely Captivated and Totally Spellbound.

Her work has won the Romantic Times Reviewers Choice Award, and she has been nominated for several other awards. Publishers Weekly has called her work “a delight,” and Best Reviews labeled her “the reigning queen of paranormal romance.”

Her next novel, Wickedly Charming, will appear in May.

Giveaway Details

Sourcebooks is going to send one lucky winner a copy of Utterly Charming by Kristine Grayson.

If you would like to win a copy of Utterly Charming by Kristine Grayson please leave a comment about what intrigues you about the novel or this guest blog.

As part of your comment, you must include an email address. If I can't find a way to contact you I will draw another winner.

For an additional entry, blog about this giveaway or post it on your sidebar. Provide a link to this post in your comment.

I will be using random.org (or a monte carlo simulation in excel) to pick the winners from the comments.

This contest is only open to US and Canadian residents (Sorry!).

No P.O. Boxes.

The deadline for entry is midnight, Friday November 11th.

Good luck!