Project: The King Under the Hill

So clearly one should give the public what it wants, and as sad as it is, what the public wants is shiny, sparkly men. I can see the appeal--I also like things that sparkle. I buy glitter to play with it. But I also believe in calling things what they are. So if you're going to have a man who sparkles like diamonds, don't try to say he's a vampire 'cause we all know that's not true. Be honest.

Call him a fairy. Really. Do it.

Now, don't you feel better?

Don't think that fairies can't be masculine. It's been done. Just ask the girls who read Gargoyles fanfic and have memorized Labyrinth. (Oh yes, I am a fangirl of many things.) And what does every fangirl complain about when it comes to Labyrinth? Sarah never hooks up with Jareth. Oh, she comes close, but the character is 15 and it's a Jim Henson flick, so its not gonna happen.

Aside from being a fangirl I'm also an amateur scholar in European fairy and folk tales. There are lots of wonderful stories about fairies and changlings and people who are kidnapped by the fairies, I figure why not take advantage of those stories and add a little debauchery. I'm working on a novella involving a young woman in WWII England who finds herself in fairyland at the mercy of the King Under the Hill. It has glitter. The hero looks like an over-the-top prince character from a manga (less of a fangirl of those, but they are pretty), and there is a magic journey that ends in hot fairy sex. We got unicorns, we got mermaids. There's enough pretty shiny things to make you puke rainbows.

It's completely indulgent and no holds barred. It's been a blast to write. I hope to finish the first draft by the end of the month. I've been writing this freehand, so then I'll spend another month typing it, but that will get the first edit out of the way, so all will be good. I have no clue what to do with it when it's done. It'll be about 30k words long, I think, so not enough for a full-length novel. I'll shop it around to the e-book companies and see if someone will pick it up. Could be cool.