Imagine living your life only exposed to foods that someone
else has decided you can have. Close your eyes and think of your top five
favorite things to eat, the things that bring you the most pleasure. Now
imagine being locked in a tower where not only can you not have those foods,
you haven’t even heard of many of them.
In Rapunzel Untangled, a modern-day retelling of the classic fairytale, Rapunzel is kidnapped as a baby and locked in a tower by the crazy witch Gothel. That means that she doesn’t get to experience teen life as most American’s do—or teens from anywhere, for that matter. As I tried to imagine what things would be missed, my first thought went to chocolate. Of course, there are very few situation where my mind doesn’t go to chocolate, but that’s another story.
When Fane first comes to Rapunzel’s tower and climbs up for a visit, like any typical seventeen-year-old boy he thinks about food. On his second visit he comes prepared with pizza and garlic bread. Rapunzel has never had anything like it before. Try to imagine for yourself never tasting either of those, and then having them for the first time. I tried to convey her joy at tasting something we take for granted as commonplace.
Fane also exposes her to M&M’s and Skittles. Rapunzel’s never had candy of any kind before, so the sugary treats also give her endless pleasure. Thanksgiving, our excuse for gorging ourselves silly on food, is also a new experience for her—including stuffing ourselves then following it with pie.
Food for most of us is something we don’t really give a lot of thought to, other than when we’re really craving something, so I wanted to be sure to show Fane’s almost lackadaisical attitude toward food which is the norm for those who have enough food to not have to worry about it, and Rapunzel’s discovery of things she’s never tasted before.
In Rapunzel Untangled, a modern-day retelling of the classic fairytale, Rapunzel is kidnapped as a baby and locked in a tower by the crazy witch Gothel. That means that she doesn’t get to experience teen life as most American’s do—or teens from anywhere, for that matter. As I tried to imagine what things would be missed, my first thought went to chocolate. Of course, there are very few situation where my mind doesn’t go to chocolate, but that’s another story.
When Fane first comes to Rapunzel’s tower and climbs up for a visit, like any typical seventeen-year-old boy he thinks about food. On his second visit he comes prepared with pizza and garlic bread. Rapunzel has never had anything like it before. Try to imagine for yourself never tasting either of those, and then having them for the first time. I tried to convey her joy at tasting something we take for granted as commonplace.
Fane also exposes her to M&M’s and Skittles. Rapunzel’s never had candy of any kind before, so the sugary treats also give her endless pleasure. Thanksgiving, our excuse for gorging ourselves silly on food, is also a new experience for her—including stuffing ourselves then following it with pie.
Food for most of us is something we don’t really give a lot of thought to, other than when we’re really craving something, so I wanted to be sure to show Fane’s almost lackadaisical attitude toward food which is the norm for those who have enough food to not have to worry about it, and Rapunzel’s discovery of things she’s never tasted before.
Thanks for stopping by to share your food for thought, Cindy!
Cindy C Bennett is the bestselling young adult author. She lives in Salt Lake City, Utah with her high school sweetheart who also happens to be her husband. She's the proud mom of two sons and two daughters, as well as two daughter-in-laws. When she's not writing (or any of the many activities that go hand-in-hand with that) you might find her on her Harley Davidson, cruising the canyons near her home. She happens to adore her readers, and is grateful to them for reading her work and giving her the chance to do this thing that she is so very passionate about. Yup, she's living the dream!
You can find Cindy here: 
Cindy's had a busy year since this visit!
ReplyDeleteShe's published The End of Feeling (April 2014), Halfling (November 2013 as part of the A Fantasy Christmas anthology), The Experiment (July 2013), and Whispers of Razari (June 2013).
And she's opened an indie publishing company with author Sherry Gammon - Creative Prose Publishing - as well as launched a side business editing and formatting for other authors.
Update from the author:
ReplyDeleteWow, I can't believe it's been almost 5 years since this posted! Time flies, I suppose. Since this post in 2013, I've written several other books that you can find on my website. My WIP is a steampunk Cinderella telling in reverse (he's the Cinderella character - or I suppose Cinderfella). It's something I've never done before but I'm having a lot of fun with. I'm co-writing it with fellow author Jeff Moore.Hope to have it out in time for your summer reading list! My second WIP is an original fairytale which I hope to release around Christmastime.