Tag Archives: Straying from the Path

I’ll be interspersing my regular posts with interviews of, and guest posts by, other authors whose stories appear in the anthology Hides the Dark Tower. First up is a guest post from Rie Sheridan Rose, who is already familiar to my readers from her interview on January 14, 2015, and as the editor of Avast, Ye Airships! Her story in Hides is “Leaving the Tower,” and here’s her post:

Why I Wrote “Leaving the Tower”

The moment I saw the call for Hides the Dark Tower, my mind went to one of the most famous towers I could think of—Rapunzel’s prison. This is a story I have explored before from the witch’s point-of-view in my poem “Jealousy” in Straying from the Path, but this time, I wanted to tell Rapunzel’s story.

Just think about it. She was placed in this unassailable tower as an infant, according to the story. Given away by her parents like a loaf of bread. She never saw anyone except the witch her entire life before the prince breaches the tower.

I gave the witch the benefit of the doubt that she would have enough humanity to give the girl books and teach her to read, but she was still a prisoner in a cell that makes max security look like a picnic. What would you do in this situation? Would you develop the same view of the world that a normal child would have? It’s an interesting puzzle to contemplate.

Having a pet chameleon to sing to wouldn’t be all that much relief. (Though I do think Tangled was a fabulous take on the story.)

I love to retell fairy tales, so I thought about logical progression. If A happened, what is the logical B? This led me through my story. I don’t want to give spoilers, but suffice to say, I was pleased with the result—and so was Rapunzel.

Rie Sheridan Rose

Thanks again, Rie! My readers can find out more about Rie Sheridan Rose on Facebook , at her website, on Goodreads, and on Amazon. Her story “Leaving the Tower” is  wonderful; you can take it from—

Poseidon’s Scribe