Andi Lawrencovna, Fantasy Author, takes us to the dark side of her Fairy Tales!!
November 2, 2020 by Jann Ryan in category Jann says . . . tagged as ANDI LAWRENCOVNA, fantasy romance, Twisted Fairytales
Andi Lawrencovna is a fantasy and science fiction writer from Ohio. Her most recent books, A Charming Series, the first in her Never Lands Saga, is a re-envisioning of Cinderella with a darker twist. Andi works closely with WriteNow Publishing though maintains her independent authorship. She currently has three novels and two short story to her name, and her next novel, So Sweet, will be out later this year. So Sweet is a tale as old as time, whose characters are as equally ancient and waiting to be released. Happily-Ever-Afters have never been bleaker, though Andi promises there’s always hope for rainbows and unicorns in The Never Lands.
Andi currently resides in Northeast Ohio with her dog and an imagination that has gotten her into more trouble than not. Her education includes a BA in English from Denison University and an MFA in Creative Writing from Pine Manor College. She works as a legal secretary during the day and removes her glasses at night…wrong genre. For more information on Ms. Lawrencovna and her work, please visit her website at: www.AndiLawrencovna.com
Are you ready for a walk on the dark side? We’re here today talking with Fantasy Author, Andi Lawrencovna, who takes Fairy Tales in a whole new direction.
Jann: Who’s the Fairest?: A Sisters Grimm Anthology—Andi Lawrencovna, Rochelle Bradley, Isobelle Cate, Hope Daniels & Alica Dawn, Jennifer Daniels, SE Winters, Genevieve Gornichec, Shaunna Rodriguez and Kali Willows. What a lineup of authors. Can you tell us about how you and your fellow authors came together to produce this anthology?
Andi: It was actually my idea. I love rewriting fairy tales and wanted to get
a group of people together to create a collection of them. The “Brothers Grimm” seemed liked a great place to start, lending their stories to dark and twisty and with this “romantic” old-worldly feel to them. Granted, we wanted to kind of modernize them a bit, but the stories in the anthology all have the fairy tale aspects that we loved as kids.
Jann: How did you each select your tale?
Andi: Oh boy…well, I’m a bit of a control freak… I found a bunch of Grimm fairy tales that I thought would be fun to “retell” because not many people had done them before, so I created a list of some to choose from. Mind you, the Brother Grimm wrote hundreds of stories, and we didn’t even comb through nearly half of them, but we had fun choosing through the list I compiled.
Jann: What can readers expect to find when they read this anthology?
Andi: It is a truly amazing compilation of stories and storytellers. I personally write more traditional fantasy novels that harken back to the feel of the original Grimm stories. Some of the authors in the set are more paranormal romance authors, so their pieces are set in modern times, giving the classic tales a modern uplift! There are stories of romances, stories of friendships, a whole bunch of emotions that delve deeper into the characters than the Brothers Grimm ever went. All of us are really excited about the stories that have come out of this project.
Jann: Tell us abut your contribution, The Snake’s Leaves, in the anthology.
Andi: I went “really” far abreast in coming up with my title. The original story by the Brothers Grimm was called “The Three Snake Leaves.” It was a story of a man who loved his wife, who didn’t love him in return. But it was another of those stories of “love at first sight,” like Cinderella, but this time, we got to see a bit of what came after. Unlike the other stories though, my Grimm retelling has a lot more to do with the “what came before,” and why it all happened the way it did. I honestly love the way it came out, have fallen in love with the characters, and hope others do too.
Jann: Your website is beautiful. You also have such a variety of books and short stories—The Never Lands Saga, Fairy Tales Reimagined, Breath of Fyre and Petits Vignettes. You write Fantasy with a twist. What motivated you to take these fairy tales to the dark side?
Andi: I guess it goes back to this anthology set too, but I’ve always missed having “more” to my fairy tales. I grew up on them. Loved them. Play acted them as a child. But there was so much untold in them. In school, when we talked about “storytelling” and building well-rounded narratives, it occurred to me that all the fairy tales of my childhood were missing the depth of the novels and the stories I had fallen in love with as an adult. And I wanted to give those fairy tale stories the love I’d found in other novels over the years, and make them a bit my own, I’ll be honest.
Jann: Coming soon is Book One of the The Shado Spun Trilogy, The Foresworn King. What can you tell the readers about this novel?
Andi: Secrets secrets…Oh fine, I’ll share a bit. The Foresworn King is the next installment in the NeverLands Saga and starts off the next generation of “fairy tales” in a sense. Rumpelstiltskin, and The Little Mermaid, and Sleeping Beauty…if I were a betting (wo)man, I’d bet you ain’t seen nothing like these before! And that’s all I’m saying on the matter! Lol.
Jann: What do you want the readers to come away with after reading your novels and short stories?
Andi: I hope that after they read them, they’ve fallen a little bit in love with the stories, with the new stories that I created. They’re no longer the fairy tales we know, and I think a part of me has always known that, but I hope it brings a little fantasy, a little memory, and a little bit more completion to the stories we heard as children, and maybe creates new stories to love as adults.
Jann: What’s the best writing advice you ever received?
Andi: Don’t write for anyone else but yourself. You’re not going to get rich writing that way, but it’s the truest way to stay authentically you. Write what you love, and if you don’t know what you’re writing, research it until you do. Write what you want.
Jann: What’s the worst?
Andi: Write what you know. If you wanna write about a murderer, then you should go out an murder someone and get thrown in jail to really feel what it’s like…That just doesn’t seem all that practical to me. That was followed up closely with: “Men don’t cry. They drink beer and eat cookies.” To which I’ve responded by having a man cry at least once in nearly every story I write.
Jann: In your books, who is your favorite character and why?
Andi: This changes with each book I write. BUT, at the moment, I think my favorite character is Eskild and Jaias…Oh, you said character, not couple, my bad…but I can’t decide between them. They get introduced in “A Thief in the Night” and have their sequel coming up soon and I just love their story line together and apart. Two of my favorites, for sure.
Jann: What sound or noise do you love?
Andi: I LOVE the sound of rain falling. Storm. Drizzle. Doesn’t matter, I love the sound of rain.
Jann: What profession other than your own would you love to attempt?
Andi: I think I would want to be a nurse. I enjoy science and learning medical things and helping people, and I just think being a nurse would be a great way to do that.
Jann: What profession would you hate to do?
Andi: A nurse…as much as I would love to be one, I am also deathly afraid of the level of knowledge you have to remember to be one, and I don’t have the best of memories and I wouldn’t want to risk anyone’s life because of my uncertainty. Though I still think it would be and is an amazing career.
Jann: What is your favorite word?
Andi: Oh….I don’t think I can answer this one politely. It’s a “really bad word,” and I don’t necessarily like it for the word itself but for the way it’s used – the sound of it. I am talking about the “f” word here. Think of all the ways that people have adapted to using it. The harsh “ck” at the end of it lends the word this “pop” of emotion even when it’s just being said in a “friendly, unbelligerent manner.” And the number of meaning that we’ve attributed to it is simply astonishing. But I’m not going to say it “out loud” (or typed, as it were) here.
Jann: What’s the funniest (or sweetest or best or nicest) thing a fan ever said to you?
Andi: This is going to sound random, but I was reconnecting with a college friend and we were talking about what we’d been up to and I said I’d just published “Charming.” She stopped the conversation. Said: “What?” So I said I’d published Charming again, and her response was: Oh my God! I just read that! I loved it. I didn’t know that was you!” And it was true genuine enjoyment in her voice. For someone who knows me, but didn’t “know that part of me,” to say they loved my work, meant a lot to me. That’s the nicest thing anyone has ever said.
Andi, it has been great to have this time with you. Your take on fairy tales is so intriguing. I know I want to take a walk on the dark side!!
A Few Books by Andi Lawrencova
Spotlight on Andi Lawrencovna
October 17, 2020 by A Slice of Orange in category Spotlight tagged as ANDI LAWRENCOVNA, fairy tales, Halloween, new release, Short Stories, Sisters Grimm
Just in time for Halloween we have an author spotlight on Andi Lawrencovna and her soon to release anthology, WHO’s THE FAIREST? A Sisters Grimm Anthology. (October 20, 2020 and it is available for preorder, now.)
Andi Lawrencovna lives in a small town in Northeast Ohio where she was born and raised. She writes Fantasy with a twist, un-Happily-Ever-After-ing as many fairy tales as she can. And she’s not averse to looking at the odd nursery rhyme or ten when the mood strikes. Her Never Lands series is currently enamored with an ash covered assassin and a prince who’s not in the highest of towers. From ogres spouting poetry, to princesses toting swords, Andi’s stories aren’t quite like you remember.
For more, visit: www.AndiLawrencovna.com
Andi’s story in WHO’s THE FAIREST? A Sisters Grimm Anthology is called “The Snake’s Leaves” and we’re please to have an excerpt.
THE SNAKE’S LEAVES
ANDI LAWRENCOVNA
The clipper bobbed with the tide against the dock, rocking in the first waves as the storm blew in. Dark clouds churned the sky. Raindrops threatened to fall, but remained heaven bound for a moment more.
“It’s a bad omen.”
“There are no such things as omens.”
Reigner turned his head and stared at his prince.
Despite the response, Euridone’s voice held concern, and his face was stern with concentration and consideration.
Though the ship might not set sail during the midst of the storm, it would set sail eventually.
The waters whispered of hate and roiling death.
Rey did not think the voices beneath the waves referred solely to the tempest.
He might not have believed in omens before, but he wasn’t fool enough to ignore them when they stared him in the face. He opened his mouth to argue with his master—
“We should find our berth and get settled in. She’ll be along soon enough, and I’d rather be stowed away than have to deal with her.”
A call to action, and yet Rey remained still at Euri’s side, the backs of their hands touching where they stood together, neither of them wanting to move forward to whatever fate awaited them.
“I hate the sea.”
“It hates us too.” He replied and shifted the pack on his shoulder. A raise of his hand, the quick flick of his fingers forward, and the servants that lined up at their backs with the prince’s trunks moved towards the ship, and Euri followed their lead, Rey bringing up the rear.
The wind wailed as they walked the gangplank to the clipper’s deck.
Ware. Ware. You will die here.
Rey turned his face to the storm as the first drops of rain fell. “I’ve died before. I’m not afraid of my end.”
For only a moment, the wind stilled, listening to his words.
It screamed at his impudence when he smiled into its gale.
Three Months Ago
Prince Euridone Adavignlor, Hero of the Battle of Blackmore, Lord of the Southern Settlements, husband to the Princess Abrialla, wedded Heir to the Kingdom of Spinick, stood in the hallway outside the birthing suite and paced the cold stone floor.
His wife’s labor had slowed to a crawl somewhere in the tenth hour of the trial.
The healer said it was normal for a first birth to take time, and perhaps it was, but that was over a day ago when the pains first started, and now, at nearly forty hours, even Euri knew that something was wrong.
He was born a farmer’s son with nothing to his name but the clothes on his back and the dirt caked to his skin. Hock and hoof, field and plow, working the land and toiling beneath the sun, that was where he came from. He was a good farmer. A good and dutiful son.
And when the war came, and the king called all eligible men to battle, he traded pitchfork for pike and learned to wield a sword in place of the culling scythe.
He was a good soldier.
When his captain died, and he was chosen to replace the man, Euri discovered he was good at leading too.
He won the war with his tactics for King Ashwarth.
He should have died at Blackmore, but he’d somehow returned to the land of the living where the king took an interest in the man named champion.
A good soldier. A good leader. A good prince.
Words Euri never expected, nor wanted, to hear, especially when they were followed by a wedding decree, and the burden of what marrying the princess would entail.
For all his life, all he’d ever wanted was to escape his farm.
Now all he longed for was a chance to return to the quiet fields and the mooing of cattle and the mucking out of horse stalls.
He wanted to take his child away from the castle walls and show the babe the beauty of a simple life that Euri always took for granted with the man who he’d come to depend on more than his next breath.
A man who was not Euri’s spouse but her bastard brother.
Rey was more honorable than all the nobles put together in the palace halls.
And he was the only one Euri wanted, and that his vows demanded he never claim.
Not that Abrialla honored her marriage to Euridone.
For all the prince knew, the babe fighting to be born was not even his, some other of his wife’s lovers having whelped the child on the princess.
He should be angry at the knowledge, at the implication.
All he could feel was relief.
A small, childish, plaintive part of him prayed that if the babe proved to be another’s, he would be allowed to break his oath and be free of the witch.
The more rational part of his mind knew the unlikeliness of the same.
It wasn’t Abrialla who wanted Euri as a prince.
No matter that the king gave his daughter every other wish she desired, Euri was Ashwarth’s demand for the kingdom, and there was no escaping a king.
Abrialla would destroy the kingdom Euri fought a war to save.
Ashwarth chose a farm-boy to lead his country instead of his own spawn to keep the land safe.
And now, here Euri stood, outside his wife’s room, waiting for the birth of the child that would tie him eternally to the nation he called his own.
Knots tangled in his stomach.
Because the child was late in coming, and country or not, rule or not, the infant was innocent of his mother’s indiscretions or his father’s peasant desires. The babe deserved a chance at life, but Euri knew how frail new life could be.
The door to the princess’ suite opened.
A tired nursemaid stepped out of the brightly lit room into the dim hall where the prince waited.
“It is a boy, your highness.”
Euri nodded.
He’d known.
All along he’d known that she would bear a son that Euri would call his own.
He held himself still, one hand braced at the windowpane behind him, not sure if it was to hold him back from forging the room and looking at the child fresh from the womb, or if it was to keep him standing, that the birth was done, and the child was here. He was well and truly bound up in the fight for rule now with an heir of his own, blood or not.
Euri’s valet stepped forward to draw the maid’s attention when he could not.
“How is the prince’s lady wife?”
Rey stood with his hands clasped behind his back, anxiety showing in every line of his body. There was no love lost between princess and manservant. Where Euri might not abandon a bastard child, the king had no such proclivities when Rey was born and cast aside.
It was a mercy, in Euri’s mind.
If Rey was raised a prince, or a lord, or anyone of importance, they would never have met upon the battlefield. That Reigner was just a man, same as Euri, made all the difference.
Rey kept his eyes on the maid, and Euri tore his from the valet to watch a tear slide down the woman’s face.
“It was a hard birth. The healer,” her hand trembled when she raised it to her cheek. “He has asked the prince be admitted to speak his farewells.”
