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Friday 19 March 2021

Guest Post: Lucy Thatcher on The Power of a Tale

Some say fairy tales are dreams, others say fairy tales lie.

I say the truth lies between them.

Do real-life Cinderellas get their happily ever after? Maybe, but definitely not all the time. 

Does that mean the fairy tale lies? Does it deceive us into dreaming of the day our prince will come?

Depends what you’re looking for.

If you’re looking to a fabled princess for answers, then you aren’t really seeking the truth. No, you’re looking for something far more coveted; you’re looking for hope.

Hope for a better tomorrow is what gets most of us through the day – well that and coffee. Hey, Cinderella has singing birds and I have my latte.

Caffeine aside, hope is what allows us to dig in, to find the place where grit and determination lie dormant; the place where we find out who we really are and what we’re truly made of, a place which – to some of us – really is a fairy tale.

When times get really hard, I often fall into the fairy tale mindset. Funny, isn’t it? It’s only when things get tough that I believe fairy tales could be real. They’re like the softest blanket of snow on a cold winter’s night, or a loving embrace; something to catch you when you fall. The moment the impossible happens, something so cold and unthinkable, is when I feel that my happily ever after has to be on the horizon.


Cinderella becomes a slave in her own home; Belle becomes trapped in a castle with a beast; Rapunzel is hidden from the world – all of them experience tragedy before fighting for the life they deserve. 

That’s how it works, right? Wrong.


If you read Robin McKinley’s Beauty or Marissa Meyer’s Lunar Chronicles, then you know life owes you nothing. Even if things work out in the end, a lot of the beauty in life comes from human ability to see diamonds in the roughest of storms. That’s the real magic.

Fairytales show possibilities, and possibility depends on perspective; so, are they dreams? Do they deceive? Or, are we the masters of illusion?

You decide.

Lucy Thatcher writes in every spare minute she has - often juggling multiple projects and creative ideas. From picture books to young adult novels, Lucy loves writing stories for all ages! You'll often find her writing stories about magical lands, elves, candy and fairies that she dreams of one day publishing.

www.ljthatcher.com

Children's and YA Author (UK)