Why do fairytales have the basis for such amazing love stories?

This is a great question that lies, of course, at the heart of my choice to use fairy tales as inspiration for my contemporary romance collection. But, the answer isn’t as simple as you might expect. There are four reasons that I believe fairytales are the ideal inspiration for modern romance, and they are:

1. (The obvious answer…) Many fairytales (not all!) include a beautiful love story.
2. Love (and fairytales) are universal.
3. Fairytales are no longer under copyright.

So, my first reason—that many fairytales include a beautiful love story—makes fairytales a natural inspiration when it comes to writing romance. Think of Snow White in her balcony as Prince Florian sings to her with his hand over his heart…or Sleeping Beauty feeling the tender press of Prince Phillip’s lips after he has cut through thorny vines and defeated a dragon…or Prince Charming searching high and low for the delicate foot that fits a crystal slipper. Romantic? Indubitably. But also…sigh-inducing true love. Singing love songs, slaying a dragon and scouring a kingdom are the actions of besotted men. And who among us doesn’t want a man besotted?

My second reason—that love and fairytales are universal—may also seem like common sense, but when I say universal, I truly mean universal. Every country in the world on every continent has their own folklore that includes fairytales, and amazingly, despite drastic differences in culture, you find remarkably similar stories represented. Our modern version of “Cinderella,” for example, is generally regarded as a French story from the 1600s. But go back in time and you’ll find similar stories in ancient Greece (about 7BC) and you’ll find a story about a slave girl who marries a King. You’ll find the same story in China, the Philippines, Korea, Vietnam, Britain and all parts of Europe. A poor girl who marries a rich man. It’s been a universal daydream for millennia, which makes the story universally appealing and comfortingly familiar for all generations, all nationalities, all people.

My final reason—that fairytales are no longer under copyright—is important too. It means that I can take a story like “Little Red Riding Hood” and use it as inspiration for a whole new fairytale. I can use bits and pieces of it for my pleasure without stealing intellectual property from someone else (which I would never, ever do!) For example, in Ginger’s Heart, I used the characters of Little Red (Ginger), the Wolf (Cain), the Woodsman (Woodman) and Granny (Gran) to structure my story into four main characters. And I do so without infringing on anyone else’s rights…because fairytales belong to everyone, and have since the beginning of peoplekind on earth.

And I’m going to add one more reason here just for the heck of it: I love them. On a personal level, I love fairytales—I love the whimsy and timelessness, the universal human longing and desperate love. I love immersing myself inside of them for several months every year. And what I love most of all, dear reader, is bringing them to you, old and new, all over again.

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Katy Regnery, award-winning and Amazon bestselling author, started her writing career by enrolling in a short story class in January 2012. One year later, she signed her first contract for a winter romance entitled By Proxy.

Now a hybrid author who publishes both independently and traditionally, Katy claims authorship of the six-book Heart of Montana series, the six-book English Brothers series, and a Kindle Worlds novella entitled Four Weddings and a Fiasco: The Wedding Date, in addition to the standalone novels, Playing for Love at Deep Haven and Amazon bestseller, The Vixen and the Vet.

The Vixen and the Vet is included in the charity anthology Hometown Heroes: Hotter Ever After, and Katy’s novella Frosted will appear in the upcoming (Jan ’15) anthology, Snowy Days Steamy Nights. Additionally, Katy’s short story, The Long Way Home appeared in the first RWA anthology (Feb ’15), Premiere.

Katy lives in the relative wilds of northern Fairfield County, Connecticut, where her writing room looks out at the woods, and her husband, two young children, and two dogs create just enough cheerful chaos to remind her that the very best love stories begin at home.

Katy can be found on Facebook, Twitter, Goodreads, and KatyRegnery.com.