On Tuesday, September 20th, Teenreads was live at Books of Wonder for the launch of Danielle Paige's latest fairytale retelling, STEALING SNOW. Paige's new book focuses on the often under-discussed tale of the Snow Queen, a tale with dark undertones and beautiful imagery.
As soon as we got to Books of Wonder, we were delighted to see that the scene was set to totally immerse us in Paige's new book. With STEALING SNOW-themed snacks and beautiful art lining the walls, we were ready to get swept into Paige's wintery world. The best part for us was definitely the adorable cake pops, which were decorated with snowflakes and penguins. The table was also set with beautiful snowflake bookmarks/ornaments, in lovely little boxes tied up with bows.
Before we could eat too many cakepops, it was time for Danielle to take her place at the front of the room with YouTuber Sasha Alsberg. The two began by discussing the title, which Danielle explained took lots and lots of thought. While she originally planned to name the book "Heart of Winter" she knew that STEALING SNOW was a better fit.
You may be surprised to learn that Danielle Paige got her start writing soap opera scripts. In STEALING SNOW, the main character just so happens to enjoy watching them, so naturally Sasha asked if soap operas remain a source of inspiration for Danielle. She gleefully admitted that the inclusion of soaps was indeed purposeful and that since they were her window to the world of creativity, she will probably always have a space in her heart for them.
Although Danielle's stories are wholly her own, she is obviously inspired by beloved and well-known works, which makes her writing process a bit different than that of most authors. For Danielle, her books begin when she reads a story and loves it enough to make it her own. With DOROTHY MUST DIE, she knew she wanted to write about Oz and the girl with the red shoes, but she had to wait for that one scene that would make it happen. With SNOW, her process was a little quieter. She got the image of a person in the hospital who had no idea how they'd gotten there, and the rest took off.
Sasha then asked Danielle how closely she follows the original version of her fairy tales. She admits that there are certain elements she can't cut, such as Dorothy's shoes and the general direction of Snow's journey. While most people think of the hit film Frozen, the actual story of the Snow Queen is much darker, so Danielle had to keep her writing more general.
When Sasha asked Danielle what else she does while writing, we were all delighted by her humble response: "I watch way too much TV and eat a lot of kale." She also explained that she has an activity tracker that forces her to get up and move every 15 minutes so she doens't become too sedentary.
Soon the Q&A was handed over to the audience who, as always, asked really smart, funny questions. I have always felt that a good audience is just as important to a night as a good speaker and this one did not disappoint.
One audience member asked about the color palette for STEALING SNOW, which was a big leap from DOROTHY MUST DIE's technicolor feel. Paige admitted that it was nice to step away from that and work with a quieter palette. She also revealed that she studied art in college, so she has the background knowledge.
Author Libba Bray was actually in attendance and she, too, asked a great question: if no villain actually believes themselves to be evil, how do you balance their actions and justifications?
Danielle explained that her ability to balance comes from her soap opera background, where she gained experience in introducing characters as heroes or villains and dramatically reversing their roles.
Before the end of the night, Danielle told us to look out for a big announcement soon. This week, she revealed that she has signed on for another fairy tale series, this time focusing on fairy godmothers. We cannot WAIT for more!
