[GLBT Fairy Tale Week] Mercy Loomis Cries Wolf
Today’s special guest is Mercy Loomis, author of “Cry Wolf” in the Bedknobs & Beantalks M/M Fairy Tales anthology. She set her story in Wales, rich with its own magical traditions. It’s a story you won’t want to miss. You can visit Mercy online at http://mercyloomis.blogspot.com andwww.mercyloomis.com
“The Boy Who Cried Wolf” was not one of my favorite fairy tales as a child, though it was one I knew well enough. My favorite was “The Twelve Dancing Princesses,” followed closely by “The Little Mermaid” and “Beauty and the Beast.” Not the Disney versions, mind; I’m older than that. I’m not sure why I decided to write a story based on “The Boy Who Cried Wolf,” but it’s the one that came to mind when I started thinking about a m/m erotic fairy tale. 
“Cry Wolf” is a bit different from the original, of course. I wanted my story to cover events after the traditional “crying wolf” part of the tale, where my protagonist was faced with a potentially dangerous situation that no one believed him about. Then he discovers that the “wolf” is not what he thinks it is…but now there’s even greater danger than before.
I tend to suffer from world-builder’s disease, so part of the appeal of “Cry Wolf” was that it gave me an excuse to showcase some of my story mythos that hadn’t made it into print yet. Pookhas are a traditional faerie from the British Isles, and Wales in particular (where, in true Welsh fashion, it’s sometimes spelled pwca), and in my mythology their race has a long, important history as one of the few fae who are equally comfortable here as they are in Faerie. That mythology meshed really well with what I wanted to do in “Cry Wolf.” (You can read about another pookha in my free novella “A Wild Hunt.” The American pookhas refer to themselves as skinshifters to distinguish themselves from their more traditional Old World cousins.)
Some of the fun with working on a known story like “The Boy Who Cried Wolf” is finding that new angle, looking for the stories beyond and within the stories. I know a lot of people don’t like the second half of “Into the Woods,” but I love it. I don’t much believe in happily-ever-afters. When the characters stop being archetypes and start being people, that’s when they become interesting. Why are they in this situation, and what happens to them afterwards? Stories don’t really end; we just stop telling them at whatever point best supports the underlying reason we’re telling the story in the first place.
What is your favorite fairy tale?
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Bedknobs & Beanstalks is available from Ravenous Romance, Fictionwise, ARe, Kindle or paperback from Amazon
One Response to “[GLBT Fairy Tale Week] Mercy Loomis Cries Wolf”
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I loved “Into the Woods” too! And pookhas have interested me ever since I saw a stage production of “Harvey” when I was a young girl. I’m looking forward to reading this!