Romancing The Rock

So, now that I’m finished writing Unhinged, an Aussie retelling of Beauty and the Beast, what’s next?

Well, other than heaps of editing on the Unhinged manuscript, it’s time to start thinking about and planning the next one.

Right now, I’m forming ideas for another fairy tale retelling — Rapunzel, working title, Unravelled.

As I have with the other two, my first step is to go back to the original tale. I prefer to draw from the original rather than to just refer to the Disney versions or other versions out there. And as far as fairy tales go, Rapunzel is quite a bleak story, until the happy ending. If you like, you can read it here, but the main points are as follows:

• Rapunzel’s parents coveted and stole some rampion from an enchantress.
• Rapunzel was locked in a tower at the age of 12 for her parents’ crime.
• Rapunzel had impossibly long golden hair – about 23m.
• Rapunzel had a sweet singing voice.
• The prince was drawn to her because of her song, and they fell in love and married.
• When the enchantress discovered their love, she cut Rapunzel’s hair and sent her into the desert.
• The prince, after discovering his love was gone, fells into thorn bushes which pierced his eyes, making him blind.
• Twins were born to Rapunzel in the desert, but their life is wretched.
• The prince managed to wander into the desert where he heard her singing and knew immediately it was his Rapunzel.
• Her happy tears miraculously healed his eyes and they lived happily ever after.

Most of this I think I can construct something with, however I’m not sure whether I can use the very, very long braid in a realistic historical romance (especially not the climbing the tower using hair part). Well, perhaps it could be long, but not THAT long.

What would you dowith this kind of fantastical detail?