Kathleen E Adams

The concept of my book was born from the question: what if the little mermaid were a fierce siren instead?

I love the idea of a “true story” that inspired a fairytale. The movie Ever After with Drew Barrymore is one of my favorites; the concept that Cinderella was a true story that was then changed as it got passed down is so intriguing.

In Ever After, Cinderella was this strong, smart FMC and not just a pretty princess waiting for her prince. And the prince was totally swoon-worthy not just because he was handsome but also because he recognized how smart and brave she was and actually listened to her!

“A fish may love a bird, but where would they live?”
“Then I shall build you wings.”

Growing up, my favorite Disney movie was The Little Mermaid (even though it probably should have been The Beauty and The Beast because of that library). But I had all the merchandise for Ariel.

Later, I read the Hans Christian Andersen original of the little mermaid fairytale. I was shocked how different the versions were, which is no great surprise really. Every story changes with each retelling, and Disney has a very specific POV. And to be honest, I still that Disneyfication.

Are there problems with that movie? Absolutely. Could it be a more feminist? Absolutely. Do people really fall in love instantly and get married in three days? Maybe. Should a 16 year old be allowed to make shady deals with a sea witch and then run away? Absolutely not.

But I love it anyways. And I love the new live action remake too. But anyways, that is a digression….

My main inspiration for my WIP Siren Rising is the original fairytale by Hans Christian Andersen, so back to that.

In the original fairytale, the little mermaid does not get the prince. The sea witch’s spell requires the little mermaid to either marry the prince or die! The prince likes the little mermaid’s devotion to him and impressive dancing, but treats her more like a child or favored pet. She leaves bloody footprints behind as she follows him everywhere and dances to please him, but he is not in love with her and never will be. I’m not even sure he would if she had her voice, though he does really admire his talented slaves (yeah, yikes) who can sing and dance.

He chooses to marry a beautiful princess instead, and the little mermaid is doomed to die at sunset after the wedding. Her sisters sell their hair to the sea witch to give the little mermaid a chance to break the spell. If the little mermaid kills the prince with the dagger her sisters give her, she can live. If she doesn’t, she will die at sunset.

She chooses to die and become nothing more than foam upon the sea. Except- the “silver lining” is that she is actually reincarnated as an air spirit and has the chance to earn a soul (and entrance to heaven, I assume) through good deeds.

It’s maybe a little heavy-handed with Christian ideology and talk about souls that I didn’t really want to delve into, so I wanted to focus on a Greek mythology backstory instead (I would have to if I wanted to use a siren form Greek mythology anyways).

The concept was that this book, Siren Rising, would be the “true story” of the Greek myth that would later become the fairytale. It’s what Ever After is to Cinderella but with an additional layer of Greek mythology in between???

Does that make any sense? 🤷‍♀️(It sounds pretty convoluted as I write it, but oh well).

Anyways….When I read the original fairytale, it was darker and sadder than I expected, and I was not satisfied with that ending. So, when I thought again about my reimaging of the story, I wanted to capture some of that in my version: Maybe, she doesn’t get the prince. Maybe she is homesick and regrets her decision. Maybe she decides to kill the prince. Maybe they are actually enemies. Maybe she becomes something else at the end. Maybe she dies.

After that, I, of course, considered the idea of an enemies-to-lovers trope retelling of the fairytale. It’s everyone’s favorite trope, and I’ll mention again my love for Pride and Prejudice.

I also thought about making it a dark romantasy. She would be a fierce witch hunter, descended from sirens but mistaken for a little mermaid, and he would be a wizard in disguise. The plot would revolve around the conflict of loving someone she was honor-bound to kill. It would end with her escaping into the sea, heartbroken, like the original fairytale. The truth of the little mermaid’s story would change over time to become the story we know.

I started writing this version with the idea of YA dark romantasy with very little,🫑 very mild spice. All the tropes and all the feels but appropriate for teenagers. (Now that I am writing this, I wonder if maybe I should still write this version. I do like it! Is it possible to write and publish two versions of the same book??? lol….or three because maybe a very spicy 🌶️new adult version would also be awesome!!)

But, alas, I have always been a traditional fantasy reader, and I just don’t think my mind could stop throwing in more traditional worldbuilding and tropes than romance and romantasy tropes. I struggled to make the actual book fit my vision. As I wrote more and more, it became less and less what I had started out to write.

I feel a little sad saying that, because, I do like the original concept. I would totally buy and read that book. But I have also accepted that my book has changed into something else, and I am going to embrace that change. It’s still got a lot of the same elements, but it’s become a little more….complicated?

She is still a siren who is mistaken for a little mermaid, and there is still a very fairytale romance element. It just feels more like a Disney romance than an enemies-to-lovers or other romantasy trope. But letting go of that trope let me go wild with the whole “love at first sight” trope. I just switched one for the other, but I have had fun pulling them apart and watching them snap back together because of that magnetic pull that sparked at the very beginning. I won’t give away the ending, but I will say I debated several different options before I could commit to the final ending.

The original fairytale also gave me the idea that mermaid hair (or siren hair in this case) contains powerful magic and can be used for spells. We all love mermaid hair, so I loved that idea. I am very excited for the end of the school year when I plan to dye my hair and have pretty mermaid hair this summer.

The last note is that the little mermaid has no name in the original fairytale. I liked this idea and wanted to play up the archetypes by calling her the little mermaid and calling the prince by his title. And slowly switching to their real names as the fairytale fades to be replaced by real people in real life facing a real threat (you know- real life in my fantasy book of made-up things).

Essentially, they have to pull themselves out of the romantic fairytale to face war, the rise and fall of empires, monsters, and gods. The usual epic fantasy thing. 😊

It also works as a symbol for her transformation as she struggles to find her true self in the midst of experiencing new independence, facing unexpected obstacles, indulging in the allure of escapism, experiencing romance, losing herself and her purpose, questioning everything, and just generally growing up.

She doesn’t use her true name until she feels ready to claim it and the identity she has formed to match it.

She knew she was not a little mermaid, but who was she? What exactly does it mean to be a siren instead of a mermaid?