Stolen Songs Release Party: Interview with Sarah Beran

 

Hello, all! We're onto our third Stolen Songs release: Sarah Beran's My Fair Mermaid, a blend of The Little Mermaid with Pygmalion (which y'all may better know in its movie form as My Fair Lady). After this, we'll take a break until about mid-October, when the remaining two Stolen Songs release . . . but until then, we have this super fun read! I got the chance to interview Sarah Beran, so read on for that. Or you can hop over to Light and Shadows to get my thoughts on the book!

About My Fair Mermaid

The Little Mermaid meets Pygmalion…

Maribel has learned to stay quiet. As an orphan relying on the generosity of family, and with six outspoken and energetic cousins, silencing her own voice is often the easiest way to keep the peace and ensure her own acceptance. After helping her cousin rescue Prince Frederick from a shipwreck, Maribel finds herself as the unwitting accomplice in her cousin’s plot to marry the human prince. The plan is simple: Maribel will distract Frederick’s grumpy best friend, Professor Hadrian Higsley, so that the scheming mermaid can cozy up to the prince.

Between a friendly wager over slippers, her growing attraction to a certain translator, the appearance of a foreign fiancée, and an increasingly desperate cousin, Maribel finds it harder and harder to remain a silent observer. Will she finally find the courage to speak? Or will the little mermaid choose once again to give up her voice?

Find it on: Amazon || Goodreads

Interview with Sarah Beran

Welcome to the blog! To start out, please tell us a little about yourself. Who are you, what are your favorite hobbies (aside from writing) or favorite books (outside your own), and do you prefer coffee or tea?

 

My name is Sarah Beran. I am a fairy tale author by night (and weekend), as my day job is actually a music teacher. I teach PreK-6th grade general music, AP Music Theory, and a highschool handbell choir. I love playing the saxophone, long-distance running, and reading. My favorite books are the Lord of the Rings trilogy and Lloyd Alexander's Chronicles of Prydain. Both greatly influenced my love of fantasy and the types of characters I love to put in my books, and I'm still pretty certain that I want to be a hobbit when I grow up.

 

Coffee is the superior beverage. Tea is lovely, but coffee is king.

 

I will have to disagree with you there, but I digress . . . So, let's talk about your book! Where did you get the idea to combine The Little Mermaid with Pygmalion?

 

I don't remember how exactly it came about, other than I was trying to brainstorm a new approach to the Little Mermaid and coming up with a list of all the different angle and approaches to having a voice stolen. Is it a literal voice? A metaphorical voice? Voice as agency? My Fair Lady has always been a favorite of mine, and I love how in both the play Pygmalion and in the musical version, Eliza is not only taught to speak (literally given a voice), but she also learns how to stand up for herself. One thing led to another, and, well, here we are.

Here we are indeed, with pretty great results if you ask me! If you could have My Fair Mermaid adapted into another form of media, what would you pick?

 

That's a hard one. Maybe another musical? That could be fun. 

I can definitely see My Fair Mermaid as a musical, and not just because of the source material. Moving on, what's something you learned while writing this book?

 

This story involved a lot of body language that was challenging to translate into written words. I spent of a lot of time posing and making faces and analyzing just exactly what was happening. There were several times I'm sure my husband thought I was crazy.

Ha! Such is a writer's life. To finish up, can you tell us a little about what you're currently working on and what we can expect from you next?

 

I'm currently working on a retelling of Stravinsky's Firebird for my "Seasons of Music and Magic" series, which retells stories from classic operas and ballets. There's also a sequel for Freddy and Eliza in the works that may or may not involve a lot of ice...

 

Both of those sound awesome . . . but I'm definitely more excited for the second one, not going to lie.

Thank you to Sarah Beran for answering my questions, and thank you to you all for reading! Does My Fair Mermaid sound like something you'd enjoy? Please tell me in the comments!