We recently had the chance to interview Author Rhiannon Thomas, who has written such books as “A Wicked Thing”, “Kingdom of Ashes” (A sequel to “A Wicked Thing”) and
Rhiannon graduated from Princeton University in English Literature and frequently writes on her blog Feminist Fiction.
We previously reported that “A Wicked Thing” was in development by Freeform (formerly ABC Family) and would be developed under the title “After”.
You can get more information on Rhiannon and her books at her website – RhiannonKThomas.com
See our interview below!
Nerds and Beyond: What are you watching/reading right now?
Rhiannon Thomas: My current obsession is Critical Role, which is a web series from Geek and Sundry where a bunch of voice actors play Dungeons and Dragons. It’s far better than it has any right to be – hilarious and dramatic and with a plot and characters that I think any author would be proud of. Seriously, everyone should watch it.
Nerds and Beyond: What book have you read that you think had the best adaptation into film?
Rhiannon: Stardust by Neil Gaiman. The book was pretty good, but the movie was absolutely magical.
Nerds and Beyond: Aurora/Sleeping Beauty happens to be my favorite princess. What inspired you to create a version of Aurora/Sleeping Beauty for A Wicked Thing?
Rhiannon: I really wanted to see Aurora’s side of the story in Sleeping Beauty. She doesn’t really get to do much, in the Disney movie or in the earlier fairytales, and we don’t see that much about how she feels about things. I wanted to dig into this idea of being the Cursed Princess, whose life seems completely out of her control, and look at how she might try to take control of that again.
Nerds and Beyond: We read that The Little Mermaid is your favorite fairytale. Is that true, and if so, what do you like best about it?
Rhiannon: It is! Mostly, I think, because I was a morbid kid. There’s one line that always stuck with me, about how walking on land felt like she was stepping on a thousand knives, and I loved the imagery of her turning into the foam on the waves. And I love the story concept of her wanting to go into this impossible other world, and then fighting for it, even if it all goes wrong in the end.
Nerds and Beyond: Did you take inspiration from the Disney version of Aurora or Charles Perrault/The Brothers Grimm?
Rhiannon: A bit of everything. It’s hard to get away from the Disney version, as I think that’s what comes into most people’s heads first when they think of Sleeping Beauty. But I took different elements from different versions – Disney’s true love kiss, Perrault’s 100 year sleep, Basile’s idea of the world continuing on without her. I picked and chose what suited the story I wanted to tell, but I also wanted to create something that felt very familiar as “Sleeping Beauty,” without being based entirely on any one thing.
Nerds and Beyond: Deadline reported that Freeform has a show in development based on A Wicked Thing. We know you probably can’t say much: but 1) Is that true and 2) Do you have any involvement in that at all?
Rhiannon: Yes, that’s true! It’s still in fairly early stages right now, so there hasn’t been any casting yet, but I haven’t had much involvement beyond a few trans-Atlantic phone calls so far!
Nerds and Beyond: Are you working on anything else right now that you’re able to talk about?
Rhiannon: My next project is fantasy novel called Long May She Reign, about a shy scientist girl who’s 23rd in line to the throne but ends up as queen when the whole court is murdered. It comes out next February.
