First Impressions: A Getting-To-Know-It tag :)

I am one for liking to know tid-bits about every one else's stories. I love reading Katie's scribbles of story, and the priceless peeps Jenny and Abigail give us into their books. But how is one to entirely immerse oneself in a story if you don't know much about it? So that is why I've designed this "First Impressions" tag. It will [hopefully] explain some things about The Scarlet-Gypsy Song, and give you a better impression of what it is I am scribbling.

1. Who are the main characters?
Cecily Woodruff, banished princess of Scarlettania, who is spending her banishment as a nanny in our world. Also, Adelaide, Bertram, Charlotte, Darby, Eugenie, and Fergus Macefield (her charges) who stumble into Scarlettania and find they can no more get out of that world than Cecily can get out of ours. And last but not least, the villain: Randolph Fitz-Hughes. And, as a fairy-tale would not be half so satisfactory without one, I am thinking a Prince is in order, though he hasn't come into being yet.

2. How did you get the idea for this story?
The only correct answer for this question would be the other way round: The story got me. The first line popped into my head: "There was Nannykins to begin with..." and suddenly I had Darby, and after him I got Miss Perdue, and then Cecily and the rest of the children. I nearly always begin with characters.

3. What genre is this story?
I suppose most would call it fantasy, though it's rather a mash of a classic Nanny-tale and a Fairy-tale. I am writing it as a pretty, winsome, charming, satisfying story intended for readers between the ages of  8 and 12 with clever things to make adults laugh as they read it to their children. Strange goal, that. You must keep me updated on how I'm doing.

4. Describe your book in three thoughts:
Cecily Woodruff: a princess banished to the world of naughty children Who Need Nannies. The Macefields: Children who stumble into her fairy-tale and cannot find a way out. Life may or may not ever be the same again.

5. The bit that describes an obscure piece of real life best:

 It is queer, how the entrance of a stranger into our midst can put a new face on things we have stared at for years on end. The dear old nursery seemed to have hidden itself behind a company-curtain, and Darby saw little bouquets of red flowers on the wall-paper instead of lumpy old men, and a water-stain on the ceiling where he was accustomed to seeing a lion with a humped back. He disliked this sensation of everyday things turning their backs on him, and he crossed his eyes so as to easier see the lumpy old men. Ah. There they were, as usual. He straightened his shoulders and poked his tongue out at the water-spot which would not look like a hump-backed lion again despite his efforts.

6. The funniest line said by a side-character thus far:

 “Children,” he [Mr. Macefield] said, fingering his limp cravat and beaming. “Miss Woodruff here is to be your new nanny. Never thought a newspaper ad to be quite so effective. Glad I put it all in capitals, despite the expense.” 

7. Your favorite piece of description:

        The mirror, having been for years in the habit of reflecting Nannykins’ wrinkled face and then Miss Perdue’s warts, was so delighted to see the beautiful  image of Cecily Woodruff that it grabbed sparkles of sunshine from the window and threw them across the new nanny and the children so they stood in a shower of light almost like fairy-dust.

8.  Your biggest fear in the writing of this story:
That I'll lose the quaint, saucy flavor of the prose before the end. It isn't easy you know, being clever for the length of a novel.

9. Last full sentence you wrote:

As this time was the one hour of the day in which Mr. Macefield emerged from his scribbling, he presided over the snack and poured tea, leaving inky fingerprints on the handles of all the tea-cups, and blotting-sand in the biscuits.

10.   Favorite character thus far:
Oooh. Hard one. I'd have to say Darby, as he's such a duck.


11. What books have been written or have you read that are similar in style and flavor to your novel?
Umm...I don't exactly know....Mary Poppins for one, then Nurse Matilda, then The Ordinary Princess...and hmmm. Maybe Five Children and It? I haven't really read any that combine the two worlds in the way my story is doing.

12. If it was destined to become a book on tape, who would you wish to read it?
Easy. Sophie Thompson. Gotta love her voice for a dry, humorous tale. :)

There you have it! I hope you are a little better acquainted with my story by now! The rules of this tag are:

• You must fill out all the questions and post it on your blog.
• You must tag four-six more authors to do it.
• You must then let me know if you've done it so I can read all about your tales!

That being said, I must now tag my people:
Katie from Whisperings of the Pen
Abigail from Scribbles and Inkstains
Jenny from The Penslayer
Miss Georgiana Darcy from the same :)

Thanks a million and have a lovely day. ~Rachel