Q & A - Fairy Tale Novels by Regina Doman

A: Hardly! It was actually expanded, because we put in quite a few conversations between Bear andFish that aren't (and couldn't) be in the book. It moves much faster than the book, I think, because ofthat. But on the other hand, we did cut out parts of several of the longer conversations in the firstchapters and the thrift store scene (they still go shopping, but we don't see them at the store). AlsoSister Geraldine's story is shortened. I think that pretty much everything else stayed in the audio drama.Behind-the-Scenes, Character Motivations...Q: I was wondering when Bear started liking Blanche. Fish's crush on Rose began backstage duringKing Lear, I know, but did Bear have a singular moment when he started liking her, or was it just kindagradual and promulgated in him asking her to the prom??A: I think Bear was interested in Blanche as soon as he saw her. If you look at the book, he's alwaystrying to get her involved in conversation, always aware of what she's doing and trying to figure outwhat she's feeling. So I think he was sort of thinking that he could like Blanche, if she was interested inhim. But he never knew how she felt until she suddenly blurted out that she was falling in love withhim, after the prom. Then, as it says in Black As Night, "he walked on air for days."SO there was never a time when Bear was not interested in Blanche, but in some ways it was gradual.Interest at first sight?Q: When Fish rescues Rose in Freet's basement, there always seemed to be something of an attractionbetween them, even in their earlier scenes, and so I was wondering is there supposed to be or am I justreading into that?A: Yes, there's some attraction there, but Fish is a man who compartmentalizes very well, and he reallydoesn't have time to acknowledge his attraction to a girl whom he's trying to save from Certain Death.And then later on he represses it and tries to pretend nothing happened.Yes, he's very good at messing with Rose's mind: mind manipulation is definitely one of hissuperpowers, and he has to choose not to use it by the end of the trilogy.Q: Did Mr. Freet plant drugs in Bear and Fish's lockers b/c he was afraid they were going to find outhe was Fr. Raymond's murderer?A: Yes. He thought they were getting too close. Probably he overreacted because I don't think Fish andBear were actually very close to finding out the murderer at that point.Q: I've just been re-reading the Fairy Tale Novels I really liked how you added to the first chapter andclimax of "Shadow of the Bear." But anyway, when I got to "Waking Rose" I started thinking about thebasement. When you originally wrote "Shadow" did you have in mind everything that went on betweenFish and Freet or did that come later?A: It was a mixture of both. The original conception of Shadow, way back when I was in high school,was very dark (that was the version that had a suicidal Blanche ), and that element was definitely

present. But then when I realized that my original ideas were pretty melodramatic and tried to groundthem in the real world, I sort of scaled back on everything. There was always supposed to be this nastysubtext to everything that Freet was saying to Fish (you'll find it even in the older versions). Fishunderstood just how nasty and evil Freet was, hence how terrified he was for Rose. There was alsoalways this idea that Fish and Freet were the same type of person, who had chosen two very differentpaths.But I didn't really bother to elaborate even to myself how bad things were, until (as you guessed) I waswriting Waking Rose. I was arriving at the final plot around the time I was finishing Black as Night:large parts of both books were written simultaneously.There was a large question in my mind as to whether I should revisit that cellar situation and put insome of the original conception, in the context of Fish's ongoing struggles. By the time I was writingWaking Rose, I had become friends with David Morrison, the author of Beyond Gay, who lived with usfor a time (we're mentioned in the book about his healing, which was sweet). The culture war on thisissue was heating up, and of course there were the scandals in the Church. And I continued to meet andhear of young devout Catholics who were struggling with the same kind of issues, without a lot of helpor guidance.I asked some of my mentors for advice on handling this issue, and one friend who was a youth ministeressentially said to me, "Please do this. The other side fights this war with blockbuster movies and TVshows, and all we have to counter them is the Catechism."So I decided to go into the darkness and try to confront it: not, I assure you, to be "relevant", not to be"realistic," but because I was becoming aware that this was a very real dragon that too many youngmen for facing alone, and I wanted to give them an imaginative "sword" to fight the dragon, and Iwanted to give them hope.Hope this makes sense!Q: What are the three vessels used for?A: The chalice holds the wine, which during the Catholic Mass becomes the Precious Blood of Christ.The paten is a plate that holds the bread, which during the Mass is consecrated to become His SacredBody. The Body of Christ can also be referred to as the consecrated Host, but it's not properly called'bread." It's kind of cool to me that 'host' in English also means "the Master of the Banquet".The ciborium is a chalice-like receptacle with a lid which holds Hosts for distribution duringcommunion or for reserving them in the tabernacle, which is a small box or house always present in achurch building that's in use.The reason Catholic genuflect and kneel each time they enter a church building is out of reverence forChrist our Savior Who is present in the Host in the ciborium in the tabernacle. This sense of reverencecan be so strong that Catholics will frequently genuflect or bow to the altar or tabernacle even whenChrist is not present (as you can see in The Shadow of the Bear.).

Like the Temple vessels in the Old Testament, the sacred vessels of the altar are kept in honor when notbeing used. You would never use them for eating or drinking ordinary things, and even keeping them aspart of an art collection would be considered something very wrong.Q: When Rose and Blanche were at the flea market and saw Bear with the antique dealer, what wasBear doing?A: Bear had a hunch that the murderer was after the chalices Fr. Raymond had asked the brothers tohide. So he took the chalice to the flea market and was pretending to try to sell it in order to see if hecould find out about anyone who was interested in that particular piece. (It worked, though not the wayBear hoped: Freet saw him at the flea market and instantly recognized the chalice.)Q: I don't really get how Sister Geraldine realized that Bear and Fish were trying to find Fr. Raymond'smurderer?A: Sister Geraldine had assumed that Bear and Fish for some reason started selling drugs, though itdidn't fit with their earlier actions. When she heard of their hanging out with the drug crowd, she wassad, disappointed, and just prayed for them. But during the conversation with Blanche, she realizedthere was an alternate explanation for all of Bear and Fish's actions: that they were after the murderer.She also apparently guesses in Blanche's presence that the murderer framed Bear and Fish with thedrugs.If you want more explanation, consider getting the audio drama of the Shadow of the Bear, available onthe Fairy Tale Novel website -- www.fairytalenovels.com. The MP3 download is $15 for a four-hourdrama with lots of extra Bear and Fish scenes that explain a lot of what you are asking.Q: I was wondering when I first read The Shadow of the Bear why Mrs. Denniston would name her sonBenedict when she wasn't even Catholic at the time she had him(unfortunately, Benedict isn't even apopular a name among Catholics ). Did she, then, have some sort of traditional Catholic influencebefore her conversion?A: Remember that when this book was written, there wasn't a Pope Benedict, so the name Benedictdidn't sound particularly Catholic to most people. Not as Catholic as "John Paul" sounded, anyway!The Denniston family were from the Anglican tradition, Mrs. Denniston was very literary, and shenamed her sons after figures in Western history -- Arthur after King Arthur, and Benedict after theFather of Western Monasticism, since Benedict's monks were famous for preserving so many oldbooks.Q: Also, why was Mrs. Brier so--almost blase--about Bear all throughout the book? I just got theimpression that although she didn't even know this dread-locked man, she didn't really care either. Wasshe basing it on the fact that he appeared nice, and if so, wouldn't she know better than that? (If shedoesn't, maybe she should have a talk with Paul Fester)A: What version of the book are you reading? In the 2008 version of the book, I try to make it clearwhy Mrs. Brier feels an instinct to protect Bear. But it's not so clear in the earlier versions.

Also there are ways of discovering if a person is trustworthy, and Mrs. Brier could tell intuitively andby watching Bear and listening to his conversation that he was an okay guy. She doesn't say muchduring the book, but she's present and listening to a lot of what goes on. If she had heard something thatset off her alarm bells, she would have told Bear to stop coming. The difference between her andRachel Durham is a) experience of years (ask your parents! They probably put *all* your friendsthrough a screening process you aren't even aware of) and b) knowledge of goodness. When you trulyknow goodness, you have an easier time detecting the lack of it. Rachel, as a person who is sort-ofinfatuatedwith evil, lacked that critical faculty.Also, my husband points out, Bear *didn't* appear nice! Like Strider in LOTR, he "looked foul but feltfair!"Questions about Inspiration...Q: I came across a poet named Stephen Foster. Is this just a coincidence, or did you name yourcharacter after him?A: If you mean the American songwriter Stephen Foster, then no, there's no coincidence! You may bethe first person to notice this! (Though in the original book Stephen's name is Stevenson.)Q: I was wondering where Bear's poem in The Shadow of the Bear came from? Did you write it,Regina, or someone you know?A: My brother-in-law wrote it. I married into a family of male poets. I think pretty much all of themwrite poetry of some sort. My husband has written a few silly poems (which I personally like but they*are* silly) while two of his younger brothers take it very seriously. I think the other three brothers(he's the oldest of eleven) have done some dabbling in that area, though the youngest two mainly makeninja movies.What is interesting is that I don't think any of his five sisters write poems. How odd is that?Q: Regina, how did you pick the title for Shadow of the Bear? Was it something that just popped intoyour head? Were there any other possible titles?A: Actually, the Bethlehem Books folks came up with the name and named it. I didn't really have a sayin it at all (publishers, not authors, have the final say over the title), but I couldn't think of anythingbetter. So there weren't any other alternatives, really. (I also never wanted the word "modern" in thetitle of the original edition, which sounded clumsy to me.)For the record, Black as Night was also a real headache to name. We could not find *any* Snow Whitestyle of name that hadn't already been taken (ie: White as Snow, Snow, Snow White, Blood Red, etc.).And fairy tale purists like myself might notice that the words "Black as Night" do NOT appear in thefairy tale (in the original tale, her hair is "black as ebony").Thank God that Waking Rose's title came so easily: once I found out that Jane Yolen had taken myoriginal title, "Briar Rose" for her book, I came up with "Waking Rose" fairly easily. (My inspirationwas partly a novel I came across called "Drowning Ruth": not a terribly good book, btw, fairly

forgettable women's lit fiction). And "The Midnight Dancers" (in exactly those words) is fortunatelynot the title of any book in print that was ever very popular.I still think "The Shadow of the Bear" is too long of a title: I like one or two word titles myself.Questions about Names...Q: I have kind of a silly question... how do you pronounce Rose and Blanche's last name?A: Not a silly question at all. Mae is correct: "Brier" is pronounced "Breer," which I believe is thecorrect German pronunciation (the family is German-Irish).Q: Regina, my sister and I were wondering what Jean Brier's maiden name was. Can you tell us?A: Um, I can't tell you now, because I don't know (or remember). Actually I thought it was mentionedat one point in Waking Rose, but maybe I cut that out in one of the revisions.Q: How do you pronounce Bear and Fish's last name? It's been driving me crazy!A: Denniston: "DEN iss Ston." All short vowels: would rhyme with "BEN miss ONE".Q: I'm curious, how did you come to pick Blanche's name? I know the meaning behind it of course, itjust isn't very commonly used today. (I can't remember the last time I heard of a person living todaynamed Blanche). Did you have any other Snow-white related names that you considered?A: Oh, it was very simple. I just looked for names that meant "white." Bianca was the other choice, butit sounded too Italian and classy for me.BTW in the very first draft, Blanche's name was Mary. But I like Blanche better.Q: Regina, how did you choose the names of Blanche and Rose?A: Well, Rose had to be Rose, but Blanche was originally Mary in the first draft (ie: because theBlessed Mother is white as snow, etc.) but I knew that I had to find another name.My sister had been in a play "The Carmelites" (also a famous French opera and movie) about theCarmelite martyrs of the French Revolution, and one main character is a girl who is terrified to be amartyr, Blanche. I remembered her when I was thinking of a name, and thought I could see similarities.Incidentally, the character who is a "foil" to Blanche's character in that play, a very spirited young nunwhose name I am forgetting (I auditioned for her part but didn't get it ) was an inspiration for thecharacter of Rose, and the reason why Rose has a dream about martyrdom. The "dreams" conversationis one of the oldest sections in the book, and represents a scene I wrote just to help me work my wayinto the characters. It was the first of the three-way conversations that really distilled the characters ofBear, Blanche, and Rose. The scene doesn't do very much for the plot, it's a little clunky, and if I wrotethe book now, I wouldn't have included it in my published version. But I suppose it does represent astep towards Blanche opening up a little more with Bear, and vice versa.

Q: How do you, Mrs. Doman, pronounce 'Blanche' ?? Most people I know say it as it looks...with thehard 'a' and the 'ch' sound. But in this book, you have Bear make a reference to the fact that it's aFrench name. I sort of know a French girl named Blanche, and she pronounces it 'blonshe.' I hope myquestion makes sense!A: I say "Blanche" so that the "a" is the same sound in 'bland.' The other sounds too foreign apronunciation for me.Character Trivia...Q: When are everyone's birthdays? I know Rose's is in April, and Fish's is in November, but whatdays?A: As for the birthday, Fish's birthday was April 13th. To read the post about how I revised thebirthdays (and confused everyone) go to this link:http://reginadoman.blogspot.com/2007/10/mysterious-affair-of-rose-briers.htmlQ: And when is his [Fish’s] birthday mentioned?A: It's not directly mentioned in any of the books. But it's in my notes that I use when I write the books.Q: This is probably a pretty silly question, but what kind of cap does Fish wear? Is it like a beret? I'mtrying to draw a picture of him and was wondering what kind of hat he wears!A: It's NOT a beret. It’s sort of like the kind of hat golfers or British cabbies wear. (Dick Van Dykewears one in Mary Poppins) I always thought that style was called a "flat hat." But I'm not sure now.Q: Did Rose and Blanche's family ever ask Bear if he wanted to be called Bear?A: My guess is that Blanche probably asked Bear and he said, "Bear is fine." I don't know if anyoneelse asked.Q: I have a question about the book that I've been wondering for a while...how old is Bear when theyfirst meet him? It might be somewhere in the book, but if it is, I've missed it. Thanks!A: This is a lousy question to ask me because I always forget. Wait! Elizabeth and my husband mademe make a timetable of the characters....According to the official timetable, Bear is 20 when The Shadow of the Bear begins.Miscellaneous Questions . . .Q: What happened to all the stuff [especially church stuff] Mr. Freet was hiding???

A: It probably was all given to the police as evidence, and the sorting-out process probably took sometime. Some of Mr. Freet's collection was actually really his: he had bought it. But Fish and Bearprobably had to try to prove which vessels were stolen from Fr. Raymond. It was probably ahorrendous legal headache. My guess is that Bear ensured that any of Fr. Raymond's vessels (asidefrom the three precious ones which he and Fish immediately repossessed) that the brothers couldacquire from Freet were either donated to religious or churches that wanted them, or perhaps carefullysold to businesses who restore old churches. Good question!Q: What was the significance of the church being connected to the school? And why did Rob knowabout that?A: Read the book carefully (particularly the climax) and you'll find out why.Rob knew about the tunnel just because he, like most boys, have a good memory for spectacular andgory pieces of information like the story of the unsolved murder. Probably all the older students at theschool knew about the tunnel, and some of them had probably tried to get into it at one time or another.Just like the boys in my old high school all knew where the door to the roof of the school was and howto get it open. None of us girls even thought about that, or cared!Still have a question of your own about The Shadow of the Bear? Email regina@reginadoman.com.But first check the Q&A for the other books and Regina’s personal Q& A.