below the surface - Nerida (The Untold Stories of Neverland, #3) by K.R. Thompson

"Nerida is a wonderful tale, as well as a wonderful character, trapped by her own curiosity as she becomes one more player in the great realm that is Neverland. K.R. Thompson has shared a darker and more grown up version of the world we all dreamed of going to, where heroes and villains take on new faces and even one frightening alligator shows a side we’ve never seen."- Goodreass, Dianne

Description:

Cover Artist: Alchemy Book Covers

Thespa, queen of the water sprites, has brought her own Lost Ones to Neverland. As the mermaids and mermen arrive, the magic returns once again to the Never Sea.

But with these newest inhabitants, something darker and more dangerous than the crocodile lies in wait below the surface.

Discover the untold story of the one destined to become the sea witch of Neverland.

GUEST POST

Pros and Cons for retellings

With retellings of classic fairytales, you can get another side of the story and bring out another view from a character that you had always wondered about. My favorites have always been the villains. I've always wondered what their story was, what made them be the “bad guy,” because contrary to popular belief, I believe evil is not born, it is made. I've always wanted to know why Captain Hook didn't want to leave Neverland and what caused him to hate Peter Pan so much. And what about the sea witch in the Little Mermaid? Who was she, really?

Learning the story of the other characters not only gives you the “why,” but, if done well, pulls you farther into the original story and makes you want to go back and re-read the classic tale all over again and fall in love with all of the characters, both good and bad.

As to cons, I can only think of one. If you venture into a retold fairytale, do so with an open mind. The characters you thought you knew may be quite different, their roles reversed. The hero could very well be the villain. 

EXCERPT 

THESPA, QUEEN OF the water sprites, and ruler of all the Never Sea, returned to the human world with a profound sense of dread. As the leader of the watery half of Neverland, not much worried her.

At least, it hadn’t until the humans began forgetting about magic and the sprites began dying.

This trip back to the human world wasn’t one she had made out of choice—necessity brought her here. She’d come to find someone to believe in her, possibly several someones, depending upon how successful her quest proved to be. Then, she’d bring them back with her as a sort of insurance so she’d never have to come to this wretched place again.

Fish won’t do, she decided, staring at the wide-set eyes of one particularly ugly pufferfish. She stood on a wide piece of coral, deep beneath the waves of this warm human ocean, and looked around. More unintelligent fish, crabs, and other sea creatures milled about, none looking particularly pleased or excited to see her. The only ones who showed any interest in her at all were the ones who stopped just long enough to see if she was a small, sparkly bit of food.

This could take forever. Her wings dipped down in dejection. I wonder how long it took the pixie to find that flying Peter-boy?

One of the golden pixies, Tink, had been the first to bring someone to Neverland. When that proved successful, she’d brought a handful more. Her Lost Ones, the pixie had named them. They were, Tink explained, the ones the human world wouldn’t miss.

Thespa crinkled her nose in disgust. As a creature of the sea, she didn’t care for humans. Though they resembled water sprites and had legs to walk about on, they lacked a graceful set of wings that could take them through both water and air. And they most certainly didn’t have any magic. Humans were meant to be above the sea, not below it. Still, the idea of taking someone or something to Neverland that wouldn’t be missed did appeal to Thespa. She sighed, wondering how long it took Tink to find her Lost Ones.

She started to fly from her perch and try a new place when something stopped her. Literally.

Thespa looked down and scowled, kicking the errant strand of seaweed that had twisted itself around her foot. The bit of green plant gave way at her vicious kick, but left a long green streak of slime down the length of her leg as a parting gift. This, of course, did absolutely nothing to improve her mood.

She was so aggravated that something extremely important had escaped her notice—the gaping jaws of an eel headed directly at her. Her anger disappeared in a fleeting second, but it was too late to move.

A hand wrapped around her an instant before the monster’s teeth snapped.

Nonplussed at missing its small, sparkly appetizer, the eel swam off in search of another easy, unsuspecting meal.

Once the hand opened, Thespa let out an uneasy breath and looked up into a pair of wide, silver eyes, framed by long locks of blond hair.

At first, she thought she’d been saved by a human, but then she spotted his long tail and realized he was as much a creature of the sea as she—and he was exactly who she’d been searching for.

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About the author:

K.R. Thompson writes paranormal stories with a bite and fairytales with a twist. An avid reader and firm believer in the magic of books, she spends her nights either reading an adventure or writing one.

She still watches for evidence of Bigfoot in the mud of Wolf Creek.

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