FANTASY PIONEER

Found this interesting link by prolific science-fiction author, historian, and translator Brian Stableford on Mme. de Villeneuve, the French author who first set down the Beauty and the Beast story in print in 1740. Stableford celebrates Villeneuve (Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot) as a pioneer of sci-fi/fantasy, citing her La Belle et la Bete as " the eighteenth-century work that most closely resembles modern generic fantasy novels."

However, it's the heavily abridged and altered rewrite of the tale published in 1756 by Jeanne-Marie Leprince de Beaumont that has become the standard version of the tale —  even though Stableford calls it  "a conscious and corrupt plagiarism of a far more innovative and interesting original." He praises the largely forgotten Villeneuve as "a far more complicated and more sophisticated writer than a superficial reading of the Beauty/Beast motif implies," and cites "the nature and intensity of her imagination."

I was aware of these dueling versions of the tale (but not in so much interesting detail!) when I wove both authors' names into Beast: A Tale of Love and Revenge. In my book, the Beaumonts have more or less eclipsed the power and prestige of their Villeneuve cousins, claiming the Villeneuve reputation, like Beast's disputed chateau, for their own — as Mme. Beaumont claimed the Beauty/Beast story for her own, all but eclipsing the stalwart efforts of Mme. Villeneuve.

Obviously, Mme. Le Prince de Beaumont had a much more deft hand at self-promotion, judging by this fanciful portrait by contemporary illustrator Binette Schroeder for a 1986 edition of the tale! Did La Beaumont really keep a cheetah on a leash? Or is it all just metaphor?

BEAST TRANSFORMED

One more month until Beast: A Tale of Love and Revenge is unleashed on the world!

In the meantime, let's celebrate with one more — well, actually two more — Beasts of the Month.

These two vintage images may help to illustrate why my book is different from more traditional versions of Beauty and the Beast.

Take a look at these two views of the transformation scene.

This is what I call the moment that all thinking women dread — noble, soulful Beast transformed back into a (yawn) handsome  Prince!

The first is an Art Nouveau postcard from 1906, illustrated by Sophia May Bowley.

I do like the little beast-heads decorating his tunic and sleeve.

But isn't it a little weird that he's shrugged off his Beast persona like a cheap suit?

Over here, we have an illustration by Peter Newell from the book Favorite Fairy Tales, published in 1907.

Now, this is more like my reaction would be if I suddenly saw that the extraordinary Beast I'd fallen in love with had turned into an ordinary prince!

Wait, what? Where's my Beast?

Beast did all the work of wooing Beauty. Why should the Prince get the girl?

Beast (and his Lucie) get a much more satisfying ending in my book!


(Beast: A Tale of Love and Revenge lopes onto bookshelves and devices everywhere on July 10!)

STARRED REVIEW!

Great news, faithful readers! 

The folks at Publishers Weekly just awarded a STARRED review to Beast: A Tale of Love and Revenge!

The review says, in part;

In this compelling reimagining of “Beauty and the Beast,” Jensen integrates a new plot thread in the form of a third protagonist into the familiar fairy tale. Jensen includes all of the tale’s most significant elements, while still adding new twists and depths. Haunting language and lush descriptions (“the petals are long-dead; they have lost their bright color and velvety texture and curled into crisp, dry cinders...”) engage the senses, making this a memorable, worthy addition to the canon of “Beauty and the Beast” retellings.

This is my first ever starred review from PW, and I couldn't be more thrilled!

Beast unleashes (at last!) on July 10! Meanwhile, read the full review.

Thanks, PW!

ONE MONTH CLOSER!

Hey, there, readers!


Beast: A Tale of Love and Revenge is only two more months away!


Publication day is July 10, 2018.


To celebrate, here's my Beast of the Month for May, another evocative Beauty and the Beast illustration hand-picked (by me) from the wilds of the Internet.


The artist is contemporary French illustrator Julie Rouviere.


I love the candelabra poking out of the shrubbery lighting Beauty's escape! This haunting image is sort of a mash-up of Jean Cocteau and the Disney version.


Of course, the scene plays out a little differently in my telling of the tale!


Click here to see more of Julie Rouviere's work.

CRAFTY BEAST

The countdown continues for Beast: A Tale of Love and Revenge (coming July 10)!

So my Beast of the Month for April is this ceramic art tile depicting scenes from Beauty and the Beast, ca. 1867. Tile from Morris (as in William), Marshall, Faulkner & Co. Painted by Edward Burne-Jones and Edward Coley.

Okay, this Beast is basically just a bear, but I love the decorative quality of this Pre-Raphaelite tile. In design terms (very loosely speaking), the mid-Victorian Pre-Raphaelites led to Art Nouveau led to the Craftsman style around the turn of the 20th Century.

These eras were all about fine craftsmanship and beautiful decoration. And just look at that lower right image!

I love how Beauty is having a romantic dream of Beast back in his rose garden, as her conniving sisters slumber on obliviously. Yes, according to the story, this is probably the dream that tells Beauty to hurry back to the cattle because Beast is dying without her.

But there's so much tenderness in that image! That's why I love it.

HAPPY NEWS

Say what you will about the Ides of March, but I received some happy news today from Kirkus Review!

My editor, Kaylan Adair, at Candlewick, sent me a pre-publication sneak peek at the Kirkus review of Beast: A Tale of Love and Revenge, will be published online next week. (May 1st, in print.) They say, in part:

A fresh retelling of "Beauty and the Beast" with an interesting and meaningful plot twist. Vividly enchanting descriptions transport the reader to the beautiful surroundings. Lucie is a brave and sympathetic heroine who ultimately writes her own happy ending. For readers who love reimagined fairy tales and strong female characters. (Fiction. 13-adult)

The readers at Kirkus are a tough crowd. They weren't so crazy about Alias Hook, so this review is a big thrill for me!

Also pleased that they rate the prospective age group as 13 to adult. Just a reminder that this is not exactly the Disney version!

Thanks, Kirkus!

WILD THING

It's the tenth of the month, and you know what that means?


Four more months until the release of Beast: A Tale of Love and Revenge! (July 10, 2018!)


In the meantime, behold my Beast of the Month, by contemporary artist Clive Hicks-Jenkins.


Is this a Beast with art-i-tude, or what?


Hicks-Jenkins is a theatrical designer, painter, printmaker and book illustrator in Wales.

 
This sketch is a design for a pair of Beauty and Beast puppets he began in 2014. It doesn't look like Hicks-Jenkins ever completed the pair. But I was able to track down this image of his final version of Beast!


Here's the fascinating backstory of how Hicks-Jenkins was inspired by Jean Marais and Josette Day in the classic Beaty and the Beast film by Jean Cocteau. After making this colorful drawing, he opted to ditch its refinement and instead do a much wilder, rougher version for the actual puppet.


Its papier-mâché head is texturized with plenty of gesso (unsanded), and painted black-and-while (to reference the film), with the focus on it head, paws, and claws.


I love this wild-looking puppet to pieces! (It must be the doll-maker in me.) But I also adore the original sketch!


Here's some more of the artist's insights into his puppet-making process!

GOLDEN BEAST

Poor Beast!

He can't get a break. No matter how nobly he behaves, Beauty can't accept him as a romantic partner.

Of course, Beast gets a different story in my book, Beast: A Tale of Love and Revenge!

Speaking of which, as the countdown continues to my publication date (July 10, 2018), behold my Beast of the Month! This lovely image is by Gordon Laite (1925-1978), a popular illustrator of children's books in the 1950s and '60s.

Laite is perhaps best known for The Blue Book of Fairy Tales, a Little Golden Book (remember that series of thin cardboard-bound picture books with the shiny gold spines?), and the collection Five Fairy Tales (which was a Big Golden Book). One of those five stories is Beauty and the Beast, which is the origin of this image.

Although Laite's Beast does not resemble mine, I still love the vivid colors and fanciful details of this picture — look at that winsomely decorated candelabra, and those busy butterflies! Not to mention her gown festooned with peacock feathers!

But I especially love the tenderness of Beauty's hand attempting to comfort Beast.

He gets the companion he deserves in my version of the story!

CLASSIC BEAST

Hey, folks!

Exactly seven months from today — July 10, 2018 — my next novel, Beast: A Tale of Love and Revenge, is (finally) coming to a bookstore near you!

Let's celebrate by reviving my Beast of the Month countdown. Once a month, I'll share some of my favorite Beast images — from book illustrations to movies and stage design. Most will be riffs on the Beauty and the Beast story, but I'll throw in a few surprises too!

Let's start with a classic — this wonderful, vintage poster from Jean Cocteau's hypnotic 1946 film La Belle et la Bete.

This remains the best B&B movie. Ever! And this poster perfectly captures its mood — spooky, lush, and romantic.

It's said that when the movie ended, and this magnificent Beast had morphed back into the handsome prince, Greta Garbo cried from the audience, "Give me back my Beast!"

Who could blame her?

BEASTY NEW YEAR!

Looky what arrived on my virtual desktop this week!

In the publishing biz, they call this a cover flat — the dust jacket of a hardcover book spread out flat. Pretty cool, huh?

My intrepid editor, Kaylan Adair, at Candlewick Pres, sent this out to me ASAP, the cover flat for Beast: A Tale of Love and Revenge, to get my Happy New Year off to a boffo start. It worked!

I'm very jazzed about the Gothic elegance of this artwork — dark and lovely — and how it suits the mood of my story. And I could NOT be more thrilled about how the gorgeousness of this concept extends beyond the front cover all the way to the spine and the flaps!

Pub date is July 10. Stay tuned!

(PS: And yes, the one typo I found in the jacket text will be corrected in the printed version. Can you spot it?)

OF BEASTS AND BEAUTIES

There's a funny moment in the sci-fi movie, Mimic, an early work by Guillermo del Toro: some creepy guy is trying to put the moves on the character played by Mira Sorvino, who is so not interested.

"I like to stick to my own species," she cracks.

Evidently, Del Toro has altered his own position on this point since then, judging from the rapturous love story at the heart of his beguiling new movie, The Shape of Water.

In this romantic pairing, the heroine is a mousy, spinsterish woman scrubbing floors at a secret government facility, and the hero is a man-sized amphibian, complete with gills, fish scales, and webbed digits.

Okay, what couple doesn't have their issues? But in the name of diversity, tolerance, and the right to fall in love with whoever you choose, their relationship blossoms into one the year's most poignant love stories.

Which got me thinking about the age-old Beauty and the Beast trope and how it continues to be updated through the generations.

Thoughts already much on my mind during the writing of my own B&B-inspired novel, Beast: A Tale of Love and Revenge. (Coming in July to a bookstore near you!)

After a few centuries on the old wives tale circuit, the story was first set down in print in the 18th Century, as an instructive tale for young ladies about to be married off by their families to scary older men. The point was to train timorous young brides to see beyond the ferocious-seeming exterior to the humanity within.

But the tale is always ripe for alternative interpretations and debate, around a few central questions: What constitutes beauty and beastliness? Does physical beauty make one beautiful? Does a a beastly face make one a monster, even if one has a human heart?

Does one have to be considered beautiful to be worthy of love?

Del Toro's heroine is not considered a beauty, and she's further marginalized by her inability to speak. Despite his monstrous appearance, the beast character here demonstrates empathy, intelligence, and compassion. The only real monsters in the story are human.

Julia Adams meets The Creature: blood-curdling

Linda Hamilton, Ron Perlman: Romantic

In pop fiction (the fairy tales of today), we've come a long way since the monstrous "Gill-Man" in The Creature From the Black Lagoon (to whom Del Toro pays such loving homage). Back then, the ferociousness of this "monster" elicited from co-star Julia Adams one of the juiciest, most blood-curdling screams in the history of movies.

We've seen the lion-faced Vincent as romantic hero in the old Beauty and the Beast TV series. We've seen a generation of sexy vampires and werewolves, to whom their human prey all too eagerly succumb. Del Toro intuits the time may be right for an unapologetic sort of "beast" who doesn't have to be revealed as a (yawn) handsome prince to earn his happy ending.

And here's the best part (SPOILER ALERT) — in Del Toro's movie, they find a way to be together. A lovely, poetic way.

Because, really, who doesn't root for the Beast to end up with the woman he's wooed and won?

RAPTURE OF THE DEEP

Offbeat love story simmers in bewitching Shape of Water

It would be glib to say The Shape of Water is like Beauty and the Beast meets The Creature From the Black Lagoon. It would be accurate, but it doesn't suggest the profound emotional pull and dramatic resonance of this bewitching new movie from Guillermo del Toro.

The master craftsman behind the amazing Pan's Labyrinth, Del Toro's career has taken some oddball turns since then, but he's back in top form with this evocative modern fairy-tale.

Co-scripted by Del Toro and Vanessa Taylor, the story begins at a secret government facility in Baltimore, ca 1962 — at the height of the Spy-vs-Spy tensions of the Cold War. Elisa (Sally Hawkins), and her friend, Zelda (Octavia Spencer), are maids, cleaning up the research labs.

An orphan, whose damaged vocal cords render her unable to speak, Elisa lives an orderly, solitary life in an apartment above a once-grand movie theater. Her only other friend, Giles (Richard Jenkins), down the hall, is a lonely, middle-aged gay artist whose magazine illustrations are going out of style.

Hawkins & Jones: Liquid Asset

One day, something strange is brought to the lab, accompanied by volatile government honcho, Strickland (Michael Shannon).

The staff is warned to keep their distance, but Elisa can't help peeking into the tank to find that what everyone refers to as "The Asset" is a man-sized, reptilian, aquatic creature with scales, webbed digits, and gills, captured from the jungles of South America — where "the natives consider him a god."

The scientists, however, are only interested in his dual breathing mechanisms (both water and air), which they plan to study for military purposes. But Elisa soon discovers he's a sentient being, able to communicate. It's agonizing enough whenever sadistic Strickland shows up with a cattle-prod to show "The Asset" who's boss. But when Elisa hears they plan to dissect him, she goes into action.

Hawkins & Jenkins: Allies for love

That's the plot, but Del Toro takes extraordinary time and care to develop Elisa's relationship with the "Amphibian Man." She brings him food and companionship; he learns her sign language (which no one else at the facility bothers to do), and responds to music she smuggles in to play for him.

In small deft strokes, theirs becomes one of the most compelling, fanciful, and satisfying love stories you'll see onscreen all year. As Elisa signs to Giles, "He doesn't see how I am incomplete." They recognize in each other something everyone else is missing.

Loud and clear: Elisa has a message for male authority

Hawkins is as marvelous as ever, full of smoldering fury at Strickland (the story's real "monster"), yet persuasively tender and giddy in love. But major kudos go to Doug Jones, as the creature. A frequent Del Toro collaborator, he's a skilled mime who specializes in otherworldly roles (he played the fearsome Fauno in Pan's Labyrinth, and Abe Sapien in the Hellboy movies).

The range of subtle sound effects by which the character communicates are brilliantly done, but it's Jones' soulful, expressive presence that gives the movie its heart.

Inspiration: the original "Amphibian Man"

And it's all done with make-up; you'd never feel so much humanity from a CGI effect.

Jenkins is also terrific as wry observer Giles; hopelessly crushed on the guy who serves pie at the diner, he becomes Elisa's staunchest ally. And Del Toro's sheer joy of filmmaking is contagious, from precision chase scenes, and glimpses of period TV shows like Mr. Ed and Dobie Gillis, cannily chosen to inform the story, to his gleeful homage to vintage Hollywood musicals in a nutty but irresistible fantasy dance routine shot in black-and-white, a la Fred and Ginger.

Cat lovers (like me) will find one incident distressing, but even that makes a valid point about letting what's wild stay wild. Overall, this offbeat love story could not be more timely, or effective.

It celebrates diversity with a "disabled" heroine, a woman of color, and a gay man teaming up to thwart the evil schemes of a government of monsters. It's about a woman who defies the perception that she is powerless against condescending male authority. It rebukes stark political and scientific agendas without compassion. And it stands up for the unalienable right to fall in love — period.

9 - AND COUNTING

The countdown continues!


In 9 months, my Beast will be born! Yes, Beast: A Tale of Love and Revenge hits bookstores on July 10, 2019.


In the meantime, feast your eyes on my Beast of the Month in this gorgeous illustration of Beauty and the Beast by contemporary artist Toshiaki Kato.


Kato does not apparently have a website of his own, but you can see more of his beauteous illustrations here.


His work is featured in an item called Genshin/Japanese Anime Art Book, which is mostly available on eBay. I have no other information about him.

But Holy Moly, what a cool image!

COVER REVEAL!

Hey, folks!

For a while now, the artisan elves over at Candlewick Press have been hard at work on the cover art for Beast: A Tale of Love and Revenge.

And now, at last, I get to share it with you!

Et, voila!

My story takes place in the French countryside, at the dawn of the 17th Century, more than 100 years before the tale we recognize now as Beauty and the Beast was written down in book form (first by Madame de Villeneuve in 1740, then retold by Madame de Beaumont in 1756).

My narrative imagines what the real story might have been behind the familiar fairy tale we all think we know. And the Gothic touches in this image evoke the dark, romantic mood of my story.

I've been extraordinarily lucky in all my cover designs. Just look at those three, cool Alias Hook covers over there to your right:  The US edition from Thomas Dunne Books, the audiobook from Blackstone, and the original UK edition from Snowbooks, a symphony in gold foil-on-black.

This beauteous Beast cover carries on that tradition!

I couldn't be more thrilled! What do you think?

BEASTITUDE

Beast of the Month from Binettte Schroeder

I officially "met" (via email) my new publicist from Candlewick Press today. It will be her job to shepherd me through the labyrinth of PR duties as my Beast (Beast: A Tale of Love and Revenge, for those of you who came in late) proudly strides toward publication!

What this means is that Beast is on track for his new pub date, July 10, 2018. Yay!

To celebrate, I'm reviving my Beast of the Month countdown. Yes, it's another 12 months between now and next July.

But to help pass the time, I'll be sharing some of my favorite versions of Beast, from Beauty and the Beast, as imagined by book illustrators and designers both vintage and modern.

They're not meant to resemble the Beast in my book, but I'm always looking for a Beast with a certain attitude (Beastitude?) that separates him from the pack. And they get extra points on my personal Beast-o-meter if they don't conform to the Disney standard.

Shroeder's Beauty: shock at first sight

Don't get me wrong: I loved Disney's original cartoon Beast as much as any other fangirl. But the tale itself is almost 300 years old (and that's just from the earliest written-down versions), and there have been hundreds of offbeat and highly original interpretations over time. And whenever I find a really cool one, I'll post it here!

Case in point: This fabulous 1986 Beauty and the Beast storybook illustrated by German artist Binette Schroeder!

Look at this majestic Beast (above)! I like the combination of leopard-spotted limbs and wolfish head. From the softness of the lines I'm pretty sure the medium is pastels, rendered by a master.

(Look at Beast's shadow gliding across the pillar behind him.)

And I love how the trees are growing through the window and into the room!

The image from the facing page shows Beauty having her first magical meal at the castle. I originally loved the idea that that the meal was preparing itself for her, the knife in mid-air, but now I see that she's just let go of the knife in her shock at seeing Beast for the first time.

Gorgeous gargoyle: ornaments fit for a Beast!

Either way, it's a very atmospheric image. Look at the misty moon outside, the leopard legs on the table, and that eerie gargoyle head on top of the arch of the window!

Next, we see Beauty running back to Beast's castle after dreaming that Beast is dying without her.

Don't you just love that lupine gargoyle bannister ornament with the delicate butterfly wings?

And at last, the grand finale, with Beauty rushing back to save Beast from dying of unrequited love for her — just before she confesses her love, and he rises again in the form of the handsome prince (below).


Just look at the faces in the shrubs, and the imposing silhouette of the castle in the moonlight.

Of course, this isn't exactly the way the story plays out in my book. Or, at least, it's not where my story ends. Beast gets a different happily-ever-after in my story.

Stay tuned!

(See more of Binette Schroeder's Beauty and the Beast illustrations!)

LOVE WINS

Romance survives tech glitches in Cabrillo Stage's 'Beauty and the Beast'

Staging Disney's Beauty and the Beast for live theater is a massive undertaking. Along with the usual lavish musical production numbers, this show has magical spells, onstage transformations, aerial effects, video projections, and, not one, but two savage wolf pack attacks.

Just getting this unwieldy thing up onstage, with live actors and no CGI effects, is not a task for the faint-hearted. The trick is to make all these intricate components work and not overwhelm the love story at the show's heart.

The ambitious new production at Cabrillo Stage works hard to maintain this delicate balance, and is reasonably successful. There were bound to be a few technical difficulties on opening night, but that's the great thing about live theater: every new performance is a fresh start!

The good news in director-choreographer Janie Scott's production is a trio of strong performances at its heart — Mathew Taylor as Beast, Emily Mairi Marsilia as Belle, and Carmichael James Blankenship as the narcissistic villain, Gaston. There are many other noteworthy performers in the ensemble, but it's up to these three to sell the story.

Marsililia and Blankenship: no way, Lout

If they don't, all the effects in the world won't help. But if they do — as they did with gusto on opening night — then the glitches don't matter so much.

As the title implies, this is the Disney version of the 300-year-old fairy tale, based on the studio's hit 1991 cartoon feature. In Linda Woolverton's book (she also scripted the movie), Belle is considered "odd" in her French country village for reading books and not being married.

Gaston, a preening, muscle-bound lout, means to wed her because she's "the prettiest girl in the village" — while keeping up his dalliances with the other fawning village girls. Vain, pompous, belligerent Gaston is a horrible character, but a great role. And Blankenship is perfect, with his outsized, comic stage presence and powerhouse singing voice.

When Belle's adored father gets lost in the forest and stumbles into the castle occupied by Beast, Belle braves the forest to get him released — which Beast only agrees to if she takes her father's place.

Taylor and Marsilia: Beastie Boy Meets Girl

Marsilia (last seen at CS as Mary Poppins) plays Belle as an independent young spinster; she has a beautiful voice and her emotions are true. But Taylor's ferocious Beast anchors the emotional story, spitting out his lines with husky menace, or throwing an unexpectedly hilarious hissy-fit. He matures into rumbling nobility with a couple of powerful solos.

Nick Rodrigues is completely charming as chipper candlestick Lumiere, especially leading the ensemble of singing, dancing tableware and furniture in the rousing "Be Our Guest" production number.

Most opening-night glitches were from mics being smacked during the action, and some sketchy wire work. I guess the idea of using wires during the second wolf attack is so that Beast, in his fury, can hurl one wolf across the stage, but it's a cartoony idea that doesn't translate well; the choreography might work better without wires.

On the other hand, while the audience held its collective breath in the finale, with Beast spinning precariously above the stage, his transformation was triumphant. (Or not, if, like me, you don't want  soulful Beast to turn back into the handsome prince.)

(Read more in this week's Good Times)

Seeing this production (and the live-action Disney version earlier this year) reminds me again of how Disney has co-opted the tale. Belle's father doesn't steal a rose from the castle garden in this version; Beast throws him in the dungeon for no apparent reason.

Gaston is a complete Disney fabrication, a cartoon villain to replace the more subtle maneuverings of Belle/Beauty's imperious, conniving sisters.

(Although actors always have a great time in the role. Check out Gaston alums Hugh Jackman and Luke Evans in a Gaston sing-off on the Jonathan Ross show.)

And the idea that all the human servants were changed into objects in the same witch's curse that turned their selfish master into Beast takes some of the fizz out of the love story. The curse can only be lifted if Beast falls in love with a woman and earns her love back, so from the minute Belle wanders in, the entire corps of objects are ganging up on Beast to woo and win her — for all their sakes.

The problem is, this set-up doesn't give Beast and Beauty a chance to fall in love on their own — unlike most traditional tellings of the tale, in which they are all alone in the castle and develop feelings for each other honestly.

Of course, Disney is slavishly faithful to the bit about turning Beast back into the Prince. There's a touching moment in the Cabrillo production when Taylor's Beast, feeling his humanity slip away, mourns, "There's so little left of me." Completely ignoring the fact that the "me" he used to be was kind of a jerk.

But, you already know how I feel about that!

BEAST OF THE MONTH (JUNE)

The countdown continues — s-l-o-w-l-y — to the publication date of my next novel, Beast: A Tale of Love and Revenge.

Due date is March 6, 2018. Get in line now!

Okay, that's still 10 months away.

But in the meantime, I'm posting a Beast of the Month on this blog, sharing some of my favorite Beauty and the Beast images from the 260 intervening years since what we now think of as the classic version of the novel was published in France by Jeanne Marie Le Prince de Beaumont in 1757.

This month: feast your eyes on this gorgeous painting from contemporary African-American artist Thomas Blackshear!

This does not resemble my Beast, or my heroine, but I love, love, love the Klimt-like decorative element of the patterns and brushwork!

Seriously, could this be any more gorgeous?

BROODING BEAST

The countdown continues toward the pub date of my next book, Beast: A Tale of Love and Revenge, coming in Spring, 2018.

Meaning: it's time for my Beast of the Month!

This is from English illustrator Paul Woodroffe, from a 1905 edition of Beauty and the Beast. My version of Beast is not nearly as humanoid as this one. (Although I do love his elegant backswept horns!)

But his brooding posture, and the mysterious mood of this image feel just right.

I also adore the prominent candlestick, lighting the scene. A silver candlestick plays a very important role in my story!

Woodroffe was famed as an illustrator of fairy tales and other children's books, Bible stories, and Shakespeare. But he was also renowned as a stained-glass artist, as you can tell by the elaborate design of the panel (or possibly chair back) behind Beauty in this image.

My Beast borrows a lot in terms of mood and atmosphere from golden Age illustrators like Woodroffe. But I've shaken up the classic story too!

Pub date is currently planned for March 6, 2018. Stay tuned . . .

VIVA LA BETE

The countdown continues toward the pub date of my next book. (Beast: A Tale of Love and Revenge, for those of you who came in late. Due March 6, 2018, in a bookstore near you!)

Yes, it's a long time away. But to help pass the time, take a look at my Beast of the Month for April!

Behold this luscious image from Jean Cocteau's dreamy 1946 classic, La Belle et la Bete.

Sure, Disney's new Beauty and the Beast movie is getting all the buzz (a live-action remake of the studio's own 1991 cartoon feature). But Cocteau's sumptuous fairy tale, shot in glorious black-and-white, gets my vote as the Best.Version. Ever.

That's French heartthrob Jean Marais behind the fur, with Josette Day as the rightly smitten Beauty.

Marais was a handsome guy, but look at this soulful Beast!

It's said that when Greta Garbo saw the film, she cried out at the end, "Give me back my Beast!"

Who could blame her?

FURRY TALE

How does Disney's new Beauty and the Beast shape up?

So, I went to see Disney's new Beauty and the Beast movie. Full disclosure: Disney's 1991 cartoon version, along with the dreamy 1946 Jean Cocteau black-and-white La Belle et la Bete, inspired me to write my own alternative take on the tale.

(Beast: A Tale of Love and Revenge, due out March 6, 2018. But you knew that!)

When it was first announced that Disney was doing a live-action remake, my first reaction was: why? They'd gotten everything so right the first time.

The obvious answer is the studio wants to wrest another megazillion bucks in profits out of tried-and-true properties to which the studio already owns the rights. (See other recent live-action remakes like Cinderella and Maleficent.)

But, the more pertinent question is: have they built a better Beast?

Belle and Gaston: no way, lout

Lavish, enormously-budgeted, gorgeously-produced, and directed by Bill Condon as a color-saturated movie musical extravaganza, the new version is much longer than the cartoon.

Additions have been made to the original script by Linda Woolverton (who does not get a credit this time around) by screenwriters Stephen Chbosky and Evan Spiliotopoulos.

There's some new backstory about the "Beauty" character, Belle (Emma Watson), her clockmaker father (Kevin Kline), and her absent mother. The pivotal moment when an insulted enchantress casts a spell to turn the spoiled, frivolous young prince into the fearsome Beast (Dan Stevens) is acted out as a prologue. And three new songs have been added to the Oscar-winning musical score by Alan Menken and the late Howard Ashman (new lyrics written by Tim Rice).

Otherwise, the story hews pretty closely to the (Disney) original. Belle is considered "odd" in her French country village because she reads books, dreams of adventure, and is in no hurry to get married — especially not to Gaston (Luke Evans), the narcissistic lout who means to make her his wife because "she's as pretty as me."

Beast and Belle: the way to a girl's heart

When her father is taken prisoner by a horrible Beast in a castle hidden in the woods, Belle demands to take her father's place. She doesn't know the fearsome Beast is a prince under a witch's curse. All his servants have been turned into household objects who befriend Belle, knowing that only a girl who falls in love with Beast and earns his love in return can break the curse on them all.

But there's a ticking clock: an enchanted rose preserved under a (ahem) bell jar. If Beast hasn't found love by the time the last petal drops, he and his people will be trapped in the curse for the rest of their lives.

Lumiere: candle power

Fractious with each other at first, Belle and Beast start to bond — especially when he invites her to visit his vast library. Meanwhile, the hateful Gaston makes plans to storm the castle, kill the beast, and "rescue" the girl.

There are many charming and funny interactions between Belle and the enchanted objects. I loved the staging of the song, "Be Our Guest," led by the irrepressible master-of-ceremonies, Lumiere, the candelabra (voice and motion-capture movements by Ewan McGregor), a show-stopping production number with its homages to Busby Berkeley-style overhead shots, and clever lyrics. ("No one's gloomy or complaining/When the flatware's entertaining").

I also found it rather touching toward the end when the enchanted objects gradually begin to lose the power to move and speak — ie: their human qualities —the more petals the rose drops.

Stevens aroar: don't mess with this Beast!

And this is a great-looking Beast, with his impressively long and upswept horns. (Although his mane looks a bit overly-groomed for my taste.) He's at his beastly best when he comes roaring out of the castle to fight off a pack of ravening wolves who attack Belle in the woods.

But it's hard to tell how much Stevens (late of Downton Abbey and currently on Legion) was able to contribute to the role. I experienced technical difficulties in some of his scenes with Belle. Long and medium shots, when the actors share the same physical space (Stevens in costume), are convincing enough. But at other times, Stevens doesn't get to use his own face to express the character's emotions because a decision was made to do Beast's face as a CGI effect.

Beast and Belle in the ballroom: sumptuous

Granted, it's a pretty amazing effect. But there are moments when Beast's expressions don't look as natural as Belle's when they are in close-up together. We sense a thin layer of physical and emotional disconnect between them — a problem when their relationship is meant to be the heart of the movie — so their romance never quite swept me up in its luscious grip, as it should have.

Another problem is that way to much of the story is devoted to the preening Gaston and his evil machinations. Don't get me wrong; I've loved Luke Evans ever since Tamara Drewe. But Gaston is a one-note character who sucks up too much precious screen time away from Belle and Beast — who could really use it to establish more rapport.

The showdown with Gaston in the finale is also a bit disappointing, with Beast leaping about like Spiderman from one castle spire to the next. Since when did his transformation into a beast come with web-slinging capabilities?

Still this is a sumptuous rendering of the classic fairy tale. But the essential question of why someone who falls in love with the noble Beast would be pleased when he suddenly turns into the standard-issue "handsome prince" in the end remains unresolved. What's so happily-ever-after about that?

This is the one thing that's always bugged me about this fairy tale. And it's an issue I'll be grappling with in my book!