I have been fascinated by fairy tales since I rediscovered the Grimm tales at eleven; something which culminated in an Honours dissertation on silence in the Grimm tales last year.

Fairy tale themes tend to creep into my writing without my noticing. In this case, however, the story began as a classic Once Upon A Time tale (the one Rachel reads), and only developed into Rachel and Liam's more complex story over time.

I was interested in the way that we use narrative to give shape to our lives. More than any other method, I think we define ourselves and our lives through stories. Some of the most powerful texts we use for this are the classic fairy tales. Sometimes it's conscious, sometimes not. If we're especially successful at it, the story can become so real that it passes out of our control.

The ending is my favourite kind; one with possibility. Stories that tie up all ends, promise an unchanging eternity of contentment or despair for their characters, leave me discontented. Even fairy tales rarely finish with finality: the heroine has found her prince, but she still has his witchy mother to deal with. Or, perhaps, she has escaped Bluebeard and now -- all bets are off.

  — Jarrah Moore, March 2007