Fairy Tales: the single biggest influence on contemporary literature.

Not sure if I agreed with this statement but intrigued, I decided to examine my own stories in the order they were written.

The White Amah tagged as a family saga focuses on a young woman brought up in the rain drenched jungle of Borneo, who, to escape a forced marriage, embarks on a search for her roots. Tricked by a maid posing as her mother, she becomes a lowly amah.

Stop there! Isn't that just like the good-hearted princess in The Goose Girl. Wasn't she seized by her maid and turned into a common goose girl?  I'm not apologizing if it was good enough for Charles Dickens, it's good enough for me. because you'll have to agree Oliver Twist is a  variation of this popular theme.

 The Biocide Conspiracy with its dastardly plot and its motely cast of rogues and villains  is a  modern Treasure Island and yet it has a lot in common with Hansel and Gretal with my teen hero and heroine accepting help from a Good Samaritan, unaware that they are falling straight into a trap.

Likening The Little Match Girl to  Salvation Jane, the story I'm currently writing, was a bit of a stretch but as it's about a human rights activist campaigning for the rights of homeless people I feel it's not that far removed from Andersen's bittersweet tale of man's inhumanity to man.

Little Red Riding Hood is the story tonight.

So there you are, the first stories I knew and loved are still influencing my writing and I'm hoping my grand-daughter will enjoy them as much as I did at her age.