{Guest Post/2-Book Giveaway} "Revisiting Old Friends – A New Tale of The Frog Princess" By E. D. Baker

Bloomsbury Childrens has just published two fun, whimsical middle-grade novels, THE FROG PRINCESS RETURNS by E.D. Baker (Publishing 15 YEARS after the debut of THE FROG PRINCESS, which Disney used as inspiration for its recent movie!) and THE DRAGON WITH A CHOCOLATE HEART by Stephanie Burgis!

To celebrate, you could win a copy of both books!!!

Today, I'm lucky enough to be on tour and sharing a post from E.D. Baker with you about her return to the beloved world of The Frog Princess!

E.D. Baker (Elizabeth Dawson Baker) made her international debut in 2002 with THE FROG PRINCESS, which was a Texas Lone Star Reading List Book, A Book Sense Children's Pick, a Florida's Sunshine State Readers List pick & a 2006 Sasquatch Book Award nominee. The Princess and the Frog, is loosely based on this novel. 

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 Revisiting Old Friends – A New Tale of The Frog Princess
by E.D. Baker

We all have friends that we haven't seen in years, but still hold a special place in our hearts.  Emma, Eadric, and all the other characters in the Tales of the Frog Princess, hold such a place in mine.  Although I had revisited them in my last three Wide Awake Princess stories, crossing over from one series to the other, I hadn't considered writing a new book about Emma and Eadric until last year.  Taken with the idea, it wasn't long before I discovered the story I needed to write.  

I wrote THE FROG PRINCESS sixteen years ago; this year marks the fifteenth anniversary of its publication.  I had tried writing other books, but THE FROG PRINCESS was my first attempt at a fairy tale.  Fantasy was a genre that I had long loved, although fairy tales were a sub-genre that I had never even considered writing until I came across a modern fairy tale in a class I was taking.  I had read countless fairy tales to my children when they were young, but I found most of the classical tales annoying.  The female main characters were usually princesses and rarely able to take care of themselves.  Almost always victims, they spent much of their stories waiting for a handsome prince to rescue them.  Neither prince nor princess had much depth; she was beautiful, he was handsome, and that was about all we knew.  When I thought about writing a fairy tale, I wanted it to be about a girl who could stand up for herself and help others as well.  No mamby-pamby princesses for me!  Emma, or Princess Emeralda, was the result.  I liked her then and I like her now – sixteen years later.  If I were a fairy tale character, I would want to be Emma.   

Eadric, the prince who was stuck in frog-form, needed Emma and not only because her kiss could make him human again.  She was funny, she was practical, and she became his best friend before they ever fell in love.  Neither one was super-attractive, although they were both pleasant looking.  Nor were they perfect in other ways.  Emma was clumsy and afraid to try out her magic.  Eadric over-estimated his own talents and ate things that he shouldn't.  They were both good people who their friends could trust and they came to depend on each other.  I was looking forward to working with them again.  

Before beginning a new book in a series, I always reread the previous books.  When I reread ONCE UPON A CURSE, I knew exactly what my new book would be about.  Emma and Eadric were there when the fairy bestowed the hereditary title of Green Witch on Emma's ancestor, Hazel.  The fairy announced that anyone holding the title would have to help humans and fairies.  Emma, the Green Witch hundreds of years later, had helped many humans, but she had never helped fairies the way I knew she could.  Now I knew just what to do.  

The new story takes place between ONCE UPON A CURSE and NO PLACE FOR MAGIC.  I remembered the characters well, so their reactions to the story's events came naturally.  The tricky part was remembering what had come before, and what had happened in the next book.  Were Emma and Eadric engaged yet?  What had happened to the members of their families?  I knew that Eadric's mother, Queen Frazzella, wasn't happy that her son had fallen for a witch, even though Emma was a princess.  It was only natural for this queen to want to interfere.  We knew that Eadric had a roving eye (remember the green-skinned nymph in THE FROG PRINCESS, the mermaids in DRAGON'S BREATH, and the girls in NO PLACE FOR MAGIC who reminded him about a kissing contest?)  What would he do when faced with constant temptation?  And what about helping the fairies?  Why would they need Emma's help?  It was an election year, which was forefront in everyone's minds.  Fairy politics crept into the story.  

THE FROG PRINCESS RETURNS came together with the help of various characters from the other Frog Princess books.  Emma's relatives and friends, including Ralf and his parents and the sisters, Oculura and Dyspepsia, all figured into the story.  There were new characters too, of course, and one old one who had changed in a significant way.  Even they felt familiar, however, because they were inhabitants of my beloved Greater Greensward, a kingdom I can only wish was real.   

I truly enjoyed writing THE FROG PRINCESS RETURNS.  It was even more fun than I'd expected.  Getting in touch with my old friends, learning a little more about their lives, and seeing how they deal with problems that only they can have, reminded me what it was like to visit Greater Greensward and what fun it was to stay for a while.   

THE FROG PRINCESS RETURNS
came out THIS WEEK!!!

Happy Book Week! ♥♥♥

Thanks again for stopping by! 

~*~

O F F I C I A L   I N F O:

Title:  THE FROG PRINCESS RETURNS
Author: E.D. Baker

Release Date: June 6, 2017

Publisher: Bloomsbury USA Childrens

SUMMARY:

Fans of E. D. Baker's THE FROG PRINCESS, rejoice! Fifteen years after the original, Princess Emma, Prince Eadric, and all the beloved characters are back for another magical adventure from popular author E. D. Baker. 

Two weeks after Emma's birthday, Prince Eadric -- having been turned from a frog into a human again -- is still in Greater Greensward. One day, a beautiful princess named Adara arrives at the castle in Greater Greensward for a visit, claiming to be Emma's distant cousin. But Adara has other motives that threaten Emma and Eadric's blossoming romance. 

Meanwhile, something is very wrong in Greater Greensward. Crops are dying, streams are drying up, and large sections of trees in the enchanted forest are withering -- all because the Fairy Queen has disappeared. Without her, there is no peace in the magical kingdom, and dangerous foes threaten to take advantage of her absence. Only brave, tenacious Emma with her knowledge of the land can restore order . . . but first she must set out on a journey unlike any before. 

Brimming with lovable characters and page-turning magic, THE FROG PRINCESS RETURNS will bring a whole new batch of readers to E. D. Baker's highly acclaimed, wonderfully popular world of Frog Princess series. 

~*~

O F F I C I A L   I N F O:

Title:  THE DRAGON WITH A CHOCOLATE HEART
Author: Stephanie Burgis

Release Date: May 30, 2017

Publisher: Bloomsbury USA Childrens

SUMMARY:

Aventurine is the fiercest, bravest dragon there is. And she's ready to prove it to her family by leaving the safety of their mountain cave and capturing the most dangerous prey of all: a human. But when the human she finds tricks her into drinking enchanted hot chocolate, Aventurine is transformed into a puny human girl with tiny blunt teeth, no fire, and not one single claw. 

 But she's still the fiercest creature in the mountains -- and now she's found her true passion: chocolate! All she has to do is get herself an apprenticeship (whatever that is) in a chocolate house (which sounds delicious), and she'll be conquering new territory in no time...won't she? 

~*~

****Giveaway*****

1 winner will receive a finished copy of THE FROG PRINCESS RETURNS and THE DRAGON WITH A CHOCOLATE HEART!

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