One Upon A Time…
Oh, how I loved a story that started that way when I was growing up! “Once up a time….” Castles and dragons and knights on white horse saving damsels in distress.
But, then in my fantasies, I didn’t want to save Snow White or rescue Rapunzel from her tower. I wanted the prince to rescue me. Oh, to wake at the touch of a charming hero’s lips on mine.
Although I never quite dared take it that far when I was a kid.
Or did I?
And while starships and spacemen that always did it more for me as I grew into teenhood, the thought of a daring hero saving me and carrying me off on the back of his horse never ceased to sir my heart.
In high school, it was the stories of modern princes from made-up little countries that got my imagination soaring. They were always there on TV in episodes of shows like Fantasy Island or The Love Boat or Love American Style.
Except….
Except that I never quite believed in the fictional country the royalty came from. A place that’s name almost always ended in “ovia” or “stein” or something like that and if we ever saw the country, it was so unbelievable it ruined it for me, pulled me right out of the story.
I never lost my love of a good runaway prince story though. But why couldn’t I find one that I really loved. One with a little magic in it too, maybe?
Why I guess it was my job to write one. And if I was going to do that, it wasn’t going to be a damsel he found. It would be a…well, whatever the male equivalent of a damsel is. I don’t know. So in the end, he became a nerd. Because, well, a nerd is someone I could certainly identify with….
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The Nerd and the Prince
A Small-Town Dreams Story
Prince Charming is the man next door.
Small-town business owner Jason Brewster has big dreams: world travel, adventure, and most of all, a passionate romance worthy of a fairy tale. But he doesn’t believe fantasies can come true….
Until Adam moves in next door.
He’s handsome, cultured, European, and best of all, interested in Jason. It’s like something out of the stories Jason loves.
But Adam—whose real name is Amadeo Montefalcone—has a secret. He’s royalty, prince of the small country of Monterosia. Only he doesn’t want to rule, and especially doesn’t want the loveless marriage waiting for him at home. So he ran away in search of true love. With a man.
And with Jason, he finds it.
But Adam can’t run forever. The truth will come out. If Jason can forgive Adam’s deception, they might find their happily ever after.
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Oh, I loved writing this book! The whole setup! The small town “boy” with big city dreams. The runaway prince. The mystery. The mythology of the country. A place that my editors told me I quite simply must visit again.
Oh, thank you to the wonderful writer Elin Gregory who helped me so much with the creation of Monterosia! It has history! A unique castle. Trade. Commerce. Myths. Mystery! Ancient vows and ancient origins. And Kim Fielding helped too, for she lived a while right where I finally wound up placing my fantasy country. She and others helped me with the food and weather and more. And Noah Willoughby, co-writer, and a love of my life, helped too. He even helped me come up with a flag and royal uniform!
I think when you’re done reading my new book, you’re going to be tempted to check with your local travel agent in the hopes that Monterosia really exists. I would love it if you did.
Or at the very least, looking for a runaway prince of your own.
And, hey! I didn’t even begin to tell you about the small town where my nerd comes from. A town very much like the one where my husband grew up and where we own a house that we stay when we head that way for a weekend. Even more, the itty-bitty house behind ours inspired a whole bunch of this novel! A town that Dreamspinner Press has given me the go-ahead to write more stories about the town of Buckman in a series called Small Town Dreams!
I hope you enjoy reading The Nerd and the Prince even half as much as I did writing it.
Until next time,
Peace and love and…
“Monterosia forever!”
B.G. “Ben” Thomas
If the story of Jason and Adam have whet your appetite and you’d like to know more, you can find their story at the following locations:
Dreamspinner Press:
Paperback
Paperback
Kobo eBook
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B.G. Thomas lives in Kansas City with his two husbands and their sweet doofus of a dog
Oliver. He is blessed to have a lovely daughter as well as many extraordinary friends. He has a great passion for life.
B.G. loves romance, comedies, fantasy, science fiction, and even horror—as far as he is concerned, as long as the stories are character driven and entertaining, it doesn’t matter the genre. He has gone to literature conventions his entire adult life where he’s been lucky enough to meet many of his favorite writers. He has made up stories since he was a child; it is where he finds his joy.
In the nineties, he wrote for gay adult magazines but stopped because the editors wanted all sex without plot. “The sex is never as important as the characters,” he says. “Who cares what they are doing if we don’t care about them?” Excited about the growing male/male romance market, he began writing again. He submitted a novella and was thrilled when it was accepted in four days. Since then the romantic tales have poured out of him. “It’s like I’m somehow making up for a lifetime’s worth of story-telling!”
In 2015 he made and entry every day in his blog “365 Days of Silver,” where he found something every day to be grateful for. You can find it right here:
https://365daysofsilver.wordpress.com/
“Leap, and the net will appear” is his personal philosophy and his message. “It is never too late,” he testifies. “Pursue your dreams. They will come true!”
Website/blog: https://bthomaswriter.wordpress.com/about-2/
I just finished ‘A Prince’s Passion’ by Peter Styles…so I’m definitely into the commoner/Prince trope right now! This sounds like a perfect companion piece! Just with a flip side!