When I said I’d participate in this year’s 12 Days of Christmas series, I really wasn’t sure what I’d gotten myself into. Swans? What the heck was I going write about swans…let alone somehow get steamy with the waterfowl.
Of course, my mind went “ballet.” I mean, what else are swans good for? And anyway, have you seen how hot these guy swans are? Wait. You don’t know about the guy swans? You don’t know about Matthew Bourne’s Swan Lake? Seriously? If you’ve seen Billy Elliott, you’ve gotten a taste of Bourne’s swans. Right at the very end of the movie.
Here’s another:
Right?
So after I watched the ballet again–for research purposes, of course–I began to plot. It had to be a fairy tale, of course. If I’m going to riff on the ballet, there has to be magic and transformation and high stakes. It’s all there…with wolves and Santa thrown in for good measure.
All this year I’ve tried to avoid writing about COVID, but gave up for this tale set during a pandemic. No lie, the opening few paragraphs channel my frustration and rage, but then we get to the heart of the tale: the swans. I also have a nod or two to “Leda and the Swan.” The story is full of the Easter eggs I like to leave for people to savor.
I hope you like my steamy, swany tale for 2020. Available December 18th. Here.
D. S. Dehel 