CHS Teacher Bill Hoard Publishes Fairy Tale With A Twist

When Bill Hoard ponders the great mythical narratives, he thinks of stories with great emotional depth. So, when he reflected on old fairy tales centered on princesses that were passive and static characters, he decided to bring his own interpretation to the genre. The Chesapeake High School AP world history and humanities teacher penned “The Dagger and the Rose,” which was released in early December.

Much of Hoard’s roles as a teacher and a writer are influenced by his time in Turkey, where he lived from the ages of 7 through 18. Hoard explained that because there were few English-language programs on TV and because he wasn’t interested in Turkish TV – although he knew the language – he turned to one of the world’s greatest pastimes: reading. “That’s what led to my immersion in fantasy and humor – being overseas, with books being my basic entertainment,” he said.

“I really discovered reading with fairy tales,” added Hoard, who spent his youth hovering over works by George MacDonald, C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien. “Everyone reads ‘Mother Goose’ and all of that … It’s the form of writing I associate most with wonder and excitement.”

Hoard’s tale follows Iris, an adopted princess, as she receives a letter on her 16th birthday that hints to secrets harbored by her father, the king. While she eventually does need to be rescued, Iris is far from a weak protagonist.

“I was made aware of this issue that everyone loves the princess but she’s there to be rescued and she’s helpless,” Hoard said. “I don’t think that’s the best message to send. Some modern takes on fairy tales have flipped that around – like “Brave” - but most of them just flip the role so the prince is the one in need of rescuing.

“The princess is often flat and boring,” he added. “I don’t think anyone should be flat and boring. Iris is a classic princess, but she’s very real.”

Even though an emphasis was placed on making Iris a multidimensional character, Hoard surrounded her with a diverse cast of personalities. “Every character in a fairy tale matters,” he said. One such character is the antagonist, Fordon, who drives Iris from her home. Another central character is Iris’ mom, who abandoned her daughter during childhood and later tries to re-enter her life.

“The mother turns out to be an interesting character, for the reader to interpret what it means to look at this person who did this horrible thing and understand her motivation,” Hoard said.

The spirit of the tale is captured not only through the 17,000 words penned by Hoard but also through illustrations by Leah Morrison, whom Hoard met through his wife, Ashley. Hoard sought a style similar to Arthur Rackham’s “Peter Pan” artwork, and the teacher was thrilled with Morrison’s vivid work.

To compensate Morrison for her 13 watercolor illustrations and to fund the initial print run, and recording and mastering of an audiobook, Hoard created a Kickstarter campaign that ran through July 30. He received “great support” from the Chesapeake High community, which he estimated contributed 15 to 20 percent of his $7,000 goal. And it wasn’t just teachers who aided the effort; some students discovered the Kickstarter page, which led to it going “micro-viral,” he said.

A husband and father, Hoard has used his free time outside family duties not only to write “The Dagger and the Rose” but also to co-author “Hubris Towers,” a series of episodic comedy novellas with his friend and fellow writer Ben Faroe. Hoard described the subject matter as “witty English comedy.” He is also 20 percent underway on an urban fantasy novel.

While he has yet to gauge the reception for his unfinished novel or “The Dagger and the Rose,” he has great expectations – to reignite a sense of wonder, delight and the fantastic. “Nothing major, just to change the world,” he joked. “I always tell my students to recognize that what they are putting out there is worthwhile, and it’s worth taking the risk,” he said, saying that the same philosophy applies to him.

“The Dagger and the Rose” is available on Amazon and Barnes and Noble. To learn more about the fairy tale, search for “The Dagger and the Rose” on www.kickstarter.com. For more information about Hoard’s other projects, go to www.pintsandprose.com/bill-hoard.