The Homes of Snow White & Rose Red

The welcoming living room of "Snow White's" country home

This post will take some explaining: my first book, The Shadow of the Bear is a modern retelling of the fairy tale "Snow White and Rose Red." It deals with the adventures of two sisters, Blanche (Snow White) and Rose (Rose Red), who live in New York City and befriend a mysterious young man known as "Bear." The book has become a favorite with many young readers, and people have frequently asked me: who are Blanche and Rose based on? Well, both characters are composites of several sisters I have known, but in my mind, the initial inspiration came from two of my friends, who are friends with one another but not sisters. Anyhow, these two girls, the original "Blanche" and "Rose," have grown up, married, and are in the process of raising their families. And both continue to be my friends and inspirations. And both of them have unique home decorating styles, very different but I love them both, just as I love the very different personalities of the sisters Blanche and Rose.

When I was home at Thanksgiving, I visited the homes of both friends and begged to take photographs. As I looked over the photos, it struck me that fans of my books would look at the homes and see them as plausible conjectures as to what the homes of "Blanche" and "Rose" would look like, if the characters actually existed and had homes of their own.

So -- that is my introduction to this series, the homes of "Snow White and Rose Red." I hope that even those of you who haven't read the books will at least enjoy the home tours!