I love how you rooted some of the story in real lore. Nerds and Beyond: You also take a turn into real historical lore with the Countess Bathory making an appearance. Liz Braswell: Well Maximus and Pascal, obviously! And I wanted to spend time with the king and queenвЂ¦they deserved a little more of their own stories told. Did you know right away who you wanted to bring back for the story? Nerds and Beyond: Opposite that, we also get to see lots of favorites from the original film. Liz Braswell: Because third wheels are always fun? Seriously: since IвЂ™m not telling the exact same story as the movie, itвЂ™s good to have another character for the two to relate to and play off of. Where did the inspiration to include her on RapunzelвЂ™s journey come from? Why not stick to just Rapunzel and Flynn? Nerds and Beyond: We meet several new characters like Gina, an up and coming adventurer. She lost her hair from all the treatmentsвЂ¦and hair is obviously such an important part of Rapunzel!В Again, the whole thing flowed naturally - and made for a good reason for the twist this time. Liz Braswell: As I say in my authorвЂ™s note at the end of the book, my вЂњbabyвЂќ sister had cancer.В She was in her thirties so not technically a baby, but she will always be my little sister.В I went to most of her chemo sessions and we tried to make it as lighthearted as possible, with movies, special guests, a rotating cast of friends, etc. Tell us a little about where that idea came from and what it meant to you to write it. Nerds and Beyond: This story of Rapunzel comes with another interspersed story of a brother telling his sister this new version while she gets chemo treatments at Sloan Kettering. The вЂњpuzzleвЂќ in the wildflowers at the ancient circle of stones is based on constellations he taught me as a kid (along with the magnitude of the objects, which were of course unnecessary in a fairy tale).В I did have to double check on how long each вЂњofficialвЂќ moon phase lasts and at what time it might rise in central/eastern Europe!В The idea for her hairвЂ™s changing abilities just flowed naturally from the fact that they come from the moon, which changesвЂ¦ Liz Braswell: Funny you should askвЂ¦my dad was a scientist and is an amateur astronomer, so moons and stars are always sort of in the back of my mind. How much research did you have to do into moon phases and where did you get the ideas for the unique abilitiesВ of her hair?

Now, the Sundrop flower was straightforward in its abilities but the Moondrop is much more complex.

Nerds and Beyond: In this retelling, Rapunzel has powers of the Moondrop flower instead of the Sundrop flower.

A twisted tale