The Girl with the Frozen Heart: Y. M. Pang on Inspirations & Influences

“Inspirations and Influences” is a series of articles in which we invite authors to write guest posts talking about their Inspirations and Influences. In this feature, we invite writers to talk about their new books, older titles, and their writing overall.

Hello everybody! Tomorrow we publish “The Girl with the Frozen Heart” by Y.M.Pang, the third short story in the Awakenings Season. Today, the author is here to talk about the inspirations and influences behind the story!

I wrote The Girl with the Frozen Heart sometime between Christmas and mid-January. On January 13th, I sent it off to my long-time friend with the message, Enjoy the heartwarming winter tale. [insert smiley face]

In retrospect, that smiley showed way too many teeth.

It snows a lot in wintertime Toronto. That’s not news to anyone, though the rest of Canada probably thinks we have it easy. I had the image of a girl stumbling through the snow, bleeding. That’s the beginning.

As for the ending… Let’s switch gears entirely. Ever seen Gankutsuou? It’s an anime based on The Count of Monte Cristo. With giant robots, just because. In the final scene… well, don’t let me spoil two stories for you.

My third major inspiration, the one that ties the themes together: Snow White. Sleeping Beauty. There sure are a lot of fairy tales about true love’s first kiss saving someone from a death-like slumber.

Let’s go back to those robots. There are no robots in this story, but perhaps it mirrors their journeys, or at least the journeys certain authors assign to them. Someone previously unfeeling learns to feel. (But why? I wondered. Why do we need to love?)

I had my three characters. Inara, the girl with the frozen heart. The god of winter, who pities her and wants to save her. Telzo, who loves her and wants to save her. But can they? Can they really? I knew the answer before I started writing. You could say the answer inspired me to write this story.

So. Enjoy the heartwarming winter tale.

About the Author: Y.M. Pang

Y.M. Pang’s earliest memories consist of pacing around her grandfather’s bedroom, telling him stories of magic, swords, and bears. Twenty years later, now living in Canada, she continues to tell fantasy stories, occasionally dipping her metaphorical quill into science fiction and poetry. Find out more about her writing at www.ympang.com or follow her on Twitter as @YMPangWriter.

About the Artist: Akem

Akem forgot she was an illustrator and writer for a few years and is making up for lost time. Check out www.akemiart.ca for a series of fantasy illustrations and social media whereabouts.

How to Get the Story

The Girl with the Frozen Heart will be published officially on August 14, 2018. You can purchase the DRM-free ebook (EPUB, MOBI) that contains the story as well as an essay from the author available for purchase on all major ebook retail sites and directly from us.

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