Between the Lines: Cinderella

I've got someone great for you all to meet. She's a real princess, but she's also really down to earth. Yes, that's right, Cinderella is sitting with me here at Deliverers Publishing Headquarters. Let's see what she's got to say.

Greg:  First off, thanks so much for stopping by to talk with us. A princess must lead a pretty busy life.

Cinderella:  Yes it can get quite busy, I must admit. I still try to find some quiet time whenever I can, though. All work and no play makes Cindy a dull princess.

Greg:  Cindy?

Cindy:  Yes, that's what my friends call me. Prunella was the first to call me Cindy. You may call me that if you like.

Greg:  Uh, thanks. Um, Prunella?

Cindy:  Yes, my Fairy Godmother. That's her name. I call her Pruny, but I think I'm the only one who does.

Greg:  I think I can understand why. Your Fairy Godmother...isn't she the one who helped you out of your life of poverty?

Cindy:  She's just one of many people who helped me become what I am today, but she's the one who made the magic happen. When I met her I was not in a very good place. She helped my dreams come true, so to speak.

Greg:  Yes, I know. You were being very poorly treated by your stepmother and your two stepsisters. That must have been awful.

Cindy:  It was no party, that's for sure. After my father died, they took everything for themselves and made me serve them hand and foot. I had nothing but the rags on my back and dreams in my heart. There was nothing dreamlike about my life, though. It was one big nightmare.

My stepsisters treated my horribly and my stepmother was simply wicked. I worked from before dawn to late at night in the house that should rightfully have been mine. Those were hard times, but I still managed to find some happy moments--watching the sun rise as I cleaned out thee stables, the play of light through the windows as I washed them, the song of a bird as I did the laundry.

Greg:  Yes, those must have been lovely moments, but hardly reason for celebration.

Cindy:  Oh, maybe not celebration, but definitely appreciation. Life was hard, but I still had my dreams and the belief that if I kept working one day good things would come my way. I have to admit, though, that I was feeling very downhearted the night of the ball and my dreams seemed very far away indeed.

In fact, I was very nearly in despair, sobbing in the garden. That's when Pruny came. Things got better right away. She whipped up a beautiful gown and transportation and some beautiful glass slippers. Oh it was all so divine, but she told me I had to be back by midnight. That did not give me long, but at least I was able to go to the ball and meet the prince.

Greg:  The prince. Oh yes, I've wondered about that. How exactly did you two meet?

Cindy:  Everyone who attended the ball was presented to the prince. You see, what I didn't know was that the ball had been arranged so that he could find thee woman he was going to marry.

Greg:  Hmmm. It must have been rough for him, all those eligible young ladies falling over themselves to be noticed and perhaps selected to be his princess. I knew princes had it tough, but never imagined anything like that.

Cindy:  Well, you might laugh but it was difficult for him. Imagine, all those women throwing themselves at him. Some were quite attractive, but most just weren't his type. The poor dear was beside himself.

Greg:  But then he met you...

Cindy:  Yes, then he met me and I think we both knew at the same moment. We danced all night. I felt like I was floating on air. All too soon, the clock struck midnight. I was in a panic. I didn't want to leave, but I knew I had to get out of there. There was no time for a graceful exit.

Greg:  You ran.

Cindy: Yes, I ran, but I left a glass slipper behind. That turned out to be amazingly fortunate.

Greg:  Yes it was. But never mind that. I've always been puzzled by one thing. A glass slipper can't be very comfortable. What was it like to wear those things?

Cindy:  Ugh. If I could have asked Pruny to rethink one thing it would have been the glass slippers. Horridly uncomfortable things. I was afraid to take a step for fear they'd break and slice my feet to ribbons. Plus they did not give at all--stiff as a board. It was next to impossible to run in them.

Greg:  But you managed to do what you had to do. So, you made it home. Was anything different?

Cindy  Well, my wonderful gown changed back into rags, so when I returned home, it was like I had never left. I slipped back into my old life, but that night I dreamt of the prince. He was so charming.

The next morning when I awoke it seemed that thee previous night had been only a dream, except for the fact that I still had the one glass slipper. I thought that was all I had until the prince came looking for me. Naturally, my stepsisters tried to convince him that they were his heart's desire, but he would have none of that. He put the glass slipper on my foot and I left my old life behind for a new one of wonder and magic.

Greg:  That's really fantastic. Well, thank you so much for sharing your story with us. It was most fascinating.

Cindy:  It was my pleasure. Now if you'll excuse me, I really have to get back to the Magic Kingdom. I've got a hair appointment. Pruny says I'm starting to get a little mousy looking. Sometimes I just think she's plain goofy!

A Writer's Week #68: Writing Break

 I have to admit, that this was not a very exciting week writing-wise. In fact, I almost hesitated to write about it at all. I have been at work on an exciting publicity opportunity this week. Unfortunately, the answer that I had expected to receive today has been delayed until early next week, so I'll have to wait until then to see if I have anything worth announcing.

One thing that I know I'll be able to share with you next week will be my first school visit of the year. Daniel Vogel, the illustrator for the Deliverers series, will be accompanying me on the visit. It will be the first time he's done that, and I'm really excited about it. I'll have a full report, and some pictures, after the visit.

On the writing front, I decided to take a bit of a break. Last weekend I returned the fully edited manuscript of book 2, Order of the Crystal Lion back to Ana Vogel and she's in the process of laying it out again. Daniel has just about completed the map and the illustrations, so it should not be too long before the book is ready to go to press.

Still, I'm just about halfway through book 3 and it's been going pretty quickly. That's great, but at this rate I'd have to start Daniel working on preliminary sketches very soon. He's got enough going on as it is. So, I decided to take a writing vacation for a couple of weeks until the second book is all set. I'll keep you updated on everything as it unfolds!

My Favorite Books: Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

When I was between eight and ten, I was really into a number of authors. I read lots of E.B. White, A.A. Milne, Beverly Cleary and Roald Dahl. One of my favorite books from that period of time was Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. 

Cover from the version I had as a kid

I believe that I read the book before I saw the film starring Gene Wilder. The movie version came out when I was seven, but I did not see it until it was on TV a few years later. I remember that I was a little outraged that they had titled the film Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, but the film was brilliant. Still, I liked the book more.

I think I liked seeing what happened to the children best. There was a little feeling of righteousness as each child got what they deserved (although I did become a little nervous as I read about Mike Teavee) while the deserving Charlie Bucket got the big prize. Oh yeah, and the glass elevator at the end was cool, too.

Charlie was a perfect hero--someone who was good but had nothing and wound up getting everything his heart desired. Imagine my horror when in the film, Charlie and his Grandpa Joe broke the rules! I don't know why they decided to do that, because Charlie would never break the rules. Hollywood can warp everyone, I suppose. Anyway, this is a fantastic book, and I also enjoyed the sequel, Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator. If you haven't read them, you should definitely check them out.

Have you read Charlie and the Chocolate Factory or any other books by Roald Dahl?

Here's a bit of the film version. This was cool when I was a kid, before computer generated scenes. All that candy! I've read that the first time the actors saw the chocolate waterfall room was when this scene was filmed.

Between the Lines: The Gingerbread Man

Hello there everybody. Today I'm bringing back an old favorite with a new look. If you've been following this blog for a while, you may remember the Monday Interview Series where I would interview characters from classic children's literature and fairy tales. I've been missing those interviews lately, so I decided to bring them back, but I wanted a snappy new title for the series--hence then new title, Between the Lines.

This week, I'm extremely pleased to say that I've managed to flag down an extremely rambunctious
little guy by the name of the Gingerbread Man. Let's see what he has to say.

Greg:  Hi, thanks for stopping by, Mr. Gingerbread Man. What have you been up to?

Gingerbread Man:  Here, here, why so formal? Call me Ginger, all me friends do.

Greg:  Oh, thank you very much indeed, I will. So, Ginger, what have you been up to?

Ginger:  Well, you see that's difficult to say. I'm not quite sure what I've been up to, but I can say that I've been havin' a right hot time, I can tell you.

Greg:  Um, hot time? 

Ginger:  Yeah, that's right things has been hot. Like for instance, I just came out of the oven a few minutes ago.

Greg:  Oh my, I guess that qualifies as hot.

Ginger:  I should say so, but that ain't all. No sooner am I pulled out of the oven than this old lady starts dressin' me up with a whole lotta frostin' an' all. Now I ain't usually one to cause a stir an' all, but that frostin' nozzle tickled. Well, it go so I couldn't take it no more. So, what do you think I did, eh?

Greg:  Er, I really have no idea.

Ginger:  I'll tell you what I did. I jumped up off the counter and lit out of there as quick as I could. The old lady was so surprised, she didn't know what to do. I started runnin' all over the house, lookin' for a way out, like.

Greg:  What happened? Did you find a way out?

Ginger:  I did not, leastways not straightaway. That old lady come at me with a broom, callin' at the top of her lungs for her old man. I swear, I thought I was done for right then and there. Luckily, he weren't in the house, but out in the barn. When he heard his old lady shriekin' and carryin' on, he come into the house.

That saved me bacon. As soon as that door came open, I was out of that house so fast, you ain't seen nothin' like it in your life. I felt so good about bein' outta the house and in the open air that I just had to sing a little song.

Greg:  A little song? Do you mean that gingerbread men sing?

Ginger:  Oh aye. Let me see, how did it go? Oh yeah. Run, run as fast as you can, you can't catch me, I'm the gingerbread man!

Greg:  That's it, is it? That's the rhyme?

Ginger:  Well now, what did you expect, Cole Porter? I'd only been out of the oven for a few minutes at that point. Anyway, I was happy to be out in the sn. Soon I'd left the old couple huffin' and pufffin' and wheezin' behind me. Ah, the open road. This was the place for me. No restrictions, nothin' to hold me back! That was livin'. But my happiness was short-lived. I was chased by some farm workers and then some wild creatures.

Greg:  Oh boy. Did you manage to escape from them?

Ginger:  Well, that's what I'm tryin' to do right now, which is why I'm kinda in a hurry.

Greg:  Then I won't keep you. I'll let you run. Once again, thank  you for stopping by and spending some time with us.

Ginger:  Don't mention it. But don't worry about me, I've got it all figured out. I'm gonna lose these yahoos at the river. I met a very nice fox who said he'll give me a lift across.

Greg:  A fox you say? Do you think that's wise?

Ginger:  Oh aye. He's a champion bloke. He ain't gonna charge me or nothin'. All he asked in return was a quick bite. I'll bring him round the pub a soon as we get across and we'll be square. Ta, ta!  

A Writer's Week #67: Nitty Gritty Time

Another busy week has come and gone. I'm so excited because there is so much going on! First of all, my friends Jess & Stephanie over at Fairday's Blog contacted me to ask if Eric and Stig would like to join the Character Book Club. I asked them and they were thrilled. The Character Book Club is this cool club where fantastic characters from great middle grade novels hang out. Needless to say, Eric was extremely excited. Stig took it all with his usual calm reserve, but I could tell he was pleased. I'm very flattered that they were asked. I mean, who doesn't like being part of a cool club?

This month, Millie from Millicent Marie is Not My Name by Karen Pokras Toz interviewed the DMS (Detective Mystery Squad) from The Secret DMS Files of Fairday Morrow. Next month, May 17th to be exact, Eric and Stig from the Deliverers will be interviewing Millie right here. Stay tuned, it's going to be a lot of fun!

Then on Monday, my friend Ana Vogel sent me the preliminary layout for book 2 in the Deliverers series, Order of the Crystal Lion. That was really exciting, because it means I'm getting closer to releasing the new book.

It also meant that I had do a little bit more editing. Several of the chapters did not cooperate and were one or two lines too long. The result was a mostly blank last page for those chapters, which would not only be kind of funky looking but also a waste of paper.

As a result I spent a good deal of time finding ways to shorten things up. I wound up cutting a line of dialogue here or combining two short paragraphs there. While I was doing that, I couldn't help but notice several typos. Okay, no problem. I took care of those. Then, I noticed some missing words. Geez, I had edited this thing a few times. Others had, too. How could I have missed this stuff the first half dozen times? There was nothing for it. I grudgingly came to the realization that I was going to have to give the whole book another reading.

What I had expected to take an evening or so wound up taking the rest of the week. I only have about 45 pages left to review, then I can send the manuscript back to Ana for her to reflow. Arrgh! Oh well, it's going to be much cleaner now, but I'll bet you anything I still missed some typos. After you read the book you can let me know if you spotted any!

Since I got sidetracked with my unexpected editing task, I did not make any progress on The Golden Dragon of Ang. That's okay. This is the first week since I began the project where I did not get at least 1,400 words written. Still, right now my highest priority has to be getting The Deliverers 2 ready for publication.

I received a report from illustrator Daniel Vogel that the illustration of the crystal lion that will be the heading for the chapters is just about done and that the map is coming along nicely. Once the artwork is complete, I'll be able to upload everything to CreateSpace and order a few proofs to review. Will that be next week? I'll fill you in next Friday!