A few years ago, I joined a novella collection of modern fairytales titled Once Upon a Christmas. Because I was the last invited, I didn’t expect Cinderella to still be available, but to the delight of my hidden-identities-loving heart, I got to write Christmas Ella.
For my setting, I picked Jackson Hole, Wyoming as an excuse to take a research trip. My writer friend Hilarey Johnson traveled with me to explore the town. We rode on a stagecoach and took pictures with the most photographed barn in the world.
The Wild West may not seem like the most natural place to find a prince, but there just happens to be a ski resort in Jackson named…wait for it…Snow King. That’s right. The pieces of my story fell into place like magic.
Since then, even more pieces have fallen into place. See, after a couple of years, the collection was disbanded, giving each of us authors the opportunity to do something else with our stories. I didn’t know what I wanted to do until Hilarey began narrating audio books. Not only did I hire her to narrate Christmas Ella, but I rereleased the e-book, and it came out on her birthday!
I loved listening to Hilarey’s narration. I hadn’t read the book for years, and I found myself laughing out loud. She did a fabulous job, and I look forward to listening to her narrate The Princess and the P.I. (Coming soon.)
As an early Christmas gift, you have until December 1 to download the audiobook for only $1.99 on Kobo! Or if you prefer reading for yourself, Christmas Ella is also on Kindle Unlimited.
Check out an excerpt by clicking here, and watch for my upcoming interview about the novella on StoryChats!
If you love holiday audiobooks, I’m giving away a free download of Christmas Ella. Simply answer the following question to be entered in the giveaway.
What’s your favorite fairytale and why?
Angela Ruth Strong survived breast cancer, works as a flight attendant, and uses her own crazy life experiences as inspiration for the stories she writes. Her books have earned TOP PICK in Romantic Times, been nominated for a Christy, won the Cascade Award, and become Amazon bestsellers. She and her husband also got to play extras when her novel Finding Love in Big Sky was adapted for film. To help aspiring authors, Angela started IDAhope Writers where she lives in Idaho.
Cinderella was one of the only Disney movies I watched when I was little. And it’s still one of my favorite fairy tales. But I’ve been trying to go back to read the originals (aka the not so g rated stories) to see where Disney got the ideas, and what he did with them.
Right now my favorite fairytale related media, is the Broadway recording of Into the Woods. It takes more inspiration from the original tales, and blends multiple stories seamlessly.
Hi Angela! This German American retired reader is an amused by the current retelling of fairy tales. I grew up with the original Grimm’s Fairy Tales published in 1812. In today’s world more and more audio books are published, but with the invention of the Gutenberg printing press and more and more books were published, the Grimm brothers Jakob and William were afraid that the ORAL tradition of storytelling was vanishing and the stories / tales. So they went from village to write down the stories. In 1812 they published 20 tales, at the 7th edition in 1857 there were 200 tales. Grimm’s Fairy Tales helped standardize the German language.
I chuckled at Marti’s answer. In the 1960s my mom purchased a 4 volume set of Disney Fairy Tales for my younger brother. I was amazed how “sanitized” they were compared to the “not G-rated” Grimms Tales. In 1970 for my college Children’s Lit class, I wrote a research paper comparing fairy tales from different countries. Fairy Tales are fascinating.
As a German immigrant, who left her German OMA’s at age 5, never to see them again as a child, my favorite fairy tale is Little Red Riding Hood. The Atlantic Ocean and finances were my BIG BAD WOLF!. Another favorite in Winter was Frau Holle / Grandmother Winter. Growing up we had feather beds that had to be shaken every morning.
Best wishes and happy writing. Enjoy your weekend. Winter is coming to Michigan.
I think Cinderella might be my favorite fairy tale. It shows little girls that even poor girls can marry a prince. Even though their life at home isn’t very good, they can imagine having a better life.
I do love Cinderella, but I think my favourite is ‘The Frog Prince’. I had a lovely book with it in when I was a child with a beautiful picture of the princess playing by the well with her golden ball. I love how the story shows not to take people at face value, and how things don’t always turn out the way we expect.
I love Beauty and the Beast because of the idea of even a person who is ‘beastly” in their actions can be redeemed.
I enjoy Beauty and the Beast. The library as well as the talking clock, teacup and all the others are so enchanting. Thank you for sharing. God bless you.
Don’t enter me as I don’t listen to audio books although your story does sound interesting.
My favourite fairytale is The Snow Queen (and not the frozen interpretation). When I was 6 or 7 (7 I think) I was given a book with 3 fairytales. The Ugly Duckling, The Flying Trunk and The Snow Queen. It was the first time I had heard the second two but I fell in love with The Snow Queen and read it so many times. I still have that book.
I’ve seen the movie! A unique idea.
You’re an expert! Thanks for educating us all. And thank you for the warm wishes. <3 Same to you.
They are worthy. <3
A great lesson. And aren’t those childhood experiences magical?
We can all be thankful for that redemption!
Can’t beat that library! My husband does a great Gaston impersonation, so listening to him sing the songs makes me love it even more.
Ooh… I’m intrigued! And audiobooks aren’t for everyone. I usually only listen on roadtrips.
For me, it would be a toss up between Cinderella and The Princess and the Pea. Yours really does sound intriguing!
My favorite fairy tale is Snow White because it was the first film I saw in the theater!
“Beauty and The Beast” has always been my favorite fairy tale. I like the idea that love changes one for the better and that what is underneath the exterior wrapping is so much more important than what one looks like.
Snow White for singing
Milan because I love her brains!