Years ago I worked on a little story that was part Cinderella retelling (yes, one of the many) and then it had this other comedy part in which Cinderella found the Prince was pretending to be crazy—at least, he said he was pretending—while he tried to uncover a plot at court. After all, nobody would suspect him of being an amateur sleuth while he was acting like such an idiot, would they? There was also a princess that Cinderella was substituted for—with the consent of this princess, who had a plot of her own—and that was how Cinderella ended up spending so much time in the palace.

I forgot about this little story for years while I worked on my other books, and in the rush of the last 18 months, touching up everything I’d published, I didn’t remember this story had been ALMOST published. It really almost made it to print round about 2016, but life got in the way. But a couple weeks ago I found a lovely DVD set of Cinderella at a resale shop. It had the disc of extras and the case of the old animated movie, but the actual movie disc inside was of the new 2015 movie. So it was kind of a hybrid and while it wasn’t what I expected when I bought it, I’ve grown to like it.

Watching Cinderella popped that story out of the woodwork again. And while Cinderella retellings never really go out of style, it’s true they might feel a little done-to-death, so I’m considering placing the story in a different setting. I considered the Palladia world at first, but after looking at the story I feel a historical setting might be the most appropriate, in somewhat the style of Victoria. I'm currently mulling over the possibility of Scotland . . .

And there will be more updates.

Fantastic is a (pun intended!) reference to the title of Facets of Fantasy and the nature of this work’s space opera and mythological settings. I’ve picked three characters to highlight from the book today, one from each of the novellas in the collection. They’re not heroes or heroines—or villains. But they are all exciting pieces of the story.

Mr. Parchem is a middle-aged diplomat who befriends brooding, weird cousins Karl and Cassie in Halogen Crossing. He comes from a land called Raocas and speaks with a strongly colloquial, regional style. But make no mistake! Mr. Parchem, as he said himself, “did not rise to be President of my great land by cutting in front of people in line.” A savvy politician, he immediately singles Karl out and pays him a lot of attention. He’s a good friend too, in his way, and points out things Karl should be noticing—like the Queen of Metallgia, who knew Karl’s father.

Charis d’Jinla is a female student at the Jurant military academy under the control of Don Tachimant’s grandfather in the story Jurant. She’s roughly high-school age and very pretty, with a jaunty, aggressive manner and thick tails of curly blonde hair. Charis easily comes across as a bad girl and she pretty much is one. She doesn’t play nice, she’s rough around the edges, mixes that with being flirtatious, and wouldn’t hesitate to get in a fight with you. Or shoot you, except getting in a fight with surprisingly violent Don Tachimant probably won’t end up that way. But without Charis, there wouldn’t even BE a story in Jurant.

Prince Juranai comes from a strange long-lived people who dominate the plot of The Amulet of Renari. He is partly wolf and might seem simple and aggressive, but Juranai, like the rest of his people, is very intelligent and should command a lot of respect. When Juranai decides to befriend Violet, the daughter of someone his family has a long-standing grudge against, it changes a world that has been locked in a feud for thousands of years. Although Violet can be hard to work with, he’s a good protector to her and his friendship is crucial.

And there will be more updates.