Substituted Princess on the Loose

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 the dystopian Palladia world. The books I have need a third one to round out a trilogy and the teen-girl audience of the first two (Invaders and Consuela) makes a natural fit. Only thing is the title—I might have to work on that.

And there will be more updates.