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Free Read: A HAPPILY EVER AFTER OF HER OWN Chapter 1

So here's what you've been waiting for…!

A HAPPILY EVER AFTER OF HER OWN by Nadia LeeMelinda Lightfoot, a preschool teacher with an unusual ability to flit in and out of fairy tales, never thought she would get into trouble…

…until the Fairy Tale Police arrest her while she is in Beauty and the Beast. They offer her a deal: Find Beauty, who left the story when Melinda trespassed into it, or be charged with the ultimate crime — Fairy Tale Killer. If that's not bad enough the Beast tags along in search of his true love, and Melinda starts falling for the fairy tale prince. She must choose between doing the right thing and having her own happily ever after.

Warning: This title contains the following: Fairy Godmother, the Wicked Witch, dysfunctional fairy tale families, ax-wielding executioners and a happily ever after (or two).

I. In Which Our Heroine Is Charged

Once upon a time there was a woman who could flit in and out of fairy tales…

*** *** ***

“Prisoner Number One Thousand Five Hundred and Sixty-Two.”

Somebody shoved Melinda at the bailiff's call, and she stumbled forward into the spotlight in the center of the dimly lit room. She glared at whoever was behind her, then quickly turned her attention to her surroundings. Everyone's gaze zeroed in on her, making her feel like a bear on a circus stage. Maybe I should sing and dance, she thought sourly. Or just growl and look scary, so they'll let me go.

A small old man in a black robe leaned forward in a high seat behind a wooden podium and peered at her over his half-moon glasses. She thought he should fix the wig sitting crooked on his head, but decided not to say anything that might prejudice him against her. Besides who was she to critique his appearance? She was in the pink Little Mermaid pajamas her niece had given her for Christmas, for gosh sakes.

“Is this the right prisoner?” the judge said.

“Yes, Your Honor,” a smartly dressed police porcupine said from the witness stand. “We caught her red-handed in Beauty and the Beast.”

“What was she doing?”

“Hiding behind the red rose bushes in the main entrance to the castle and spying on Beauty's father and His Highness the Beast,” the porcupine answered, quills quivering.

“How dreadful. How did you become aware of her alien presence in the story, sergeant?”

“She tripped and fell.”

Melinda heard low snickers from everyone around her and felt her face turn red. The judge merely tsked and rifled through a stack of papers in front of him. “Charge?”

The prosecutor unfolded six feet seven inches of emaciation, his pale narrow face pinched with disapproval. The light glared on his greased black hair as he said, “Misdemeanor: trespassing.”

Melinda raised her hand. “Hold on a minute.”

The judge went on like she hadn't spoken, “How do you plead?”

“I want a lawyer.”

“That is not the right response,” the judge said sternly. “You plead either guilty or not guilty.”

“I have rights.”

“You do not. This is under Fairy Tale Jurisdiction.”

“Look, Your Honor,” she said, using her most reasonable and no-nonsense tone of voice, the one that never failed to work with the young students in her class. “I didn't mean to cause any trouble. You'll probably think it sounds crazy or something, but I've been able to enter fairy tales just by reading them and imagining what the story world was like ever since I was a small girl. I have no idea how. My friends can't do it—”

“Perhaps because they are too polite to trespass, Miss…?”

“Lightfoot, Your Honor. Melinda Lightfoot. But—”

“Miss Melinda Lightfoot of…?” When she just stared at him, he said, “Town name for the record?”

“Oh. Bolinsville. Bolinsville, Virginia, U.S.A. As I was saying—”

The judge held up a hand to stop her as the bailiff rose to his feet.

“His Highness, the Beast!”

The crowd of shepherds and fairy tale critters, including a crowned frog, oohed and aahed as the double doors to the courtroom were flung open, and the Beast marched toward the spotlight…toward Melinda. His magnificent golden mane moved with each step, a royal purple cape billowing behind him. He didn't have his claws out, but there was an electrifying presence to him that made her mouth dry. A small hope bloomed inside Melinda. He had to be here to tell the judge how mistaken he was to charge her, how she hadn't done anything wrong and how she was a lover of fairy tales. The hope withered just as quickly as it had blossomed when she saw the expression in the Beast's narrowed green eyes. She gulped.

“Your Highness, this is rather out of protocol,” the judge said mildly, while the court waited with bated breath for what the cursed prince had to say. “You needn't trouble yourself like this. We have enough witnesses—”

“I am here to demand that you charge her with kidnapping!” the Beast roared, pointing at Melinda.

Melinda's couldn't believe her ears. “What?!”

Her rather pathetic response was lost in the crowd's speculative whispers. The judge banged his gavel. “Silence!” When the courtroom was in order again, he looked at the Beast. “Why kidnapping, Your Highness?”

“Beauty is gone!”

A collective gasp rose from the gallery. The judge gave them a stern look.

The Beast continued, “Her father has not seen her. I have not seen her. She is nowhere to be found. Yet she was in the story until” — he extended a long curving claw at Melinda — “that woman appeared. Now I will never have my happy ending.”

Another gasp rose from the gallery. A crown crashed to the floor with a loud clang as the frog under it fainted dead away, and he wasn't the only cursed prince to do so. The judge looked pale. “Are you sure Beauty is gone, Your Highness?”

“Yes! Can you not feel her lack in the very air around us?”

The prosecutor cleared his throat. “Your Honor, this isn't just a matter of simple trespassing or kidnapping.” He stared at Melinda like she were Snow White's stepmother. “She's a Fairy Tale Killer.”

*** *** ***

The court recessed, and the police porcupines dragged Melinda roughly away, swagger sticks in their hands. One of them said, “If you so much as twitch we'll beat you.”

Maybe she had another strange ability she hadn't known about until now: entering fairy nightmares. Except that unlike regular fairy tales, she couldn't leave this one at will. She didn't know what the porcupines had done to her — she was sure it was something nefarious during the chaos of her arrest, some sort of porcupine brutality no doubt — but she could no longer just imagine herself back in her room and return to her world. The entire situation wasn't just insane, it was inane. The prosecution's evidence was circumstantial at best, and the court was trampling all over her rights. She deserved a lawyer if they were planning to charge her not only with trespassing, but kidnapping and…and murder as well. Fairy Tale Killer had an ominous tone to it.

The police put her in a small bare cell. Who would've thought the Fairy Tale Government didn't care about human rights? Melinda felt her shoulders slump. At least it was summer, so nobody was expecting her at her school. Otherwise she would be frantic by now. She was punctual and loved her students; missing class without calling in so the school could find a suitable substitute was simply unimaginable.

Then again, even if she could have called, what would she have told them?

I'm in Fairy Tale Jail for trespassing, kidnapping Beauty from Beauty and the Beast and ruining a perfectly good happy ending.

Melinda glanced at a tiny window high up on the wall, fingering her recently cut shoulder-length auburn hair forlornly. Maybe there was a good reason for fairy tale princesses to have long flowing tresses.

She pressed a button on her watch. It glowed: 10:00 p.m. That was the time she'd entered Beauty and the Beast. The display seemed to be stuck, just like she was. She sighed with regret and a bit of guilt. In addition to ruining her summer, her little adventure had also brought a very obvious distress to the Beast.

Now I will never have my happy ending.

Melinda felt sorry for the Beast. Without Beauty's love he'd remain cursed for eternity.

A police officer opened the door to her cell. “Out. The prosecutor wants to talk to you.”

“About what?”

“How am I supposed to know?”

What a helpful porcupine. She got up and walked out of her cell. He hadn't come alone. A platoon of swagger-stick-and-shield-carrying police porcupines surrounded her. Their nervous energy was giving her a headache, and she raised a hand to her temple. They immediately leapt back, quills bristling and shields raised. She rolled her eyes. What could a preschool teacher do besides give them a timeout?

They went through a bright corridor of polished green marble. The air felt comfortably cool and dry and smelled of old paper. It reminded her of the happy times she'd spent in bookstores and libraries, and helped take the edge off her worry. If the judge had decided to declare it all just a big misunderstanding, or even just pardon her, he wouldn't have sent such a bristly bunch.

“Stop!” one of her escorts said when she reached a heavy wooden double door. He scurried around and pushed it open with a paw, his shield between her and whatever was inside. “Don't even think about it,” he said suspiciously.

“All I'm thinking about is how much I want to get out of here and have some chocolate,” she mumbled under her breath.

He jerked his chin. “Go in. Slowly.”

She stepped inside. Slowly. As annoyed as she was with them, she didn't want to disobey and get pummeled with swagger sticks. Fairy Tale or not, it would hurt.

A long dark cherry table occupied the center of the huge room, and uncomfortable looking high-backed black chairs surrounded it like crows around some oversized carcass. The judge sat at the head of the table with the Beast on his right and the prosecutor on his left. A triumvirate of doom.

“I heard you wanted to see me.”

“You heard correctly, Miss Heavyfoot,” the judge said.

She forced a smile. “Lightfoot.”

“If you had been a true Lightfoot, we wouldn't have caught you,” the prosecutor said, looking at her feet meaningfully.

Everyone else followed suit, and she wanted to drop and hide her hideously filthy bare feet. Instead, she straightened her spine and adopted her sternest preschool teacher voice. “You have no real evidence against me. All you have to do is let me go back to my own apartment, and everything will be fine.”

“Oh, we'd love to get rid of you, Miss Heavy — er — Lightfoot. However, there's the matter of Beauty,” the judge said. “You cannot return to the mortal world until she comes back.”

“What?”

“The balance in our world was altered when you so carelessly snatched Beauty out of her story, so until she is here, you cannot leave.”

“What?!” So was that why she couldn't just imagine herself home? “But—”

“Besides, His Highness the Beast needs his happy ending. All fairy tales do.”

“But—”

“How can a fairy tale exist without a happy ending? Would Hansel and Gretel be the same if the witch ate them both? What if Prince Charming married one of Cinderella's stepsisters?” He looked around for support. Both the Beast and the prosecutor nodded gravely.

“What you did — taking Beauty away — broke the unbreakable. It allows for a dastardly tragic ending now.”

“Oh God,” Melinda said weakly, feeling the blood drain from her face. She loved reading fairy tales to her students, and they loved the uplifting endings. How would they feel if the witch had roasted children for dinner? Or Cinderella had to clean the hearth till the day she died?

Worst of all, how was she going to bear it, knowing it was she who made such horrific outcomes possible?

“So what you did is technically an act of murder.”

“Yes, but we can also charge her with” — the prosecutor cleared his throat — “high treason, terrorism and vandalism.”

Vandalism?

The prosecutor continued: “The minimum sentencing requirement for all four crimes is two thousand seven hundred and twenty-three years in maximum security prison without the possibility of parole.”

“You want me to die in prison?”

He took off his glasses and began cleaning the lenses with a white handkerchief. “My dear Miss Lightfoot. The decision to die is entirely up to you. We merely imprison.”

“I don't know about you Fairy Tale people, but I can't stay here for God only knows how long. We should do something instead of just waiting for Beauty to return.”

The prosecutor looked amused. She turned to the judge, but he shook his head. It was the Beast who finally said, “She's right.”

“Your Highness!” both of the men exclaimed.

“I cannot wait. No one knows how long it will take Beauty to find her way back to her story. What if she's forever lost?”

The men were beginning to look a bit green. “The possibility of that happening is—”

“Quite high!”

Everyone turned at the commanding soprano voice coming from the door, and the three at the table jumped to their feet. “Fairy Godmother!”

Melinda had never seen the legendary Fairy Godmother in all the years she'd flitted in and out of fairy tales, and she'd imagined the elusive sprite to be a personable matronly woman. She'd never think that after tonight.

A tall regal woman in a diamond-studded white dress strode inside. A dainty tiara rested on her head, and her unbound platinum hair curled around the small of her back. She stopped when she reached Melinda and faced the three men at the table. “We have found Beauty.”

Melinda slumped with relief. She wasn't a Fairy Tale Killer.

“She's in Miss Lightfoot's world.”

All four said, “She is?”

“And the Evil Witch is missing as well.”

Two gasps and a growl came from the table.

“With your permission, Your Honor, I should like to present some facts for the court's official consideration.”

The judge bowed gravely and made a flowing motion with his hand.

“Thank you. Now then… All the evidence the police gathered points to some rather disturbing conclusions. Firstly, in order for Miss Lightfoot here to have come into this world, we may assume that she has the ability to create a sort of bridge between our world and hers. Secondly, we may further assume that the Evil Witch became aware of this bridge, or melding, at some point during Miss Lightfoot's travels, and that she observed the phenomenon for some time. Thirdly, that she kidnapped Beauty and left our world either when Miss Lightfoot entered Beauty and the Beast, or at some point during her presence here. Finally — and this is not a conclusion based on supposition, but something that I myself have sensed in the past little while — she has established a magical beacon so that when the time is right she can control the path between the worlds.

“So I believe that our course is clear,” Fairy Godmother continued. “We must task Miss Lightfoot with locating and bringing back both Beauty and the Evil Witch.”

“Which Evil Witch is this?” Melinda asked. Her stomach felt queasy. She was okay with the finding Beauty part, but not too sure about the Evil Witch.

“The one who cursed the Beast. The one who taught the forest hag how to trick Hansel and Gretel. The one who longs to destroy all happy endings.”

The next installment is available here. Please note that only the first two chapters are posted publicly. The rest are available to newsletter subscribers only. Sign up by using the form below or going to the subscribe page.

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Please feel free to forward this to your friends. Let me know what you think. Don't be shy, lurkers! I'd love to hear from you. :)


Evolution of a Serial III: The Cover Art II

So…after giving Tara O'Shea what I wanted, I waited one week before she sent me three mock-ups. She didn't get a chance to read the entire novella, but scanned it to get the heroine coloring, etc. right. :) So here are the initial mock-ups.

A HAPPILY EVER AFTER OF HER OWN mock01 A HAPPILY EVER AFTER OF HER OWN mock02 A HAPPILY EVER AFTER OF HER OWN mock03

I liked the overall design. It was as though Tara read my mind and knew exactly what I wanted even though I didn't articulate my ideas very well to her. (The mark of a good artist.) However, I thought the title font should be changed since I have to reduce the cover graphic to 133×200 pixels for my blog sidebar. When the cover's that small, you can't see “A Happily Ever After” very well. And we needed to put my name on the cover too. :)

I asked several people what they thought, and at the end, I decided to go with the third picture. I sent an email with the things I wanted changed, and Tara sent me another version. Very close, but I wanted my name to be bolded and slightly bigger because it looked like a long brown smudge when I make the cover picture very small to put on the blog sidebar.

“No problem,” she said. It was done in less than half an hour. (Remember we were doing everything via email.) Being an uber-satisfied customer, I asked her to send me the invoice and all the relevant files. I checked to make sure I got everything and sent Tara her payment.

Though she didn't have to, Tara sent me four different versions of cover jpg file: one large, one medium, one thumbnail and one without any lettering on it (just the picture). Then she sent me the Photoshop file and all the stock photos.

A HAPPILY EVER AFTER OF HER OWN heroine stock A HAPPILY EVER AFTER OF HER OWN castle stock A HAPPILY EVER AFTER OF HER OWN book stock

(I've uploaded watermarked pictures to prevent piracy. She didn't send me watermarked files.)

Isn't it amazing what she came up with those pictures? I'm still astounded because she took my initial vague concept to the gorgeous cover.

A HAPPILY EVER AFTER OF HER OWN by Nadia Lee

Feel free to leave me questions and/or comments. I'll answer them here or if they require a long answer, I'll turn it into a post. :)

Don't forget, the serial starts on Monday October 5. :)

PSA: The first two chapters are free, but the rest are available to newsletter subscribers only. Sign up now.

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Evolution of a Serial I: The Decision to Make It Free

A HAPPILY EVER AFTER OF HER OWN by Nadia LeeWhen I first wrote A Happily Ever After of Her Own last summer, I was initially going to sell it to an epublisher. Although the editor liked it, she wanted more stories like it to make a single-author anthology. The problem? I didn't have any other ideas similar to A Happily Ever After of Her Own.

Then this year, I saw that Quartet Press was going to start up, so I decided to send it there…except Quartet Press died without releasing a single title.

Still I wanted to do something with A Happily Ever After of Her Own. I liked the story, and I hated to have it just sit on my hard drive.

Hero Material suggested that I serialize it and give the last seven or so chapters to my newsletter subscribers only. I decided that was a pretty cool idea. I sometimes sign up for newsletters to enter contests, but I really like to get free reads.

So I pinged Agent to get her opinion, and she thought it was a great idea. W00t.

The next step? Making a cover graphic for the story. The problem? I'm a horrible designer.

On Tuesday September 29, I'll talk about how Tara O'Shea and I got together to make the cover for A Happily Ever After of Her Own.

Feel free to leave me questions and/or comments. I'll answer them here or if they require a long answer, I'll turn it into a post. :)

PSA: The first two chapters are free, but the rest are available to newsletter subscribers only. Sign up now.

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Unlikely Inspiration

Currently I'm re-outlining my (very high-level, BTW) WIP to “El Tango de Roxanne” since I just realized that I've gotten the order of events wrong. Hero Material is horrified that I've been listening to the song for almost fifty minutes straight. ;)

Interestingly enough, Three 6 Mafia's “It's a Fight” did nothing to stimulate my Muse. Odd since the current project has the following:

  • freelance killers
  • government assassins
  • dirty bureaucrats
  • corrupt CEOs
  • a mafia boss

What it doesn't have is a prostitute. Yet it is “El Tango de Roxanne” that gets my juices flowing again. Ah, my Muse is strange…! (No, I'm not adding a prostitute or two to the already insane mix.)

How about you? Ever got inspired by the most unlikely music?


Serial Experiment

Earlier this month, I mentioned on Twitter, Facebook and MySpace that I'm planning to do a free serial. It is indeed true.

A Happily Ever After of Her Own

A HAPPILY EVER AFTER OF HER OWN by Nadia Lee

Serial starts October 5!
read more »

Genre: Paranormal Romance
Length: Novella

Melinda Lightfoot, a preschool teacher with an unusual ability to flit in and out of fairy tales, never thought she would get into trouble…

…until the Fairy Tale Police arrest her while she is in Beauty and the Beast. They offer her a deal: Find Beauty, who left the story when Melinda trespassed into it, or be charged with the ultimate crime — Fairy Tale Killer. If that's not bad enough the Beast tags along in search of his true love, and Melinda starts falling for the fairy tale prince. She must choose between doing the right thing and having her own happily ever after.

Warning: This title contains the following: Fairy Godmother, the Wicked Witch, dysfunctional fairy tale families, ax-wielding executioners and a happily ever after (or two).

But I want to conduct a small experiment, and I need your help. (It won't cost you a penny. I promise. :) )

Here's how it works:

On Monday October 5, I'm going to post the first chapter of A Happily Ever After of Her Own. One week later, on October 12, the second chapter goes up. All you have to do is show up and read them. (If you need a reminder, follow me on Twitter or subscribe to my blog via email or RSS.)

After that is when the experiment really kicks off. I'm starting a newsletter, and I'd like people to sign up for it. (You can subscribe here.) So I'm going to offer the rest of the chapters as an incentive. They're going to be available to newsletter subscribers only. Again: it won't cost anything to join, and you can unsubscribe at any time by clicking on a link that will be included at the end of each newsletter.

Rest assured, I will never share or sell your contact information. The newsletter is strictly for big announcements (for example: a book coming out), to let you in on future serials, extra excerpts, book giveaways and so on.

Please feel free to forward this post to anyone you think might be interested. FYI — A Happily Ever After of Her Own is rated PG.

PSA: The first two chapters are free, but the rest are available to newsletter subscribers only. Sign up now.

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The Things That Unblock Me

status: I feel awesome today! Weather's finally cooling down some. W00t!

Last night Hero Material and I went out. I was feeling restless because I was stuck on WIP. I had the basic story arc for my h/H, but I had no idea what was going on with my villain. After weeks of tinkering with the story, I was getting mighty frustrated.

So as we were sitting at a bar, I kept thinking about my story and suddenly blurted out, “Do you think you can salt human heads? You know, to preserve them for several years so you can give them to someone as presents?”

Hero Material looked totally grossed out. The piece of chicken between his chopsticks stopped moving toward his mouth, and he stared at me with a what-the-heck-are-you-talking-about expression on his face.

Oh that poor man.

But that little thing — salted human heads — got me thinking about other possibilities that I hadn't considered. Some members of Romance Divas gave me some pointers on how to preserve human heads as well. Special thanks to Kim Knox and Ayla for fabulous suggestions.

P.S. I'm glad nobody at the bar spoke English. Otherwise somebody might have called the police.