How I came up with the idea of
writing Cinderella’s evil stepmother is easy. Reviewers stated things like “too
bad we don’t know what happened to the evil stepmother. She should get her
due.
I’d already written the first
three books, The Wronged Princess (where Cinderella’s slipper slides onto the foot of
her batting-eyed evil stepsister, Esmeralda and Prince Charming ends up engaged
to the wrong girl.) The Unlikely Heroine (While Pricilla was not of a mind to marry and have
children, is most sensitive about her larger foot.) The
Surprising Enchantress (And Esmeralda, who does wish to marry and have children, also has this annoying
fluttering eye syndrome, most intendeds have trouble seeing past.) The series is
a great hit. But, as I said, people were curious regarding the stepmother’s end
due. So I began writing her story.
Originally, I thought the story
would be short, and something to give away free with the other books. But as
most writers understand, things change, become complicated, and well, frankly,
very sad.
My writing career began in
2006. I was googling writing prompts on a whim and saw one that read What if Cinderella’s slipper fits one of her
evil stepsister? I thought, mmm. I can do that. I love Cinderella. Of course, the version I grew up on was the Rodgers
and Hammerstein with Leslie Ann Warren and Ginger Rogers. So I wrote
it. Somehow the sisters became friends. Throughout the series, however, one
thing remained constant: Cinderella’s evil stepmother was truly evil. She kept
trying to kill Cinderella, even after both other daughters were happily
married.
In reading the first three
books, one learns that Hilda is a horrid, horrid person. But as her past unfolds,
it becomes clear that there is more to her than meets the eye. After all, she
adored her two daughters. Would do anything
for them. And, yes, she was a bit of a hot head, and not inclined to take her
studies seriously. And at some point (a significant point), Hilda was unable to
turn back.
Her tale precedes the first
three (though it should definitely be read last). The reader sees how her views
and prejudices were shaped. There was no possible way she could or would
apologize in how she treated Cinderella. She should, but that would not have
been true to her character.
I am a romance writer. Which means I require the happily ever after. And the
last thing I want to do is tell you that this is a depressing story. But,
Hilda’s is a story that had to be told. One that can perhaps give the sisters
an understanding of why their mother behaved so. So, yes, while this story is
dark and she didn’t quite attain her own “happily-ever-after” the story is
enlightening and offers closure. As my friend Alicia Dean quoted, “A darkly emotional
look at the events that spawned one of the most hated women in fairy tale
history. Price of Scorn is immensely compelling.”
Well, suffice to say, I’m quite proud of that quote!
Blub: Did
you ever wonder why Cinderella’s Evil Stepmother was so mean? So evil? Fourteen
years after Prince Charming and Cinderella are crowned as Chalmers King and
Queen, Cinderella, Pricilla and Esmeralda gather at their mother’s deathbed.
Lady Hildegard Roche has nothing but resentment and scorn for the stepchild who
culminates all that was stolen from her.
In a
story of enlightenment and shock, the sisters learn how tragedy shaped their
mother into the woman she became. The question is: Can the sisters forgive her?
Excerpt:
Hilda squinted in the
afternoon sun over the array of blooms that normally calmed her. “Lord Roche,”
she began. “I cannot—” The words were more difficult to say than she’d
envisioned. Her knees shook beneath her skirts and she forced herself to move,
lest she collapse. At the low terrace wall, she laid her hands atop.
“Please, your grace. I
must apologize for placing you in such a precarious position.”
She glanced at him, his
earnest expression tugging at her.
He began to pace. “’Tis
true. As I said, I am looking for a wife. But, I feel there is something truly
special about you.”
Her short laugh erupted
at the irony. “Me, special? Lord Ro—”
“I have not explained
to anyone why I need a wife.”
Hilda paused.
He stopped before her,
captured her gaze. “Anyone can see how much you love your children. Your face
lights up the dark just saying Lady Pricilla’s name.”
Something inside melted
a little. “Oui, Lord Roche. That is so. She—they—are my world,” she said
softly. Steeling herself against long dead dreams, she straightened and her
tone sharpened. “That changes nothing, sir.”
“Do you fear for your
children?”
“Every day,” she bit
out, feeling as if Gustaf still had his hand gripped about her throat,
squeezing.
“They’ve nothing to
fear from me.”
She looked away from
his gaze back over the garden. She almost believed him. But a woman was always
under a man’s control.
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Bio: Kae
Elle Wheeler, (aka Kathy L Wheeler) authors both contemporary and historical
romance. She was born in Presque Isle, Maine, grew up in Dallas, Texas but
migrated to Boulder then Longmont, Colorado where she attended high school. Her
college degree from the University of Central Oklahoma is a BA in Management
Information Systems and vocal music minor.
Kae
is an active member of the Oklahoma Romance Writers. She also belongs to The
Beau Monde, a historical Regency chapter, and the Dallas Area Romance Authors.
She loves the NFL and holds NBA Thunder season basketball tickets, and
Celebrity Attractions Broadway season tickets. She also adores musical theater,
reading and writing, of course—and just to round things out to scratch the
singing itch—karaoke.
Kae
lives in Edmond, Oklahoma with her musically-talented, attorney husband,
Al. They have one grown daughter (who recently had her first baby) and
one bossy cat, Carly, who acts as if she was the rescuer rather than the rescue-ee!
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