Book Title: DISENCHANTED
Character Name: Prunella Marie Upton (Except don’t ever call me that! I loathe my first name. I prefer to be simply Ella.
How would you describe your family or your childhood?
My early childhood was wonderful. I lived with my mother and father in Castleton, the largest city in our kingdom of Arcady. My mama had a great imagination and invented games for me such as my battles with the ogre, Dirty Burt (my lovely mother in disguise.) My father was more serious, but I loved sitting on his lap while he read from my favorite book, The Life and Exploits of Queen Anthea, the Magnificently Wise. And then there was my best friend, Malcolm Hawkridge, the boy next door. Mal and I enjoyed many adventures, playing at being river pirates or bandits, besieging my dollhouse with Mal’s toy soldiers and cannons. Everything changed when my mother died. My grieving father became a recluse, shutting himself away in the library. But he provided for my upbringing by marrying again, Imelda Wendover, a woman with two small daughters of her own. But I would not have you think this is a tale about a girl who acquired a wicked stepmother. Far from it. Although I resented Imelda at first, I became quite fond of her, even though at times she can be very foolish. And I absolutely loved having two little sisters, although I fear I have not always been the best influence on them.
What was your greatest talent?
Mischief. When Mal and I were children, we certainly got into enough of it, raiding our grumpy neighbor’s strawberry patch, launching toads through the carriage windows of a haughty countess. But now that I am twenty-four and my family is in straitened circumstances, I have had to set my hoyden ways aside. Much to my surprise, I have developed a talent for cooking and sewing, activities I never thought I would enjoy.
Significant other?
My best friend Mal. He has grown to be a charming, seductive rogue. Although I still think of him as like a brother, Mal would clearly like to change that. But I fear if I ever crossed that line with Mal, it would destroy our friendship. Recently I have realized that Horatio Crushington, the Commander of the Midtown Garrison, regards me with tender interest. He is very handsome, but stern and humorless, the last sort of man I could imagine falling for. At least I thought so until the day he saved my life.
Biggest challenge in relationships?
I had my heart broken when I was seventeen, so I find it extremely difficult to open myself up to ever being hurt again.
Where do you live?
I am a Midtown girl, living in the central part of Castleton and quite proud of the fact. I must confess that I have a certain amount of contempt for the prissy young aristocratic ladies from the area known as the Heights.
Do you have any enemies?
My nosy next-door neighbor, Mrs. Biddlesworth. She is always spying on me and resents that my wild untended rose garden thrives better than her carefully cultivated flowers. I probably shouldn’t tease her by muttering fake incantations and pretending to use magic. One of these days, she might accuse me of being an unlicensed witch and then the handsome Horatio would be obliged to arrest me. I also have an unwittingly acquired the hatred of a real witch. Delphine is infatuated with Mal and sees me as a rival for his affections.
How do you feel about the place where you are now?
Is there something you are particularly attached to, or particularly repelled by, in this place? Although I still love my childhood home, I am saddened by what is happening in Arcady. Our king becomes more of a tyrant each year, passing unreasonable laws and taxes. So much so that we are becoming known as “the kingdom of happily never after.”
Do you have children, pets, both, or neither?
I have no pets or children, but I have a motherly affection for my two younger sisters, Netta and Amy. I would do anything to make them happy.
What do you do for a living?
When my father died, he left me in charge of managing our trust funds. A heavy burden for me. I was only seventeen, but my stepmother is far too impractical when it comes to money matters.
Greatest disappointment?
When I was seventeen, I fell desperately in love with a traveling minstrel named Harper, a handsome boy with golden hair and a golden voice. When my father forbade me to ever see him again, I planned to run away with Harper. But the night we were supposed to elope, he didn’t come, and I never saw him again. My advice to all of you - Never give your heart to a strolling minstrel for inevitably he will wander off and leave it discarded along the wayside.
Greatest source of joy?
My friend Mal. I don’t know how I would have survived some of the difficulties of my life without his support and wicked sense of humor. He can always make me laugh, even when I feel close to tears.
What do you do to entertain yourself or have fun?
My chief entertainment has always been reading. My father did not leave much in the way of money when he died, but I inherited a well-stocked library.
What is your greatest personal failing, in your view?
I have grown to be far too cynical. Everyone keeps reminding me that I used to be much more fun and adventurous. I believed in magic, true love and happily ever after. But I lost that part of myself after Harper broke my heart and my father died.
What keeps you awake at night?
Worrying about our dwindling trust fund and how I will keep paying the king’s taxes. I am terrified that we will have to give up our comfortable home and move to one of those hovels in Misty Bottoms, the poorest part of our kingdom. Or worse still be exiled to the swamp lands beyond the border. Our tyrant King August has no tolerance for beggars.
What is the most pressing problem you have at the moment?
That wretched Royal Ball! For the first time, this event is open to everyone in the kingdom, not just the aristocrats from the Heights. It is rumored that Prince Florian, the handsome heir to the throne intends to choose a bride. Alas, I seem to be the only one that sees this ball as a scam. The king is once again picking our pockets by charging an enormous amount of money for the tickets to attend. It is like an expensive lottery with the prince being dangled as the ultimate prize.
Is there something that you need or want that you don’t have? For yourself or for someone important to you?
The tickets to the ball cost far too much. I don’t care about going myself, but my stepmother and sisters are desperate to attend, and I hate seeing them so unhappy. My stepmother insists it could be a great opportunity to reverse our family fortunes. If only one of us could engage the affections of a rich suitor, perhaps the prince or one of his four younger brothers. Even a wealthy lord or knight would do.
Why don’t you have it? What is in the way?
I sold the one treasured item I had left, my mother’s emerald earrings. But it still wasn’t enough for us to attend the ball. The situation seemed hopeless until an unexpected intervention.
Fantastic Fairy Tales #1
Once upon a time . . .
That’s how a good story should begin, or so I’ve been told. Sweet young maidens attending royal balls, falling in love with charming princes, and living happily ever after.
That is not my story.
Meet Ella Upton, a spirited young woman who’s simply trying to survive in Arcady, the kingdom of happily never after, where the taxes are high, the laws are harsh, and a girl can end up in the Dismal Dungeons for merely swooning in the presence of royalty.
After her heart was broken at seventeen, Ella’s only goal is to keep herself and her beloved stepmother and stepsisters from losing their comfortable home and being forced to move to a hovel in Misty Bottoms.
Much to her dismay, she gains a suitor in the unlikely Horatio Crushington, a handsome but harsh Commander of the Midtown Garrison. After he saves her from an ogre, Ella learns to see past his stern façade and discovers the lonely, gentle man beneath.
For the first time in years, Ella opens her heart to the possibility of falling in love, but it’s a dangerous attraction. Horatio could threaten the safety of her dearest friend, Malcom Hawkridge, a charming rogue with a penchant for flouting laws and plans to steal a mysterious magic orb at the ball.
Now, all Ella must do is avoid the threats from a jealous witch, a cantankerous wizard and a lascivious prince, help her sisters find wealthy suitors, dance with Horatio without arousing his suspicions, steal the orb for Mal without getting caught. And accomplish all this before the stroke of midnight.
What could possibly go wrong?
Romance [Oliver-Heber Books, On Sale: January 9, 2024, e-Book, / ]
Susan Carroll is an award-winning American writer of romance novels, she also writes novels as Susan Coppula and Serena Richards. She obtained a Degree in English with complementary studies in History in the University of Indiana. Susan Carroll lives in Rock Island, Illinois.
No comments posted.
© 2003-2024 off-the-edge.net
all rights reserved Privacy Policy