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Chautona Havig

Chautona Havig

Using story to connect YOU to the Master Storyteller

The Exciting Fairy Tale I Never Wanted To Tell

by Chautona Havig · 1 Comment

Fairy tales can come true... it can happen to you... if you rewrite them! Today is The Last Gasp reveal and the first of seven! via @chautonahavig

You see them everywhere. Sometimes it’s done deliberately–someone retelling a familiar story in a new setting with a twist.  Other times, it’s accidental and even the author goes, “Oh! Yeah.”

What am I talking about?  Retellings.  Whether Austen characters and storylines or Shakespeare, Robin Hood or fairy tales, they’re everywhere.  I mean, even tropes have names that fit fairy tales.  Don’t believe me?  I’ll just throw two out there.

“Rags to Riches.”  A.k.a. “Cinderella.”

And… “Beauty and the Beast.”  #becausefairytales

Is it any wonder that one day I woke up and had an immediate epiphany about fairy tale retellings?

Confession.  I didn’t wake up with that epiphany.  It wasn’t even an epiphany. I just kept seeing fairy tale stuff everywhere, and all of a sudden, I wanted to do one, too.  Actually, I wanted to do them all and knew I’d never have time.  So… that meant pulling in my partner in crime…

Sandy.  #becauseSandy.

This left the “twist.”  We needed something that would make them stand out. Be different. After thinking of and rejecting a million ideas, it came to me.  The 1920s aren’t often showcased in Christian fiction.  What if they were all set then–the “Roaring Twenties.”  Prohibition, decadence… ooooh…

That’s when I got the million-dollar idea.  Mysteries. I mean, that would make it all stand out, right?  Just to recap… we’d do mysteries, set in the 1920s, inspired by fairy tales.  We’d get several authors to join me.  Boom, bam, baby!  A perfect literary trifecta.

Now we could have all the fairy tales.

Then, because I came up with the idea, I claimed first dibs on picking my fairy tale. While I wasn’t sure which one I did want, I knew what I didn’t.  No Cinderella. No Snow White.

We were talking about before Bible study one night, and when I mentioned that I had to choose what I would do for the series, one friend said, “So… are you doing Cinderella… as what, a cigarillo girl?”

You know what happened, right? How could I not do this? So, my dreams of telling this story or that all faded into the mists of my mind, and I settled in to figure out how to write…

The Last Gasp Cover Reveal

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The Exciting Fairy Tale I Never Wanted To Tell

Writing about a cigarillo girl isn’t exactly easy–not when you write Christian fiction.  I’m just sayin’. Set in a period of time where some doctors still swore by the health benefits of tobacco, some people wouldn’t have balked at Christians standing outside church smoking!

What would today’s Christians do with me having a heroine who sold candy and cigarettes to moviegoers?

I hoped they’d accept the historical significance, read the story, and see how I handled it.  I mean, in a case like this, it’s all you can do.

At first, I had a grandiose plan of turning the story into a copy of Agatha Christie’s formula for mysteries.  I thought it would be cool if one of my characters was a little like Miss Marple–but a man.  A couple of friends would be Tommy and Tuppence, and a heavy-set woman with more hair on her upper lip than most women prefer would walk around asking if everyone was happy.

Two things prevented that.

First, my cigarillo girl needed to be front and center in the story, and she didn’t fit any of those descriptions. Next, I had a limited number of words to work with, and it just wouldn’t fit. Still, if you look really closely, you’ll find that some of those people still linger in the shadows of my characters’ personalities.

One of the reasons I didn’t want to do Cinderella is that while she’s a self-sacrificing young lady, a hard worker, and keeps her attitude in check (for the most part), I’ve always found her bland.  Meh.  #hohum

Lucinda actually started off that way.  I couldn’t figure out what my “prince,” Gary, saw in her. However, she showed her true colors as more than a would-be stenographer working as a cigarillo girl until she could afford to take the right courses… or marry the right guy.

Some say that how you respond to adverse circumstances shows your true character.

Frankly, I don’t know if I believe that! I mean, why is who we are at the worst our only measure of who we are?  That has always bugged me.

However, if the old saying is true, then my cigarillo girl proves herself to be quite the young woman when she finds herself locked up for a murder she didn’t commit.

That’s how I chose my fairy tale in the Ever After Mysteries series.

Now it’s time for The Last Gasp reveal.

the last gasp cigarillo girl

The Last Gasp reveal is the first of eight books set in the 1920s. You’ll also want to head over to Marji Laine’s website to see her reveal.

 

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  1. Melissa Wardwell says

    February 12, 2021 at 10:02 am

    The cover is stunning

    Reply

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The Because Fiction Podcast

The Because Fiction Podcast
The Because Fiction Podcast

Taking the pulse of Christian fiction

Episode 145: A Chat with Debut Women's Fiction Author, Sara Brunsvold
byChautona Havig

Debut Author, Sara Brunsvold, is bursting on the Christian Women’s fiction scene with an amazing book, The Extraordinary Deaths of Mrs. Kip. With characters who have captivated my heart from page one (and enough quirkiness to keep my attention to the last), Sara Brunsvold is sure to become a favorite author, and this book is already on my top five of the year before it’s even released!

Note links may be affiliate links that provide me with a small commission at no extra expense to you.

This Novel Isn’t Even Available Yet, and It’s in My Top 5!

If you’d told me that I’d fall so in love with two chapters of a book that it would push that book into my top five of the year so far, well… I’d have laughed.

The joke’s on me because it happened with Sara Brunsvold’s The Extraordinary Deaths of Mrs. Kip. This debut women’s fiction novel has a bit of a split-time element and is set in Kansas City. Trust me when I say that meeting Clara was one of the most fun introductions to a character I’ve ever had. I just love this woman, and I’m drumming my fingers to get to read more about her.  Not surprising considering it won the ACFW Genesis’s award a couple of years back. 😀

Sara says her passion is intergenerational stories, and you definitely get this with Aidyn and her “assignment,” Mrs. Kipp.  But you also get inter-cultural and ideological influences in this book as well.

And then there’s that next book she has coming out.  You know, the one about a gal cooking her way through her grandma’s German cookbook?  Yeah.  The one we have to wait until early 2024 for?  Yeah. That one.  Sigh.

When Sara told us about her favorite authors, a lot of things made sense.  Just sayin’. Find out which of Katherine Reay’s books are her favorites and how she fangirled over Reay’s response to an email (and why you should email your favorite author!).

The Extraordinary Deaths of Mrs. Kip by Sara Brunsvold

Aidyn Kelley is talented, ambitious, and ready for a more serious assignment than the fluff pieces she’s been getting as a cub reporter for the Kansas City Star. In her eagerness, she pushes too hard, earning herself the menial task of writing an obituary for an unremarkable woman who’s just entered hospice care.

But there’s more to Clara Kip than meets the eye. The spirited septuagenarian may be dying, but she’s not quite ready to cash it in yet. Never one to shy away from an assignment herself, she can see that God brought the young reporter into her life for a reason. And if it’s a story Aidyn Kelley wants, that’s just what Mrs. Kip will give her–but she’s going to have to work for it.

Debut author Sara Brunsvold delights with this emotional multigenerational story that shows that the very best life is made up of thousands of little deaths to self. You’ll want to be just like Mrs. Kip when you grow up!

This book is 40% off with free shipping from Baker Book House. That’s less than the Kindle version if you like paper!

You can learn more about Sara at her WEBSITE (and sign up for that newsletter so you can get Mrs.Kip’s 8 Rules to Live By). Oh, and if she does those videos of her cooking through that book, you’ll want to know when/where to find them.

Like to listen on the go? You can find Because Fiction Podcast at:

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Episode 145: A Chat with Debut Women's Fiction Author, Sara Brunsvold
Episode 145: A Chat with Debut Women's Fiction Author, Sara Brunsvold
May 20, 2022
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