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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 262: Chatting about The Legacy of Longdale Manor with Carrie Turansky
byChautona Havig

Chatting with Carrie Turansky is always fun, but guys, this gal is such a trouper!  But with her newest novel (Split-Time!!!), The Legacy of Longdale Manor coming out, and with it taking place in the Lake District (we were probably there at the same time!!!), I am crazy excited about this book. Listen in to see what a shepherd’s crook has to do with art and two women, a century apart, who both are dealing with daddy issues that only a Heavenly Father can truly help.

 

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

What Heart Issues Connect These Two Troubled Women Together?

Carrie Turansky and I were both in the Lake District in May (we probably overlapped a few days even! AAAK!), and I love the area she wrote about. I actually looked up Langdale Chase (the house that inspired Carrie’s book) as a potential for a book I’m writing in the area. I had decided to move it closer to Ambleside. Isn’t it amazing how two authors can take the same inspiration and write two totally different books?  I love that. 

The faith elements she’s put into The Legacy of Longdale Manor just touch my heart so deeply. Any time you are dealing with a shepherd or fatherhood, I’m all in, and I can’t wait to see what she’s done with it. 

The Legacy of Longdale Manor by Carrie Turransky

Two women–a century apart–embark on a journey to healing, faith, forgiveness, and romance.

In 2012, art historian Gwen Morris travels to England’s Lake District to appraise the paintings and antiques of an old family friend, hoping to prove herself to her prestigious grandfather. While at Longdale Manor, she meets David Bradford–the owner’s handsome grandson–who is desperate to save the crumbling estate by turning it into a luxury hotel. When Gwen stumbles upon a one-hundred-year-old journal and an intricately carved shepherd’s staff similar to one in a photo of her parents, she’s left searching for answers.

In 1912, after her father’s death, Charlotte Harper uncovers a painful family secret she can only confess to her journal. She and her family travel to the Lake District to stay on a sheep farm, hoping eventually to find a home with Charlotte’s grandfather at Longdale Manor, but old wounds and bitter regrets make it a difficult challenge. As Charlotte grows closer to shepherd Ian Storey and rebuilds her shattered faith, she must decide whether she will ever trust in love again.

Learn more about Carrie Turansky and all the goodies for preordering The Legacy of Longdale Manor on her WEBSITE.

Also follow her on BookBub and GoodReads

BakerBookHouse.com has The Legacy of Longdale Manor on sale for 40% off with FREE shipping.  And don’t forget to go get your goodies, too!

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Episode 262: Chatting about The Legacy of Longdale Manor with Carrie Turansky
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