Michelle Davidson Argyle talks about her new book, Cinders

It's a real pleasure to have Michelle Davidson Argyle as my guest today. She will be talking about her debut book, Cinders, which was released last week. I promptly ordered a copy, being so impressed with her excerpts and author style. It has been sitting on my desk less than twenty-four hours and my muse is demanding I make time to read it sooner than my work schedule will allow. This book has all the hallmarks of a reading treat not to be missed. I'm glad she's here today on my blog.
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I'm really happy to be here today, thank you! I'm first and foremost a writer. I've been writing seriously for 14 years, and recently published my first book, a fantasy/literary novella titled Cinders. I also write short fiction, contemporary novels (you know, like spy thrillers...), and I've currently got a YA novel in my files since I first started writing. It might take flight one day. I graduated from Utah Valley University with a Bachelor's Degree in English/Creative Writing in 2002. My short fiction has been published in the University of New Mexico's national literary journal, Scribendi, 2002, and was also given the staff poetry choice award for that journal in that year. I served as the editor-in-chief of Utah Valley University's literary magazine and I have won awards for my short stories.


I've also been a serious photographer for 6 years, and I have a 4-year-old daughter who sometimes drives me crazy!


BOOK BLURB:
Cinderella's happily-ever-after isn't turning out the way she expected. With her fairy godmother imprisoned in the castle and a mysterious stranger haunting her dreams, Cinderella is on her own to discover true love untainted by magic.


EXCERPT:
Every time Cinderella entered the ballroom she relived the first time. That night her feet had felt weightless stuffed inside the magic shoes, and dancing had come easily. Even when her legs grew tired, her feet kept moving, gliding past Rose’s glaring eyes until Rowland spotted her and took her into his arms for a dance. He didn’t let her go until he led her outside and she looked up at the moon hanging in a jet-black sky. He turned to her after they ambled along a thin frozen path in the garden. “Where did you come from?” he asked. “It’s as if you’ve opened my eyes to something—what, I don’t know. Who are you?” He pressed his hands to hers.

When she explained that she was the daughter of Sir Samuel Plimmswood who died when she was eight years old, he tightened his hold on her hands and apologized for being so forward, for touching her at all, for bringing her outside unaccompanied. “But I can’t help it,” he said with a desperate look. “How have we not met earlier?”

Shivering, she lifted her eyes to the bare trees, their smooth bark glowing bright under the moon. She explained there was much work to do at home and she had never stepped foot inside the castle before. She had never thought she would have the honor to meet…and then Rowland had kissed her and she knew Eolande’s spell was sealed, that Rowland’s heart belonged to her forever.

Even now, as she stepped into the ballroom the evening of Rowland’s birthday, her arm wrapped around his, she felt the connection to him that the kiss had secured. Eolande had warned her it was a connection that could not be broken easily, even if Cinderella never learned to love him.

She had thought she would.

Now she wondered why she hadn’t asked Eolande about the stranger when the spell was performed. But Eolande had distracted her with promises of Rowland’s undying love, something solid and certain. The stranger had been gone for two years—much too long for Cinderella to believe he was anything but a dream vanished to dust.

Purchase Links:
AMAZON
KINDLE
SMASHWORDS
AUTHOR SITE
LULU (for a pocket edition)

Author Link:
http://michelledavidsonargyle.blogspot.com/