Pulling a Prince out of a Bear

As a reader, I love a good and well-considered plot twist. Depending on who you ask there are only six, seven, or thirty-six stories in the world. With that in mind, the only way to very them is with a good twist. Mind you I said a good twist. Too often I’ve been on the receiving end of a story that bends over backward to make a plot work with a twist so implausible it ruins it. There is such a thing as too twisty a plot and I say this as a person who reads fantasy and fairy tales. Even they get it wrong sometimes.

Recently I read the story of Snow-White and Rose-Red, a story I always think I’ve read because of the Snow White angle. Now I realize why the latter was made into a movie and endlessly used for re-tellings and the former left to languish. In case you haven’t read it either:

Two sisters—Snow-White, the shy bookish one and Rose-Red, the lively, outspoken one—love one another and their mother. One winter day, a bear comes to the door and asks to warm himself by the fire. He and the girls become friends as he visits every day that winter. In the spring, he says he must go and protect his treasure from a bad dwarf. The girls encounter the dwarf many times over the spring and save him from small perils, but he’s never grateful for the help. The last time they meet with the dwarf and the bear, the dwarf begs for his life because the bear has threatened him. The dwarf tells the bear to eat the girls instead, but the bear kills him instead. Suddenly, the bear becomes a prince, explaining that the dwarf had cursed him. The prince marries Snow-White and Rose-Red marries his brother.

By Alexander Zick - Märchen, Grot'scher Verlag, Berlin 1975, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=6330166

Leaving aside the fact that two sisters actually get along in a fairy tale (a twist worthy of the genre), there are so many elements that come out of nowhere that it’s hard to figure out what the point of the story is—be kind to strangers, even bears, that come to the door; always lend a hand even if the recipient is less than deserving; or is it the happily ever after with a prince. That last one works out well for Snow-White, but Rose-Red ends up married to the prince’s unknown brother. Why wasn’t he searching for ways to break his elder brother’s curse? Did he hire the dwarf? I think that’s the real story! I’ll likely have to write it myself.

Have you been blindsided by a plot twist?

Mechanical Creativity II

The holidays are feast or famine time for my writing. I either have tons to write or I am stuck with nothing to write. This year is a little different because I recently published my latest book, so I've given myself a pass until the new year on getting any real writing done on the last book in the series. But I still get the itch...that feeling of restless need to make SOMETHING and work. It's the same feeling I got around the beginning of August when I was waiting for school to start up again (yes, an admittedly nerdy admission but I'm owning it!).

Back during the dark days of the quarantine I wrote about what I do when I get that itch, but haven't thought of anything to write. I called it mechanical creativity and this year I decided to make it work for me. I indulged my hobby of lettering and combined it with the normally tedious chore of sending holiday cards. The results were mixed, but it still scratches that particular itch. These are some of the results:

Although the results are rough, it doesn't really matter. The point is to do creative things while waiting for my specific creative ability to return.

Have you found your mechanical creativity endeavor? Feel free to share. In the meantime,

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!!

A Rebel's Path - Release Day!

The day has arrived! My new book, A Rebel’s Path, the third in my Enchanted Path series was released today. And for the next two weeks the digital copies of both A Smuggler’s Path and A Noble’s Path are half off!

An unruly mage from the past has returned to test the limits of Inez’s magic and terrorize Canto…

Magic has become a liability for mage-in-training Inez Garza. Now that she’s accepted Zavier’s proposal of marriage, the scrutiny she once avoided as a smuggler has become nearly unavoidable as his future queen. Any missteps with her magic risks exposing her at the highest levels of Canto and especially to her intended, who still doesn’t know she harbors inherent magic.

Control over her Powers is essential, and her only hope is accepting help from one tutor who doubts her abilities, another who covets them and her mother, who doesn’t trust either of the two.

Differences will have to be set aside when it appears a figure from the past only whispered about in stories returns and threatens all of Canto with his dark magic.

Challenging a seasoned magic-wielder with her erratic Powers is just the kind of thing that could attract royal attention, or get Inez killed. She will have to uncover closely held secrets and take help from unlikely quarters in order to keep everyone safe. But even magic has its limits…

…when you walk a rebel’s path.

Here are some early reviews:

"An enthralling quest tale with a valiant and enchanting protagonist." –Kirkus Review

"A fast-moving plot and a cast of nebulous characters who exist in the grey space between good and evil make for a thought-provoking read that hums with tension… Cruz has crafted something that truly stands out within the genre." –Self-Publishing Review

Like all indie authors, I hope you read my books and post good reviews! To learn more about my other books visit www.booksbyilcruz.com

Fairy Word of Mouth

Remember the brave little tailor? He kills seven flies with one blow and sews a belt proclaiming his achievement to anyone who read it. It led to people somehow assuming he meant giants and not flies. Or how about the woman in Rumpelstiltskin whose father bragged about her spinning straw into gold while drinking in a tavern and somehow word got back to the king? Talk about amazing marketing.

With my new book coming out I have what I assume is a common writer fantasy. It goes something like this: the book is released and because it is just so undeniably good everyone reads it (and of course loves it) without having to create marketing campaigns or materials.

Maybe fairy tales have it right. There are days I consider just wearing a belt that says “four-times published author” or “excellently reviewed novelist” with a QR code for people who want to know more. Or times I wish I had some sort of herald that would go about telling people about my work. I know it’s a dream, but it’s one I indulge in when another publishing date rolls around. Like now.

I’m less than a week away from A Rebel’s Path being available everywhere, the third in my Enchanted Path series and I am predictably behind with my marketing. And my postings. And yet, I have to remind myself I’ve accomplished something not many people do, and I’ve done it four times. In the meantime, here's hoping the grapevine does its job.

Relaunch and Pre-launch

Starting over is hard, but sometimes restarting is even more of a challenge. Last year I was supposed to publish the third book in my Enchanted Path series. I ‘d already written a draft and worked on the rewrites all quarantine long. Sad to say it read like quarantine—long, unpredictable and uncomfortable. I had to start, not again, but over, as though I’d never done any rewrites. My editor was really patient and helped immensely and I finally finished my book, A Rebel’s Path.

At the same time, I began to feel dissatisfied with my writer website, Books by I.L. Cruz. I think while other people were obsessively cleaning or completing long overdue home repairs, I wanted to revamp my site. I was humble enough to realize I didn’t have the ability (or patience) to tackle it myself and I hired an amazing web designer. She did a wonderful job and I’m excited by the new format.

So, without further ado I can share my new book site and the announcement of my new book’s release date—October 3^rd, 2022. I hope you all take a look. As an added bonus, anyone who leaves a comment will be automatically included in a random draw to get a free signed copy of my new book!

The third installment in my Enchanted Path series!

A Winter's Story, part III: Book Divining Edition

Writers get inspiration from anywhere and everywhere, especially when they’re blocked creatively. Part III of my 100-words serial was elusive, which I hoped wasn’t an omen for edits in my third novel (currently underway). I remembered reading somewhere that there are psychics who pick a book at random, flip through, and point to a sentence to determine a reading.

Recently I bought a book of defunct English words—because words are one of the many things I geek out over—and decided it was the perfect book for my purpose. It had words like sandillions, drizzen, and idle-worms (post for another day). I flipped through the book with my eyes closed and then pointed at

Ostentiferous: adj. that which brings monsters or strange sights.

Photo by Rodrigo Santos on Pexels.com

I love lightbulb moments! Here’s what my newly-learned word inspired:

Winter’s Story, part III

The woman’s gaze careened between the lamp and the large-eyed sprite. At length her eyes settled squarely on the girl.

“It’s an ostentiferosity light,” she said matter-of-factly. At the stricken woman’s blank stare the sprite continued. “It summons the fantastical.”

“Then why are my treasures gone?” asked the woman. The sprite cocked her head considering.

“They must not have been fantastical. But you’re still here,” she replied and a slow smile spread across the sprite’s face. The woman blanched at the sight.

“What does that mean? Where did my things go?”

“Shall we go and find out?” asked the sprite.

A Winter Story, part II

Well, this is embarrassing…

A few weeks ago, I was scrambling for an idea. I’ve been remiss with my postings lately and I didn’t want another week to go by without putting something up. It’s not that I haven’t been writing—I’m in my (fingers-crossed) last couple of edit passes with my editor and outlining new projects—but when I’m in fiction mode, it’s hard to shift over to creative non-fiction. It’s what gave me my first idea.

I decided I would partake in an experiment and what is it they say about scientists who experiment on themselves? I wrote 100-word story without preparation, something I don’t do. I hoped, rather than believed, that I would come up with the next 100 words two weeks later in time for my next posting. Over a holiday! Two weeks came and went and nothing came to me.

Photo by Negative Space on Pexels.com

It is a lesson I continually learn as a writer. I’ve had ideas for stories that were only atmospheric introductions with no plot ready, story endings with no idea how the beginning would work, and even names or single lines of dialogue I’ve loved with no story to call their own.

And that’s the gig. It’s not all writing jags and entire chapters that flow effortlessly, although there are those days too.

This was a very long way of saying I’m sorry for not finishing my story on time, but here’s what I have so far:

A Winter’s Story, part II

Bright light…

…filled the dark, cold house illuminating all the things the woman had collected over the years. In the blink of an eye, every item disappeared—all except the star light. Sitting next to the light was a girl, no bigger than a doll. The girl’s wide eyes took in the empty space for a long moment while the woman dropped down to the bare floor, her hands confirming what her eyes beheld.

“It’s all gone,” they said in unison, although the woman said it as a plaintive wail and the girl with gleeful awe.

Both woman and girl were right…

Fairy Representation

A lot has been said and written about the drawbacks to revisiting the same stories over and over again. As a person who has written novels based on nursery rhymes and fairy tales, I prefer to look at story re-imaginings as a way to write myself and people like me into stories we've told for centuries. And I'm clearly not alone. Fairy tale retellings are very popular and for the very reason I described. The proof is Hallmark holiday movies.

Stills from Hallmark Channel's 2020 holiday movies

I participated in a one-woman letter-writing campaign a few years ago. Every year I would compliment their programming and then ask them to consider making the characters more representative of the viewing audience. And over the years slowly (very slowly) but surely Hallmark has included people of color, movies about Hanukkah and this year, same-sex couples. A special thrill was seeing Julie Gonzalo, a not infrequent actress in Hallmark movies actually getting to play a Latina and her love interest was Black! I will admit that not all of them are great and some are downright bland, but it's sort of the point. Sleepy little rom-coms that normalize everyone's stories are just as important as mixed race and same-sex couples proliferating commercials.

Seeing yourself in a story gives it special significance and should never be discounted.

What stories do you want to see retold?

Writing while...

As a writer in the 21^st century, you’re often asked to share more of yourself than you’re comfortable with in order to gain readership of your intended work, be it blog posts or novels. The field is so crowded with talent that something has to help you stand out.When I started my writing journey, I promised myself that privacy was an important aspect of my life and as such there were topics I would never discuss. And yet, there are times I feel compelled to share a little more about me than I have in the past.I’ve always made plain that I am a woman who writes with a feminist bent and also in the hopes of making room for Latina protagonists. What I rarely discuss is the Afro-Latina experience. My family originates from Puerto Rico, which has a rich history that includes Spanish, African and Taíno ancestry. I comprise all three (according to Ancestry.com) and my appearance often confuses people perhaps due to the combination—especially in the summer when I ditch my “soup can” rollers and opt to let my curly hair “do what it do”.

I rarely make a big deal about the Afro part of my Afro-Latinaness, but it’s nonetheless jarring when I’m having a conversation with someone, also of Latinx background, and they are surprised when I say something in Spanish. It’s understandable, if irksome, when I have to explain myself (a task I’ve had to undertake since I was a small child) to non-Latinx people, but when I have to do it with those who should know better, it stings. It something most Afro-Latinx people contend with on a regular basis.In the fantasy worlds I create, it’s never a question. My protagonists have to deal with so many other problems—illegal magic, talking to the dead—that I prefer to have the matter of their race/ethnicity as merely fait accompli and get on with whatever mythic mayhem is in store. But real life, though free of magical duels and vengeful spirits, has its own complications.The job of a good writer is to entertain first and if the writer is lucky, they also find a way to educate. Sometimes it’s the job of the writer to educate first and hope it’s enough to make sharing something personal worth forgoing a little entertainment.Are you a writer? Is there something you take for granted when you write that might benefit others? Are you a reader? Is there something you wish you saw more of?On a lighter note, my novella, The Cemetery Circle, is finally available in paperback! Support indie authors!

Less Fairy, More Tale

It's been far too long, dear reader, since I've written. Not that I'm not writing--I've been working on editing the third book in my four-book series. But I have been woefully negligent with my social media. It's an offshoot of my mixed feelings about marketing.Therefore, I'm going to write one of my rare writing posts. I don't write them often because I hardly feel like an expert. However, I have learned a few things while working as an indie author.How to keep series notesNote taking is a skill that most people don’t master. Writers are notorious for jotting down a thought or an idea on a napkin, the corner of a menu, or on the myriad little notebooks that are half full with scribblings we can’t identify under penalty of death (which is what it feels like when you lose an idea). Think of all the amazing stories that go unwritten because the perfect sentence is now in the trash with a wad of gum stuck to it!While I don’t pretend to know everything about note-taking—I’ve been guilty of the lost gum-wad note—and I don’t assume this will work for everyone, here’s my guide to notes.

1. A series is a marathon, not a sprint

The same idea can be applied to a writing career, but that’s another post. What I mean by a marathon, is no one runs a marathon without a plan. I may write as a pantser, but I take notes like a planner (which is to say, after the fact). Each of my books has a dedicated notebook (yes, millennials use pen and paper) where I write the names of each of my characters in the inside cover. Lots of times I forget the name of a tertiary character or that a main character has a last name.

2. You have a life and so do all your characters

I have a great memory and I still forget at least ten things a day because I have a life outside of writing. It’s hard enough keeping all my stuff in order (and my daughter’s, and my dog’s) without having to memorize ten to twenty character’s lives! I have a separate notebook of just arcs, so I know where each of my characters have progressed by the end of each book, that way I don’t have to go back and remember if Periquito is still friends with Perensejo. I also include what they look like and a timeline.

3. Confused? You won’t be after this episode of Soap

Extra points for anyone who gets the reference! Essentially, it means I write a summary of how everyone ended their story in each book. This is separate than the arc journal because it connects how all the characters have related to one another. Character X might not have cliffhanger at the end of the book, but Character Y does and it will effect Character X.

4. Places are people, too

In my series, there are places that the characters visit frequently and they need to be described in each book, hopefully without repeating the exact words each time. I have a section of my arc notebook dedicated to buildings. I also include things like rules, special words, sayings in Spanish, and because I write about fantasy, any magical objects or spells.This is by no means an exhaustive list, but I think I've shared enough of my general insanity to be helpful instead of daunting. 

Author Anniversary: Special Edition

As Fairytale Feminista readers know, I don’t usually post on Fridays, but today I’m making an exception.Happy Valentine’s Day! I don’t celebrate, but last year I found a new reason to mark the occasion. Last year I published my first novella, The Cemetery Circle. It seemed appropriate to release it on Valentine’s Day because it was a paranormal romance that I thought up while on a romantic trip with my husband.However, the trip went better than the publication. I spent most of my marketing budget on my fantasy series, so there was very little left to bring it to anyone’s attention. For a time, I considered the book a failure.But a year later, with three books to my credit, I have a different perspective. A lackluster reception didn’t lessen my need to write or my desire to share it with the world. In fact, I’m thinking of writing a sequel.This Valentine’s Day I want to give a special gift to all the writers I’ve met during this indie pub journey. Even getting something out there is a win. Love the successes as well as the failures. And failures for writers aren’t permanent because all it takes is one enthusiastic reader to get your book in other people’s hands.

Believing your own hype--like a tailor

Being a writer is hard.I know everyone says that, but it's like parenting--you don't know how hard it's going to be until you're in the trenches, slogging through it all.It turns out writing and rewriting (and rewriting, and rewriting...) is actually the easy part. Especially if you hold to the rule that you should write something you'd want to read. That's freeing, empowering. But it doesn't end there, does it? Not if you want to get your work out there. Now you have to be brave and send it out to PEOPLE! You know, the kind that can take your precious baby and declare that it's ugly.Or they could love it, wouldn't that be a kick in the head?But the trick is, you don't know until you put yourself out there and say, "Here's my work" or "Have at it". Either way you're opening yourself up to possibilities, good or bad, and that kind of vulnerability is scary.So, dear readers, dare I ask it? Is there something to glean from fairy tales? Yes, I was skeptical too, but go with me here...There's a story called The Brave Little Tailor who, on the strength of killing seven flies who dared to buzz about his breakfast, decides he can slay giants, catch unicorns, fell wild boars, and become a king. And he does it! Okay, he doesn't actually do any of it, but he's clever and lucky.  Just like that, he believes in his own hype and rises to every occasion despite being just a little tailor. He was brave. He was a boss.That's what I love and hate about blogging. There's no rewriting, no second-guessing (okay, maybe a little...) just writing and sending it out into the world. But then there's the waiting and wondering if you've reached anyone.Until you do, you have to just believe in your own hype. I AM A WRITER! :)

Formula: The Sequel or Comfort Mind Food

Last week I wrote about Hallmark Movies and their tendency to be formulaic. And I don’t think formula's are always a bad thing. But there was a time when my literary snobbery got in the way of a good time.As a teenager I flirted with a certain author’s romance stories that would be considered formulaic—perfect miniseries material. I knew the heroine inevitably lost her money, title, etc. and for three nights she’d be put through the wringer with at least three marriages, a manor house destroyed and end with one of her wayward children returning to the fold just in time to see her mother’s business venture take off.But I wouldn’t read the books. I considered them predictable and banal, but I didn’t mind them being made-for-tv catnip. Fifteen-year-old me would act above reading it, but thirty-eight-year-old me would paraphrase James Carville and yell, “It’s a story, stupid. Just embrace it.”All stories have a formula—its’ how we get comfortable with the insane amount of drama and danger we convince ourselves is okay to enjoy instead of worrying that we may be sociopaths. Except when we like the formula, we call is a writer’s “distinctive voice”. When we don’t like it, we say it’s predictable. I have a few authors that I read because I know exactly what to expect from their books. They’re my comfort food for the mind. #ComfortMindFoodDo you think the Grimm Brothers sat around worrying that the stories they’d collected had more than a few that sounded eerily similar? No and we still read and adapt those stories to this day. My point being today’s formulaic story could be tomorrow’s classic.

The Elusive Ooh

Writers are some of the best readers. Many of the same traits that make a good writer are cultivated by good readers. Attention to detail. Love of a good story. Ability to suspend disbelief. But there's a fourth thing that I've only ever experienced as a writer.I've been working on my second novel and the moments that give me the most agita are when I know where something starts and where I need to go, but not how to get there. A plot point will irked me for days, even weeks because I can't figure out how it fits into the larger whole.And then it happens. I poke and prod and reshape and then I find my way from A to C. I find B. I call it the elusive ooh. I call it that because it's usually what I say when I finally crack the code. Kind of like that moment in a fairy tale when it all turns around for the protagonist.It happened when I was thinking about what to post today. I mentally searched my catalog of fairy tales and folk stories, thinking of ways to connect it to my editing woes and then... Ooh, I could just write about my editing woes. Or better yet, how I overcome them.

Deadlines in the World of Make Believe

Fairy tales love deadlines. Midnight curfews. Seasonal mandates. Royal decrees with an expiration date. It ramps up the drama to know that not only does a protag have an obstacle to overcome, but there’s also a clock on when it must be completed. Readers love that.You know who doesn’t love it? Writers. We put our characters through the ringer, but nothing compares to the rollercoaster of meeting a deadline—especially when you’re an indie pub author. Deadlines are yours to control and without external forces demanding you meet them; they can become ephemeral. Empty. Pointless. It takes an extraordinary amount of discipline to keep to a self-imposed deadline. And sometimes we fall short.I know I did. I expected to return to my blogging within a month. Three months later I’m finally climbing out of my book edits. And I’m not done, but I realized that being a part of this community was something I missed. Not the deadlines for posting! I did, however, miss interacting with fellow writers and bloggers. But to avoid ramping up the drama in my life, I’ll be kinder to myself with deadlines and post every other week—at least until I finish edits for book two in my Enchanted Path series, A Noble’s Path.And thanks to those of you who kept reading even when I wasn’t writing.

A Brief Return

First things first: I'm not done with the manuscript of A Noble's Path: Book 2 in my Enchanted Path series. I am about 2/3 of the way done and would likely move faster if it wasn't turning into some Choose Your Own Adventure, where I write a chapter followed by two versions of what would happen next. Needless to say editing will be "fun".I'm also here to let you know that I do intend to come back to both my blogging and tweeting, but not before I finish my draft. I can almost deal with having to do non-writer things (like feed myself, raise my daughter, walk the dog and spend time with my husband) and writing my book at the same time. However, trying to write a draft while also meeting blogging deadlines, participating in Twitter and the like is just to many streams and not enough boats. I have high hopes for a return by the end of the month.In the meantime, I had a wonderful surprise awaiting me. My first book, A Smuggler's Path, has been given a B.R.A.G. Medallion by indieBRAG. I know indie publication is a slow slog through the desert, but it's nice when there's an oasis in sight. Check out their website and to my fellow indie authors, consider submitting your work for a medallion!

Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, Rip Van Winkle and Me

Fairy tales and folklore have a tradition of putting protagonists in comas. Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, and Rip Van Winkle are only a few examples of letting things cool down while the main character takes a prolonged nap. Evil queens are dispatched. Curses are lifted and generally life goes on. It changes the trajectory of the story, like painting oneself out of a corner.Snow White and the Evil Queen could have gone on like that indefinitely.How long could Sleeping Beauty avoid new clothes and spinning wheels?And Rip's laziness wasn't going to make much of a story if it didn't lead to something.Writers do the same thing. When I get stuck on a story, I work on another story until I feel refreshed enough to get back to the old story. I know other writers who go on retreats or put their work away for a prolonged period of time, hoping distance will give them a fresh look.Well, I'm currently stuck in a marketing spiral. I've written about this before, but I've decided to take drastic measures. With book 2 in my Enchanted Path series due before the end of the year, I need to concentrate on it exclusively for the next month. I'm proud that I've been able to post every Tuesday for almost a year and intend to continue.But for now, I need to unplug from social media and blogging. I'm taking a month and a half off to get a better handle on my new draft of A Noble's Path.I'll return in time for the anniversary of my return to the blogosphere with all new insights about fairy tales. 

An interview with me!

Hey FF readers,Writers are a friendly lot. We like to support each other because no one knows more than we do how difficult and solitary this profession can be. Bloggers understand that more than most and I think it's great the way we reach out to each other to make the big, scary blogosphere seem a little smaller and connected!Today Rachel Poli posted an interview with yours truly and while I hope you read my interview, I also hope you poke around the rest of her site, which is fun and informative. Thanks again Rachel for the support!

The Little Blogger that Could

A lot of ink (and RAM space) has been spent on writer’s block of some sort or another. There are also plenty of techniques people swear by, from writing prompts to mindful walking. Each writer has to figure out what works best. But I’ve yet to see anything about what to do about blogger’s block. Bloggers are told time and again that besides finding a topic to write about, consistency is the key to creating a meaningful social network presence. If you post every day, then (kudos to you for having that kind of stamina) for better or worse you have to keep that up. That’s a rather demanding demand, doubly so if you’re also working on other writing and a day job. When I waded into the blogging waters, I knew every day was too much to ask. I only started, reluctantly, because I learned it was the best way to reach potential readers for my fiction work. So, I limited myself to once a week. Slowly (sometimes painfully) I built up a modest following. Yet even with that small ask, there are days I draw a blank. I focus on fairy tales, but sometimes there isn’t anything I want to say about it. Blogger burnout is a very real thing and there’s no proscribed fix for it. But I’ve found my own fix. Posts like this one. Readers do like consistency and a topic to follow, but I find that they also like honesty. The occasional post that veers from a topic will be forgiven if you share something honest about your posting—things you enjoy, struggles with your writing, and even current affairs if you can do so authentically. I won’t lie. It doesn’t always work and then you may have to try plan C—revisit a topic with a fresh perspective. Or even asking someone else to write it for you—there’s no fresher perspective than someone else’s point of view! For now, I have another week’s reprieve. And there’s another post done 😊

A Writer's Winter Fairy Tale Come True

Now that the Christmas season has come and gone, I can make a confession.I really don’t like “It’s A Wonderful Life.”I didn’t see it until I was in college and my roommate expressed horror at my lapse in film viewing. I explained that one Christmas I saw it listed in the TV Guide (does anyone remember those?) over twenty-seven times! Colorized, black and white, even dubbed en Español.The over exposure of it made it unpalatable, like a song that gets too much radio play. So, I studiously avoided it. Until that year at college. I sat and watched, ate popcorn and…I still didn’t like it. The premise was great—who doesn’t like a little magical realism? But it didn’t grab me. I’m more A Christmas Carol kind of girl—scared straight for the chronically unlovable. George Bailey was too self-pitying for me. Scrooge is angry. It’s more active. I prefer proactive characters.Then I learned the story behind the story.Did you know that It’s a Wonderful Life is based on a short story by Philip Van Doren Stern? He called it "The Greatest Gift". It was rejected by several publishers and then he printed up about 200 copies for friends and family with his Christmas cards. One made its way to Frank Capra, who shared it with Jimmy Stewart. The story was sold for $10,000 to RKO in 1944 (over $140K in today’s money) and the rest is history.Now that’s a Christmas story I would watch every year! Here’s hoping today’s overlooked story becomes tomorrow’s beloved classic.