Cinderella's Secret Diary by Ron Vitale

This weekend, I spent much of my time reading through many of the blogs that took part in the Blog Tour de Troops... a fabulous and worthy cause wherein a large number of authors very generously gave free copies of their books to whoever commented, as well as free copies to members of the forces! 

I have been given some books that sound truly amazing but there was one that just captivated me (and I haven't even read it yet!). The cover, the description and the author's blog post all combined to make me desperate to read this book about my all time favourite fairy tale character, Cinderella. I asked Ron why he chose to write this story...........

Why I wrote Cinderella's Secret Diary by Ron Vitale

Back on January 12, 2010, I was reading Disney’s Royal Princess Homes book to my then 2-year-old daughter. She sat next to me on the rocking chair and I turned through a page in the book and read how Cinderella was in her bedroom showing off her scarves and shoes. Yet tucked away in the corner was a desk that had a book on it entitled “Cinderella’s Secret Diary.”
A light went off in my head. I do not know how else to describe it. A thought, like lightning, zapped me and I started wondering what would be in that book. I knew at that instant that I had stumbled upon an amazing idea. I kissed my daughter goodnight, tucked her in and then did a search on Google. I stumbled upon an out-of-print Disney book entitled Disney Princess: My Secret Diary by Cinderella but I could find nothing else online. From what I could tell from eBay and reviews, the Disney diary book is about mice costumes and other such things from the Disney movie. Ideas kept flowing through my mind and I jotted down some notes for a short story idea I had. I kept wondering what Cinderella’s secret diary would really be like. Why was it secret? Is she happily married? Does she have children? I could not stop the flood of ideas.

I have read about writers who talk about being a conduit for their work and now I understand: As I wrote this book, I could see the scenes playing out in my head. On my long runs while training for a half-marathon, I’d envision what the characters were doing and when I sat down to write the words just flowed out of me. Often, I’d sit on the back sofa with the laptop and try desperately to type the scenes out as I could see what was happening—like a movie was playing in my head.
As weird as this might sound, I often felt that I channeled the words of Cinderella or the Silver Fox—that I was their personal medium. I told my wife this and she said, “But you wrote the story. You created the characters.” I agreed, but when I wanted Cinderella to go down one path, she’d often go down another. I couldn’t make her do what I wanted her to do. While writing, her personality crystalized for me and I clearly began to know who she was, what she yearned for and why. I listened to her and wrote her story. I know that I’ll be asked many questions about the Silver Fox and I will simply say this: In the first draft, I didn’t discover his character until more than 2/3 of the way through the book. Once I created him, I realized that I had to re-write the book as he was central to it. My first readers really loved him and wanted more and I couldn’t disagree. He makes the book worth reading.
While writing Cinderella’s Secret Diary, I knew that I wanted the central theme to be about female empowerment. My closest friends know that I am not a fan of Disney and the whole Princess thing. I wanted to write a story about a young woman who was a Princess but then had to overcome many challenges to find out who she truly is. With that said I’ve dedicated the book to my daughter.
I have thoroughly enjoyed writing the book and am already planning on writing the next. I hope you choose to read it and, if you like it, share it with friends and family. I believe it’s a story that needed to be told.
Read my new novel:Cinderella's Secret Diary
Website: www.RonVitale.com
Twitter: @ronvitale