Hi all. Those of you who don’t follow my Facebook Fan Page may not have seen the news that my stand-alone audio book, BEAUTIFUL, is now available for pre-order from Audible. I’ve provided a link to Audible’s US site (just click on the image above of the gorgeous cover) but the book is also available from Audible Australia and Audible UK. Publication date is May 30.
I’m really excited about this book. It’s an Audible Original, which means it comes out in audio book only for now. At a much later stage (at least a year, maybe more) there may be print and ebook editions. BEAUTIFUL is an expanded version of the novella of the same name that was published last year in the anthology AURUM from Ticonderoga Publications. The story is based on the Nordic fairy tale East of the Sun and West of the Moon. The audio book is novel-length, and includes the ‘what happened next’ for our unusual protagonist, Hulde.
I had a lot of fun writing this – I love the cast of characters. The original story begins with a young woman marrying a white bear prince in order to save her family from penury. When a curse descends on her husband, she undertakes a grueling journey to save him. She must travel beyond the north wind, east of the sun and west of the moon, to the Troll Queen’s castle on a glass mountain. I love the fairy tale because of its strong female protagonist and its evocative setting. But in my version a different character tells the story, opening up new possibilities. Hulde has her own long journey to make. On the way she has many things to learn about the world, friendship, and herself. With the aid of some unlikely companions, she learns the true meaning of beautiful.
