San Antonio Express-News (Sunday)
Author proves her fellow writers wrong as updated fairy tale page-turner hits shelves
Writer Kalynn Bayron grew up reading everything she could get her hands on, including fairy tales. A few years ago, she decided to update Cinderella with the kinds of characters missing from those older stories.
“I wanted to do it in a way that gave a place to people who aren’t represented in that story,” said Bayron, 36, who grew up in Alaska and now lives in San Antonio. “There aren’t any black folks in that story, there aren’t any queer folks in that story. I wanted to do it in a way that made it more accessible to people like me.”
Fellow writers, including those in her writers group, told her she should write the book if that’s what she needed to do, but she also shouldn’t kid herself about getting it published.
That strengthened her resolve.
“I took that to heart at the beginning, but it never sat right with me,” Bayron said. “Why can’t I write this, and why do I not get a chance to see myself (in books), and why do so many other people who are waiting to see themselves represented not get that?
“So I jumped in with both feet, and wrote a story I wanted to read.”
As predicted, it was difficult to find a publisher willing to take it on — Bayron posted an essay on the sci-fi/fantasy site tor.com about the challenges she faced — but eventually, Bloomsbury Publishing bit. “Cinderella is Dead” will be available Tuesday.
The captivating, empowering book landed on several lists of must-read summer young adult novels with LGBTQ themes, including one from BuzzFeed and another from Book Riot.
It is set in the kingdom of Lille, where Cinderella is a true story and the foundation for laws designed to strip women of any sort of power.
Just like in the fairy tale, Cinderella married a handsome royal named Prince Charming, a union facilitated by magic.
But in the 200 years since the princess’s death, aspects of her story — including her relationship with her stepmother and stepsisters, and the role of the fairy godmother in the whole thing — have been significantly altered, leaving a tale with little resemblance to the truth.
The book’s protagonist, a brave young woman named Sophia, knows her heart lies with her best friend, Erin, and that Erin feels the same. Their trip to the ball — mandatory and a source of fear for all young women — goes even worse than they anticipated, setting in motion the kind of page-turner that keeps readers up all night.
A lifelong writer, Bayron first tried her hand at a novel at 23.
“My first attempt was terrible,” she said. “But it let me know that that was the direction I wanted to go in, and I needed to get better at the craft of writing. That’s when I decided to pursue writing long term.”
She self-published a few novels, including “Rathbone’s Demon,” which explores the impact of President Abraham Lincoln’s assassination on Major Henry Rathbone, one of the people sharing the president’s box at the theater the night he was shot. “Cinderella is Dead” is the first of her books to be released by a traditional publisher.
“I think self-publishing is great. It’s a lot of work, because you’re doing everything yourself. I have a lot of respect for people who self-publish,” she said. “And I think that I shifted to wanting to be traditionally published because I was told that I couldn’t or that I shouldn’t, and I don’t like anybody telling me what to do.
“If you’re saying I can’t traditionally publish this book about a black queer girl, why not? I wanted to see if I could do it. I felt I had a really solid story, and that this was the time to do this.”
Bayron had a full slate of in-person readings and other public events scheduled to celebrate the book’s release, but all had to be canceled or shifted to virtual platforms because of COVID-19.
“I’m still really enjoying them even though it’s not face to face,” she said. “Having to adapt to this new normal has been a challenge, but any opportunity that I get to interact with readers, even if it’s just virtually, is a good thing.”
And she is working on her next book, which is slated for release next year. She couldn’t say much about it, though she did offer a few clues.
“I can say that it’s a YA book,” she said. “If you like ‘The Secret Garden’ and if you like ‘Little Shop of Horrors’ and if you also like ‘Hadestown,’ the musical, you’ll love this.”