Bippity Boppity Boo
"The Slipper" by Tina Novinski, from the May 30th issue of Woman's World
Tagline : Kate wasn't exactly dressed for the ball when she met Mr. Prince
Novinski is one smart cookie. She took a fairy tale and put a fresh spin on it, which is popular. It seems like every genre has done it, and tweaking Cinderella for Woman's World is something I haven't seen in the two years I've been studying their romantic fiction.
The story starts out with a catastrophe and goes downhilll from there, at least from Kate's POV. Novinski had to do that in order to justify her tears and rush when she gets in the fender bender. Luckily, she fixed up the heroine midway by having her smile in the mirror. That little thing, plus the fact that she didn't remain gloomy for the rest of the day, redeemed the character for me and let me identify with her more strongly.
Best Part: "As I got into the car, my slipper fell off and I watched the blue fuzzy boat float away down the parking lot." I can totally picture that! Cute.
Worst Part: The guy's name was Michael Prince. I know the reason for it, but it still felt hokey to me.
Overall rating: 3.5
Originality: 4.5
Novinski is one smart cookie. She took a fairy tale and put a fresh spin on it, which is popular. It seems like every genre has done it, and tweaking Cinderella for Woman's World is something I haven't seen in the two years I've been studying their romantic fiction.
The story starts out with a catastrophe and goes downhilll from there, at least from Kate's POV. Novinski had to do that in order to justify her tears and rush when she gets in the fender bender. Luckily, she fixed up the heroine midway by having her smile in the mirror. That little thing, plus the fact that she didn't remain gloomy for the rest of the day, redeemed the character for me and let me identify with her more strongly.
Best Part: "As I got into the car, my slipper fell off and I watched the blue fuzzy boat float away down the parking lot." I can totally picture that! Cute.
Worst Part: The guy's name was Michael Prince. I know the reason for it, but it still felt hokey to me.
Overall rating: 3.5
Originality: 4.5
Labels: Woman's World Review
posted by Kate Willoughby at 5/22/2006
7 Comments:
Amanda, don't beat yourself up. People have been retelling Cinderella for centuries. I even have a retelling of it that I started years ago. It's steamy, too with stepbrothers in a menage. What makes your story unique is YOU. Your voice, your style, the characters you've developed, and your twists on the story. Don't worry! :D
Hi there, I stumbled onto your blog (was checking out your awesome web designer) and saw this post. I happen to be good friends with Tina, and it's so cool that you blogged about her story!
Camy
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I deleted the last comment because a typo made me sound DUMB. I wanted to say I love Tina Novinski's work and can't wait to get my hands on Woman's World. Thanks for mentioing it.
Hey, cool! Tina just emailed me and I freaked! I get like one hit on my blog a week, so the odds of the author seeing my blog are a gazillion to one.
Thanks for telling her it was here. I feel strangely validated. I often wish there was a way to contact the WW authors to tell them when I really love their stories, but emails to the magazine just go to their staff, unfortunately. I've tried.
Love this idea, Kate. I'm reading it weekly, whether I comment or not, and I've recommended it to friends who are interested in writing for WW.
Too cool that Tina emailed you!!
Thanks, Debbie! It's nice to know people are reading it. I hope it ends up being helpful.
Tina said she's sold about 5 stories to them, too, so maybe she'll come around and pipe in once in a while. :)
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