A Twisted Ever After

Prologue

"There," the writer said, "it's finally finished." He placed the finished manuscript on his desk.

"Excellent!" the publisher. "I hope it's everything we discussed. " He looked down at the bound papers sitting on his desk. He picked up the thick book and thumbed through it. "I had no idea a Cinderella story could take up this many pages."

The writer grinned. "Ah, but this is no ordinary Cinderella story."

"Oh?" the publisher asked, holding the manuscript in his hand. "What makes this one different?"

"Well, for starters, it's a modern story, set in the present day. Secondly, the "Cinderella" of this story is not a female at all. There are the usual romantic bits, the laughing and crying scenes and plenty of action sequences. "

"So it's going to a little bit of everything?" the publisher asked.

The writer nodded. "I tried to capture everything that we discussed."

The publisher smiled. "Well, I'll make that decision once I start reading these pages." He looked back down at the manuscript. "I'm sure it's great as your last book was. It was the biggest bestseller that we've had in years and I'm sure this will be the same."

The writer shook his head. "You know that the first story was not the same. It was anything but a romantic comedy based on a fairy tale. You'll be taking a risk."

The publisher shook his head. "If anything, you'll just be attracting new fans. You're just starting to develop your stories. Let's see how far we can take this one, shall we?"

The writer grinned. "Then you intend to.."

"Publish it? Of course, you have my word." The publisher smiled and sat down in his chair. "Sounds a lot like what we have discussed."

The writer nodded his head. "No matter how bad it is?"

This time it was the publisher's turn to smile. "Well, there's only one way to find out, isn't there?" He picked up the manuscript again and this time opened it and flipped to the first page. He read for a while before he looked up again, this time with a wide smile.

"Looks great so far. Maybe we can go over this together, if you have the time. "

The writer looked at him. "I'd be very happy to, but I have a few errands to do. I shouldn't be too long. This way you'll be able to get a head start."

"Not a bad idea at that. See you later."

And as the writer closed the door behind him, the publisher returned again to the first page and began to read.