Even today, my heart beats a little faster whenever I get my hands on a copy of Cinderella. First I flip to the Fairy Fashion Intervention scene so that I can once again behold that dress, then it’s the picture of her Reunion with the prince (for obvious reasons), then her arrival at the ball, and a quick glance at that one with her glass slipper, abandoned on the cold hard concrete like some sad little puppy. All in that order.

Yes it’s true, I LOVE CINDERELLA, her dress and all the rest of it. Sure, this story may promote everything that I wouldn’t want my daughter to be (tell those step bitches to do their own damn laundry!) but I can’t help it. The little girl inside me is and always will be fascinated with the magic and beauty and romance of this story. And I must be good to her, because every once in a while she sprinkles a little of all that into my own work.

So thank you Cinderella, and that child-like wonder you still nurture within me, it inspires me.