I wrote Daniela and Tyler’s story for a fairy tale adaptation competition back in 2016 only to withdraw my story just before the judging officially started. The original competition had a 10,ooo-word maximum requirement but I always felt that Dani and Tyler deserved just a little bit more.
The resulting novelette comes just under 18,000 words—still too short by my usual standards—but for some reason, Dani and Tyler’s story felt right just the way it was.
I simply wanted to convey that in a world where on-camera perfection is valued as more important than anything one can offer from the inside, it’s okay to be different, imperfections and all.
It’s okay to be yourself.