Today is part one of two where we are talking to Alexia Onyx about her novels. Over the next 2 weeks you will hear about starting by writing poetry and short stories, and evolving to partial novels that never become fully fledged, making sure you love your story, learning as you go and improving, figuring out social media marketing, building your author path around what you love to avoid burnout, and hiring out for the things you need help with. 

Get Come Out, Come Out

Alexia's Beacons - Alexia's Instagram - Alexia's TikTok

Alexia Onyx is a dark romance author who writes stories about people finding love despite their darkness. In her books, you’ll find your favorite romance tropes, plus size main characters who can’t resist their creepy-hot love interests, and horror elements that speak to your darkest desires.

Check us out on our website or Support us on Patreon

Follow Our Show On Socials: Facebook - Instagram - Twitter - TikTok

Follow Our Host Freya: Facebook - Instagram - Twitter - TikTok

Want Freya to Narrate Your Audiobook? Complete This Form

Welcome to Freya's fairy tales.

We believe fairy tales are both stories we enjoyed as children and something that we can achieve ourselves.

Each week we will talk to authors about their favorite fairy tales when they were kids and their adventure to holding their very own fairy tale in their hands.

At the end of each episode, we will finish off with a fairy tale or short story read as close to the original author's version as possible.

I am your host, Freya Victoria.

I'm an audiobook narrator that loves reading fairy tales novels and bringing stories to life through narration.

I am also fascinated by talking to authors and learning about their why and how for creating their stories.

We've included all of the links for today's author and our show in the show notes.

Be sure to check out our website.

And sign up for our newsletter for the latest on the podcast.

Today is part one of two where we are talking to Alexia Onyx about her novels.

Over the next two weeks, you will hear about starting by writing poetry in short stories and evolving to partial novels that never become fully fledged, making sure you love your story, learning as you go and improving figuring out social media marketing, building your author path around what you love to avoid burnout and hiring out for the things you need help with.

Come out, come out.

She's creeping slowly toward death.

He's determined to keep her alive.

Aiden My little Wraith torments herself in a desperate attempt to escape from the pain that runs deep in her veins.

I could be that escape if she'd only let me.

I will own her pain, her suffering, and her pleasure.

I just need her to see me.

Skye Every day is a burden that pushes me closer and closer to my end.

I always found the notion of death romantic.

I never could have predicted how right I would be.

Come out, come out is a spicy, paranormal dark romance with a plus sized main character depression.

Representation by and pan main characters for readers who loved Tate and Violet and wanted to be Casper and Kat, please note this book contains heavy themes including depression, suicidal ideation, grief, and loss.

A complete list of content warnings is provided by the author.

The podcast is Freya's fairy tales and that is fairy tales in two ways.

Fairy tales are something that we either read or watched or had read to us as kids.

It is also the journey for you to spend weeks, months, or years working on your book to then hold that in your hands as a fairy tale for you.

So I like to start off with what was your favorite fairy tale when you were a kid and did that favorite change as you got older?

Yeah, I will say my favorite fairy tale was probably the Little Mermaid.

I love mermaids, and that is really what sparked my fascination with them.

And also I've always just loved kind of like a star crossed lovers kind of romance, and I feel like that has always been kind of a part of the Little Mermaid tale, no matter the iteration of it.

So I've always really enjoyed that.

But also my favorite childhood story was the girl with a green ribbon.

So I think that really sparked my love for horror stories that weren't necessarily, it was child appropriate, but it definitely engaged that part of my brain, and I just could not get enough of it.

And I've always loved that story, even though there's a bunch of different spins on it now.

Are those still your favorites now, or did it kind of evolve?

I will say they've held pretty steadfast.

Once I find something I love, I rarely let it go that they are still very influential to my work.

And so at what age did you kind of start writing?

Yeah, so I've always pretty much been writing.

As a child, it was very much like poetry and to be fair, very cringe poetry.

I was a very torturous pole for an eight year old, but I've also written a lot of short stories.

But I did not actually write a full book until I was 30.

I had always just kind of got bored with the idea or just not had the structure that I needed until.

You'D get about how far into it before it.

I want to say I've gotten like 15 chapters into a book.

Oh, man.

I know.

That's a lot.

So you have the day that this airs, your first full length will actually be out.

How long did it take you to write the first draft of it?

Yeah, so the actual drafting didn't take very long because I started working on this story idea probably almost a year and a half ago now, but it has drastically change from what it was going to be.

But I had the idea, but I was working on other stuff for another pen name that I have.

So I had put it on hold, locked it away.

I was like, you don't have time for this.

And then when I came back to it, it was like I had so much time to kind of mole it over in my head.

And when I started drafting, I would say it only took me about two months to draft it.

Yeah, I was going to say I thought you had another pin name, because I'm pretty sure I follow both of them.

Yeah, you do.

And if you don't want to connect the two we don't have to say what the other one is, but I saw the COVID for this one that's coming out today and I was like, oh, my gosh, that looks so cool.

I love the COVID of it.

Thank you.

Yeah, I had a cover designer in mind.

Literally since this 1st second I thought of this book idea, I was like, I have to have this cover designer.

I don't care how long I have to wait.

I will put the book off.

So I got on their waitlist like over a year ago.

Oh, gosh.

Yeah.

But it was so worth it to me because I knew that they would get, not that it's like a novel concept or anything, but I knew that they would get the elements that I wanted.

And I just love their covers for every book that they do are some of my absolute favorites and they happen to be a lot of my favorite books, too.

So I was like, I have to launch this on the right cover.

I was like, I just really want that.

So thank you.

I really appreciate it.

That's funny.

My own book is launching in a couple of weeks and there was like one section in there where the editor tried to remove.

I thought this was the coolest thing ever, but I was like, there's a chapter about little drummer boy.

And so he'S like leading them into battle doing his little drum.

And so I made this drum beat kind of language thing where different sets of drum beats mean different things.

Like the archers need to come forward or get ready to shoot or shoot or whatever the sword people needs to go do sword things.

I write the words.

I don't talk very well.

Okay, fair.

And so I wrote, like, this language and my editor tried to change all this language, and I'm like, but no.

And I had to rewrite the language because I had a friend of mine make the audio clips for the drum beats for the audio book.

And so I rewrote what was in the book to match the actual audio version.

And she was like, but does it have to match?

And I'm like, yes, it does.

It has to be the way that I want it to be because that's the way that I want it.

If people skim over it, that's fine.

I think that's just always, like, a thing as an.

An author.

There will always be things that you love in your story that even if no one else gets it, you need it there, you want it there, you love it so much.

I definitely believe in killing your darling to an extent, but there are just some things where it's like that holds a lot of meaning or value or just something you absolutely love that you're not willing to part with.

And I think there are people who get it, but always keeping those little parts for you.

I think it's important to do that for yourself, because at the end of the day, at least for me, I am my target audience when I'm writing, and I want to love my books for the long term, well, and I'm.

Kind of like, too.

Imagine down the road, I have super fans, and they're like, five books later, they're like, oh, that's the drumbeat.

Four, whatever.

That's actually really cool to think about.

So everything that I do, I'm like, it may be garbage.

So far, nobody has hated it, but I'm like, it may be garbage and everybody may hate it, but I like it.

And that makes me want to actually promote the book and do what needs to be done.

Honestly, something I think that you don't really realize until you're in the thick of being an author is if you don't like your book, that baby is going nowhere.

You're not going to promote it.

It's so hard to get yourself to promote a book that you love.

I can't even imagine promoting something I didn't because it's so hard to take the time, find the energy, get inspired.

So it's important to love your own stories.

So this is not your first book.

So let's focus on your first books for a while.

How has your process changed from your first pen name and getting started and launching books like that?

When you first got started, did you know to get an editor or anything like that at the beginning, what did you do with those first ones?

Yeah, so I had been on book talk for a while before I published.

I was on here to connect, to read and have friends and stuff.

But as soon as I got on book talk, I realized, like, oh, my gosh, this is what's going to propel me to become an author.

I could feel the energy in the community.

I was like, this is what it's going to take to make me stop quitting halfway through a book.

It's going to inspire you.

Yeah.

So as soon as I realized that, I started following a ton of authors, a ton of editors, just people in the industry, narrators, cover designers.

I just started following anyone I came across that I liked in the industry because I was like, okay, I need all this knowledge, so I might as well just be passively consuming it until I'm ready to start right by the time I was actually ready to publish, I had a pretty decent understanding of the process and what I needed to do.

So I did have editors, I did have professional services done for it.

I will say, though, my process has changed a lot as far as speed, for sure.

The speed thing.

My first book took me so long to write, and now I can also switching genres helped a lot.

So I'm much more naturally inclined to writing romance than I am like fantasy.

So it's a lot faster for me to write.

But, yeah, my process has changed also the way I deal with professionals, the way I find people to work with, because I definitely have had my share of speed bumps and not great experiences.

I think you just need to put your toe in the water and see what's going to work for you and what won't.

So now I think I also have a much better idea of what my goals are, what to avoid.

So I've learned a lot in, like, two years.

Honestly, that's a lot of same for following other professionals.

And narrating for me was the thing that inspired me to get back into writing, because I would get, like, one or two chapters written and then it would fall away for me.

And so narrating was the thing for me when I got started in narrating, it was, like, partly selfish because I was narrating a lot of nonfiction, and I wanted to narrate fiction, so I was like, I'll just write it myself.

Yeah.

And now I narrate pretty much exclusively fiction, but I still want the stories that I want.

But, yeah, I do the same.

I started a podcast to help get tips and tricks.

Yeah.

I mean, I feel like, honestly, that's one of the best things about this community, is being able to find people to kind of trade knowledge with, because otherwise I think it would be really difficult anytime a new author comes to me and they're like, I need help getting started.

I don't know what to do.

I'm follow people and listen to what they have to say, and then pick and choose what you're going to listen to, but get a lot of perspectives, immerse yourself in the community.

I think that's really the best way to go about it.

Yeah, definitely.

And it's so true, too.

Like, one author may have a bunch of advice that works for you, or they may have a bunch that does not work for you, but there may be those little tiny pieces where you're like, oh, that makes sense.

Yeah, exactly.

And not only just following them, but also I've messaged a bunch of authors recently trying to get all the things ready to go for the book.

And so the fact that I've been commenting on their posts and liking their posts and conversing with them some, having them on the podcast, I can ask them these weird off the wall questions.

I was asking an author I'm narrating for who's also been on the podcast.

I was asking her about how ISBNs work a couple days ago because I'm like getting down to the wire and I'm like, I kind of got to know how that works now.

I sent a message to now this would be the one exception.

I had never talked to.

Is it Kalista Neith?

I think that's how you say her name.

I had never talked to her ever, but she does the most beautiful PR boxes.

So I messaged her out of the blue and was like, can you please tell me where you get those from?

Yeah, they're incredible.

They are so willing to answer questions, even if Nicole York has answered a bunch of stuff for me.

And I'm just like, I try to kind of spread out the questions so that it's not one poor author having to answer everything.

But if someone's really good at something, why not ask them how they did it or whatever?

I haven't had a single one be like, I'm not going to tell you.

Yeah.

Honestly, everyone's very willing to share their knowledge and their resources, or even their suppliers or the people they work with.

It's really nice to know that most people are very supportive and open to their fellow authors or any creators in the community, honestly.

So since you were kind of like watching what everybody else was doing, I'm sure your journey is going to be a little bit different from people who published out of the blue and had no idea at all what they were doing ahead of time.

So you got your first book done.

Did you go like the Alpha reader, beta reader, that kind of route?

Or did you just go straight to a paid editor?

So previously, with my first couple of works, I had gone Dev editor, then beta readers, then editing, then arc readers.

But I've started using some trusted Alpha readers for the last couple of things I've worked on, and that's been really helpful.

It's just really hard for me because my writing process is very Od for most people.

I would say it's not really ideal to read the books the way I write them until they're really ready to go, basically because I call it like the cake baking method.

My first draft is very bare.

I get through the scenes, I have the basic dialogue down, but there's not a ton of depth.

And then each time I go through it, there's more and more depth.

But with an Alpha reader, they probably get my second draft.

So I need to work with people who are like, what I like to ask people is, tell me where you think there needs to be more and where you think it's plenty.

Because for me, I am an underwriter first, and then I go back and write more and more and more and more layers to it as I go through the editing process.

Just because when I read, I don't like overly intense description of things.

I don't need someone to explain something to me in extreme detail most of the time to just be like, cool, I got it and keep it moving.

And I'm very much not a skimmer, but I'm a very fast reader.

But I try and get multiple perspectives on where things from someone else's perspective need to be more flushed out.

So for me, working with an Alpha reader, it's usually a pretty rough version of the book.

But luckily I've found people that really enjoy my writing from reading other work for me, and they're like, it's fine.

I just really want to read it.

And I'm excited to do this process with you.

But so now that I'm more comfortable, because before I was so uncomfortable people seeing that version, except for my Dev editor, of course, that I was like, I would be so embarrassed if someone thought, this is like, what's going to come out?

But I've also become a lot better of a writer, period.

Because when he worked on a ton of stuff, you just get better and better with your craft.

Not saying, like, I'm a great writer or anything, it's just like, from where I've now, it's a big improvement.

So now I'm more comfortable being like, these people know me and they know this is not going to be the final draft, right?

They're going to go into it with that mindset, and I'm still working through it as they're reading it.

I'm just not a very linear worker.

So for me, it's hard to let other people into the process.

It's something I'm really still trying to figure out what works best for me because I'm a very cyclical person when I'm writing, I keep going back to different scenes because I'll think of something or I need time to develop the characters, but it's not like where I can work on something for like a year and a half, and that's the amount of time I need.

I don't know how to explain my timeline.

It's very OD, it's very jumbled.

Somehow it works out, but it's just like a very messy process, frankly.

And I'm so grateful for the people who work with me because as much as I've tried to streamline everything, I'm still not one of those people who really has everything very super well organized and super ready to go.

I'm just like the kind of person who cannot, for some reason, get it together enough to be where I want to be creatively, at least.

I do always meet my deadlines and stuff, but it's like the creative process for me is just so messy anyways.

I've never heard that's exactly the way that I write, though I assumed, because I'm typically a wordy individual, that I would have been an overwriter.

Yeah.

And then as I was writing, I actually have one book that I started, and then I put on pause to write the one that's about to come out for me.

But I send it to my Alpha reader, who's my best friend, and my first thing for her was just like, please tell me if it reads like a book.

Does the storyline seem like a plausible book storyline?

And for her, I would send her the chapters, I would write the chapter, I would stick it in pro writing aid and edit what was there from pro writing aid, and then I would send it to her in Google Docs.

And so she got it kind of.

It started, like, after every chapter, I would immediately send it to her.

And then it was like every weekend, I would just send her what I had finished that week, but the same thing.

And then we kind of discussed once I had finished it, like, what characters needed to be fledged.

I knew because I had gotten 30,000 words into one book, which I then paused for six months and then went back to read and realized, this is all dialogue.

Where's all the inner description?

So I had started with the book that's about to come out for me.

I had consciously made sure that I added more of that in as I was writing.

But then there were still, like, when me and my alpha talked about it at the end, it was like, well, these two characters, you didn't really talk about, like, they're there, and I'm sure there for a reason, but they're not there enough for us to know that they're there for a reason.

So it was like these two characters need to be in the scenes way more to make this all make sense.

And then I went in and added like 10,000, 20,000 words after that, and then it went off to beta readers.

That's how I am.

I started out with a really lean draft, and then I have to go back and literally almost double it as I go through all the different editing phases.

And it's like, I would assume because I talk so much that I write so much too.

But then it was like, I like descriptive books, but not overly descriptive books.

I agree.

Ones that kind of toe the line.

Like, I just finished haunting and hunting out of line.

That was a little bit on the wordy side for what I like.

But then I've read fantasy books that I loved.

The flowery poetry prose stuff in there.

I'm like, whatever.

I'm an equal opportunity reader.

Yeah.

I think it just really depends on how it's executed.

And also the genre obviously matters.

Just like your tastes.

There's so many things that go into whether something works or not for you.

It's so interesting because I honestly will be like, I don't like this trope.

And then I'll write it.

And I'm like, oh, I love it.

Or I'll read something I swear I would never enjoy a trope for.

Then I'll read it.

Someone does it so well, but I'm like, you know what?

Actually, I take that back.

Maybe it's not so bad after all.

Yeah, exactly.

So you get your first book done, you get it out there, and then what did you do once it was up and published?

How did you approach marketing?

I really use TikTok and Instagram as my primary marketing.

Really?

Honestly, I enjoy marketing for the most part.

If I'm burnt out, not really.

But if I'm feeling fine, I really enjoy making videos and thinking about my books in different ways, like what my characters would say about something, stuff like that.

So, yeah, TikTok is really my primary marketing thing, and it's just because it's where I'm most it.

I'm obviously not like a marketing expert as far as nailing TikTok, I find it pretty hard to find success.

But I think it's worthwhile investing for me personally because this is where my audience is, especially with dark romance.

And as I get more into horror, I'm not just looking to target horror readers.

I want to engage with the community as a whole and people who are interested in the art of it.

So I know a lot of people think that TikTok kind of is like a sinking ship a little bit.

And for me, it's like, well, a lot of people are still here.

It's where I'm most comfortable.

It's got a lot of potential if you use it, but I think I still have not seen.

I don't think I've really ever had a viral video about my books, necessarily.

I've had viral videos about other things, but I didn't really want to go viral.

I've hidden them on my account, but I still have not figured out that special recipe.

So mostly just social media is where I market, and I feel like I try to find a balance between talking about my book and then peeking to other interests people might have, talking about things I like or relating my books to other interests, or sharing book recommendations that tie into either my books or my genre or my interest.

So I try and not go too hard with the marketing constantly with a new pen name, I think it's been a little bit harder because I'm toeing the line of not anonymity.

Oh, my gosh.

This is the hardest word for me to say.

Anonymity.

Oh, my God.

I can't, you know how you say, like, being anonymous ish?

Like not tying it back to my other pen name.

So it's hard because that pen name is so much like the whole brand is me.

And here I'm kind of starting over where I'm like, okay, how do you do this again?

Like, starting from scratch and stuff?

I think it's been a little bit heavier on marketing, but I do plan to kind of try and integrate more of my other interests now that, because when I first started, this was going to be completely anonymous, I was never going to show my face.

And then I was like, well, that kind of marketing doesn't appeal to me.

I get really bored with that, personally for creating it.

And from what I've experienced, most people on my other account follow me because they like me as a person and seeing me presently.

So I don't think I could replicate that interaction, that success that I've had there without doing that here.

So I've kind of been, like, keeping them separate for work reasons and stuff.

But at the end of the day, showing my face and engaging with people directly is just a lot easier for me.

So we'll see how it all plays out in the next couple of years.

Yeah, for TikTok, I show my face, but I use everything under not my legal name.

So, like, on other platforms that, you know, family and friends that are on the other platforms.

I do not show my freya face over there.

I do pictures and graphics and things like that over there.

Or I'll do videos.

Like, I'll use canva and know some kind of videos or whatever.

I just don't do.

Like, I do not cross post the TikTok videos to over there because I'm like, I had one of my other pseudonyms.

One of my family members found it and was like, is this?

And then tagged my real name.

And I'm like, I had to message her and be like, can you please untag me?

Oh, my gosh.

That's my nightmare.

That particular one is, like, what I started narrating under, and I have another podcast under that one.

And that's, like, the nicer one that I did tell everybody about, but that doesn't mean that I want the whole world to see my legal name tagged in it.

So she was like, I'm so sorry.

AnD she still sees my reels and she still likes them and all that.

And that's fine, but I'm just like, just don't make it easy for people to find the two connected.

Exactly.

Yeah, same for me.

I don't show my face on Instagram, at least not right now, because it does recommend it to so many people who follow me on my personal account.

Like, not even my author account, but my legal personal account, because obviously it's on the same phone number, same WiFi.

Actually, my mom found it because of that before I really started posting because she follows my other author stuff, at least on Instagram, where I keep it slightly more, like, friendly for my mom to see.

No hold bar, but yeah, so my Instagram started recommending it to people who follow my personal account, and I was like, okay, so this is just not a place where I can safely show my face until I figure something out.

But yeah, so same for I just.

This week, my mom and my sister helped me pick the Freya Victoria name, so they know what it is.

And my mom listens to my other podcast.

I don't think she listens to this one.

I don't know.

But she told me on my birthday that she was going to buy my audiobook of my book with spicy content in it that I'll be narrating.

And I'm like, mom, you know that there's, like, sex scenes in there, right?

And she's like, you're my daughter.

You didn't write it.

You didn't write it.

And I'm like, but I'll literally be narrating it, too.

I'm like, hey, you.

Do you.

But then this week, my PR boxes came in, and she happened to be here, and I was like, showing them to her.

And she's like, I'm just the mom thing.

I'm so proud of you.

She's like, can I promote it on my Facebook?

And I'm like, no.

She's like, but I don't have a whole lot of church people on there.

And I'm like, the problem is that I have not connected the two.

I have never connected my other name.

I have connected to my legal name.

Like, people that know me in real life know that one.

This one I have kept very far away.

There's a handful of people that know, and I would rather it stay that way as long as humanly possible.

Yeah, no, I totally get that 100%.

I would be absolutely mortified if my mom ever read anything I read with this pen name.

I let her read my other stuff, and she doesn't read the spicy parts anymore because she tried to.

Well, I told her not to.

She was like, I don't care.

I'm an adult.

And I was like, okay, well, you're the only reason I have to deal with that mentally.

So she started to.

She's like, I couldn't do it.

I just kept picturing.

That's literally the grossest thing I've ever heard.

Then my grandma.

So I sent my grandma, like, an edited copy.

Like, I literally tore out this spicy scene.

So she had to wait for me to finish to get my author copies to send her one.

She did not wait.

She is the most stubborn woman.

She got a copy and just decided to start reading.

It literally wasn't like a first place after it's my scene, and she was like, text my mom.

She's like, I cannot believe.

And all this stuff.

And I'm like, okay, well, I told you not to.

And I text her, look, if you don't put that book down right now, I'm going to charge you for a therapy bill for me having to figure that to have to deal with you reading this, because I was like, it was way smarter than the first one because it's not just, like, typical stuff.

There's definitely, like, kinky inspired things.

So I was like, please don't read that.

I don't need you.

Please don't.

She's always like, I read romance.

I was reading romance before you were born.

I was like, yeah, your romance books are a very different brand than what is currently popular in romance.

I'm so sorry to tell you, but I need you to know that this is going to shock you into next century.

And so finally she put it down.

She said I skipped the spicy parts.

Whenever it would get any kind of heat, I would just skip it.

And I was like, sure, whatever.

We never need to talk about this again.

Don't ever tell me.

Don't ever tell me.

My brother in law was one of my husband's brother was one of my beta readers.

And so this first book is a slow burn.

I was like, I wanted at least five people's eyes on it because I wanted a range of opinions.

His copy, I had a note just before.

It's a very slow burn, like four chapters, five chapters before the end, before anything ever happens.

And so I had a note in his copy, like sex scenes past this point.

If you go past it, that's on you.

And I had warned him ahead of time, and he was like, just don't tell me if you're putting stuff you and my brother do in there.

I'm like, I will never tell you that.

Ever.

I never would tell you that.

But the note, he said he just kind of skimmed through it, so he didn't beta read those chapters, but everybody else did.

So I'm like, fair enough, fair enough.

Yeah.

He will no longer be beta reading for me, though.

I was like, I have enough other people now that we're good.

Yeah, my little sister, we're super close.

But I wrote a holiday like erotic romance for an anthology that I did last year.

And she was like, is it erotica or is it spicy?

Or is there actually a plot?

And I was like, well, there's things happening.

There's a plot, but it is super spicy.

It's only know a couple chapters, it's short.

And I was like, so the ratio is like, you'll be fine.

It's like a Jack Frost erotica too.

And she was like, I will never get the image of an icicle out of my head.

And you writing that just sitting in your room so casually, probably with a straight face too.

No, literally.

I was like, it's basically the same at this point as describing the scene in a room.

It's just so routine to me.

I'm like, yeah, it's just so not a big deal.

And she was like, yeah, I probably won't be reading any more of your romance books.

I'll buy them to support you.

Yeah.

And I was like, it's fine.

I don't need you to read them.

I'm good.

I have plenty of other people to read them for me?

It's okay.

I have not talked to my sister at all.

She doesn't read a whole lot, so I've never asked.

Are you going to buy my books?

That's between her and her.

If she wants to read them, fine.

It was kind of a natural thing.

And she actually read romance before I did.

I used to be like a strictly thriller and fantasy reader.

And then she is always in the romance reader.

And now.

Alexia liked the Little Mermaid growing up.

Today we'll be reading another Hans Christian Anderson story, the Red Shoes.

Don't forget we're reading Les Mort de Arthur, the story of King Arthur and of his noble Knights of the Roundtable on our Patreon.

You can find the link in the show notes.

The red shoes here was once a pretty, delicate little girl who was so poor that she had to go barefoot in summer and wear coarse wooden shoes in winter, which made her little instep quite red.

In the center of the village there lived an old shoemaker's wife.

One day this good woman made as well as she could a little pair of shoes out of some strips of old red cloth.

The shoes were clumsy enough, to be sure, but they fitted the little girl tolerably well.

And anyway, the woman's intention was kind.

The little girl's name was Karen.

On the very day that Karen received the shoes, her mother was to be buried.

They were not at all suitable for mourning, but she had no others, so she put them on her little bare feet and followed the poor, plain coffin to its last resting place.

Just at that time, a large, old fashioned carriage happened to pass by, and the old lady who sat in it saw the little girl and pitied her.

Give me the little girl, she said to the clergyman, and I will take care of her.

Karen supposed that all this happened because of the red shoes, but the old lady thought them frightful and ordered them to be burned.

Karen was then dressed in neat, well fitting clothes and taught to read and sew.

People told her she was pretty, but the mirror said, you are much more than pretty.

You are beautiful.

It happened not long afterwards that the Queen and her little daughter, the princess, traveled through the land.

All the people, Karen among the rest, flocked toward the palace and crowded around it, while the little princess, dressed in white, stood at the window for everyone to see.

She wore neither a train nor a golden crown, but on her feet or beautiful red Morocco shoes, which, it must be admitted, were prettier than those the shoemaker's wife had given to Little Karen.

Surely nothing in the world could be compared to those red shoes.

Now that Karen was old enough to be confirmed, she, of course, had to have a new frock and new shoes.

The rich shoemaker in the town took the measure of her little feet in his own house, in a room where stood great glass cases filled with all sorts of fine shoes and elegant shining boots.

It was a pretty sight, but the old lady could not see well, and naturally did not take so much pleasure in it as Karen.

Among the shoes were a pair of red ones, just like those worn by the little princess.

Oh, how gay they were.

The shoemaker said they had been made for the child of account, but had not fitted well.

Are they of polished leather that they shine so?

Asked the old lady.

Yes, indeed, they do shine, replied Karen, and since they fitted her, they were bought.

But the old lady had no idea that they were red, or she would never in the world have allowed Karen to go to confirmation in them as she now did.

Everyone, of course, looked at Karen's shoes, and when she walked up the nave to the chancellor, it seemed to her that even the antique figures on the monuments, the portraits of clergymen and their wives with their stiff roughs of long black robes, were fixing their eyes on her red shoes, even when the bishop laid his hand upon her head and spoke of her covenant with God, and how she must now begin to be a full grown Christian.

And when the organ peeled forth solemnly, and the children's fresh, sweet voices joined with those of the choir, still Karen thought of nothing but her shoes.

In the afternoon, when the old lady heard everyone speak of the red shoes, she said it was very shocking and improper, and that in the future, when Karen went to church, it must always be in black shoes, even if they were old.

The next Sunday was Karen's first communion day.

She looked at her black shoes and then at her red ones, and again at the black and at the red.

And the red ones were put on.

The sun shone very brightly, and Karen and the old lady walked to church through the cornfields, for the road was very dusty.

At the door of the church stood an old soldier who leaned upon a crutch and had a marvelously long beard that was not white but red.

He bowed almost to the ground and asked the old lady if he might dust her shoes.

Karen, in her turn, put out her little foot.

Oh, look what smart little dancing pumps, said the old soldier.

Mind you do not let them slip off when you dance.

And he passed his hands over them.

The old lady gave the soldier a half penny and went with Karen into the church as before everyone saw Karen's red shoes, and all the carved figures, too, bent their gaze upon them.

When Karen knelt at the chancellor, she thought only of the shoes.

They floated before her eyes, and she forgot to say her prayer or sing her psalm.

At last all the people left the church, and the old lady got into her carriage.

As Karen lifted her foot to step in, the old soldier said, see what pretty dancing shoes.

And Karen, in spite of herself, made a few dancing steps.

When she had once begun, her feet went on of themselves.

It was as though the shoes had received power over her.

She danced round the church corner.

She could not help it, and the coachman had to run behind and catch her to put her into the carriage.

Still her feet went on dancing, so that she trod upon the good lady's toes.

It was not until the shoes were taken from her feet that she had rest.

Shoes were put away in a closet, but Karen could not resist going to look at them every now and then.

Soon after this, the old lady lay ill in bed, and it was said that she could not recover.

She had to be nursed and waited on.

And this, of course, was no one's duty so much as it was Karen's.

As Karen herself well knew, there happened to be a great ball in the town, and Karen was invited.

She looked at the old ladY, who was very ill, and she looked at the red shoes.

She put them on, for she thought there could not be any sin in that, and of course there was not.

But she went next to the ball and began to dance.

Strange to say, when she wanted to move to the right, the shoes bore her to the left.

And when she wished to dance up the room, the shoes persisted in going down the room, down the stairs.

They carried her at last into the street and out through the town gate.

On and on she danced for dance she must, straight out into the gloomy wood.

Up among the trees something glistened.

She thought it was the round red moon, for she saw a face.

But no, it was the old soldier with the red beard who sat and nodded, saying, see what pretty dancing shoes.

She was dreadfully frightened and tried to throw away the red shoes, but they clung fast and she could not unclasp them.

They seemed to have grown fast to her feet.

So dance she must, and dance she did, over field and meadow, in rain and in sunshine, by night and by day and by night, it was by far more dreadful.

She danced out into the open churchyard.

But the dead there did not dance.

They were at rest and had much better things to do.

She would have liked to sit down on the poor man's grave, where the bitter tansy grew.

But for her there was no rest.

She danced past the open church door, and there she saw an angel in long white robes and with wings that reached from his shoulders to the earth.

His look was stern and grave, and in his hand he held a broad, glistening sword.

Thou shalt dance, he said, in thy red shoes, till thou art pale and cold, until thy body is wasted like a skeleton.

Thou shalt dance from door to door.

And wherever proud, haughty children dwell, thou shalt knock.

That hearing thee, they may take warning.

Dance.

Thou shalt dance on mercy.

Cried Karen.

But she did not hear the answer of the angel, for the shoes carried her past the door and on into the fields.

One morning she danced past a well known door.

Within was the sound of a psalm, and presently a coffin strewn with flowers was borne out.

She knew that her friend the old lady was dead, and in her heart she felt that she was abandoned by all on earth and condemned by God's angel in heaven.

Still on she danced, for she could not stop through thorns and briars while her feet bled.

Finally she danced to a lonely little house where she knew that the executioner dwelt.

And she tapped at the window, saying, come out, come out.

I cannot come in, for I must dance.

The man said, do you know who I am and what I do?

Yes, said Karen, but do not strike off my head, for then I could not live to repent of my sin.

Strike off my feet, that I may be rid of my red shoes.

Then she confessed her sin, and the executioner struck off the red shoes, which danced away over the fields and into the deep wood.

To Karen it seemed that the feet had gone with the shoes, for she had almost lost the power of walking.

Now I have suffered enough for the red shoes, she said.

I will go to the church, that the people may see me.

But no sooner had she hobbled to the church door than the shoes danced before her and frightened her back.

All that week she endured the keenest sorrow and shed many bitter tears.

When Sunday came, she said, I am sure I must have suffered and striven enough.

By this time I am quite as good, I dare say, as many who are holding their heads high in the church.

So she took courage and went again.

But before she reached the churchyard gate, the red shoes were dancing there, and she turned back again in terror, more deeply sorrowful than ever for her sin.

She then went to the pastor's house and begged as a favor to be taken into the family's service, promising to be diligent and faithful.

She did not want wages, she said, only a home with good people.

The clergyman's wife pitied her and granted her request, and she proved industrious and very thoughtful.

Earnestly she listened.

When at evening the preacher read aloud the Holy Scriptures, all the children came to love her, but when they spoke of beauty and finery, she would shake her head and turn away.

On Sunday, when they all went to church, they asked her if she would not go too, but she looked sad and bade them go without her.

Then she went to her own little room, and as she sat with the psalm book in her hand, reading its pages with a gentle, pious mind, the wind brought to her the notes of the organ.

She raised her tearful eyes and said, o God, do thou help me.

And the sun shone brightly, and before her stood the white angel that she had seen at the church door.

He no longer bore the glittering sword, but in his hand was a beautiful branch of roses.

He touched the ceiling with it, and the ceiling rose, and at each place where the branch touched it, there shone a star.

He touched the walls, and they widened so that Karen could see the organ that was being played at the church.

She saw two of the old pictures and statues on the walls, and the congregation sitting in the seats and singing psalms.

For the church itself had come to the poor girl in her narrow room, or she in her chamber had come to it.

She sat in the seat with the rest of the clergyman's household, and when the psalm was ended, they nodded and said, now didst well to come.

Karen, this is mercy, said she.

It is the grace of God.

The organ peeled, and the chorus of children's voices mingled sweetly with it.

The bright sunshine shed its warm light through the windows over the pew in which Karen sat.

Her heart was so filled with sunshine, peace, and joy that it broke, and her soul was borne by a sunbeam up to God, where there was nobody to ask about the red shoes.

Thank you for joining Freya's fairy tales.

Be sure to come back next week for the conclusion of Alexia's journey to holding her own fairy tale in her hands, and to hear another of her favorite fairy tales.