Today is part one of two where we are talking to Settle Myer about her novels. Over the next 2 weeks you will hear about writing since middle school on printer paper, knowing when to pull a book down when it’s not ready, having your own photoshoot for your cover, learning how to promote your books, blowing up on tiktok for videos unrelated to your books, and just finish your book, then you can go back and finish it.

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I am a 40 years old, plus-size woman who lives in NYC. I am a tv news writer who hopes to one day leave that world for a world of love stories featuring big body characters. I have two cats: Zombie & Michonne. I love singing karaoke!

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Welcome to Freya's Fairy Tales, where 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.

All.

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

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

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Today is part one of two where we are talking to Settle Meyer about her novels.

Over the next two weeks, you will hear about writing since middle school on printer paper, knowing when to pull a book down when it's not ready, having your own photo shoot for your cover, learning how to promote your books, blowing up on TikTok for videos unrelated to your books.

Just finish your book.

Then you can go back and finish it.

Beyond the Fame rebecca my life has been a whirlwind of heartbreak, beginning with the death of my brother when I was 18 years old.

He was my best friend.

I worked through my grief by writing a book about his life, and that book was turned into a movie.

That's when I met him.

Jensen Boliver, the movie's director.

He's younger than me, controlling and infuriating.

For four years, I've denied my attraction to him because every time he shows an ounce of compassion, he takes it away and shuts down.

Now we're in Hawaii for our friend's wedding.

The hotel has lost my reservation, and Jensen shows up with a solution.

You can stay in my suite.

Jensen I grew up fat in fatphobic Hollywood.

All my life I was told to hate myself and my body.

Then I met her, Rebecca Taylor.

She's beautiful, intense and makes me feel things I've convinced myself I didn't deserve.

So for four years, I let her believe I hated her.

I don't.

I never did.

Every time we cross paths, our attraction to each other grows.

Last year, we both caved.

She let me have a taste, but we weren't ready.

Now we're in Hawaii for our friend's wedding and the hotel has lost her reservation.

Good thing my suite has a spare room.

Rebecca and Jensen are first introduced in beyond the Bright Lights.

While you don't have to read that book to read this one, it is highly recommended.

Beyond the Fame ends with the happily ever after.

You'll get more of them in the third and final book of the offscript series.

This book has adult themes and deals with difficult topics including fat, phobia, bullying, terminal illness, cancer, loss of a sibling, loss of partner, loss of a parent off page, mentioned grief, attempted suicide off page, suicidal thoughts, addiction and alcoholism, depression, parental abuse, mental grief, and graphic sex.

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

Fairy tales are something that we either watched or listened to or read as.

Kids, and it's also the journey for you.

Spending weeks, months, or years working on your book to then hold that in your hands is also a fairy tale for you.

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

Oh, man, I feel like I didn't read fairy tales growing up.

I watched Disney movies, I guess.

Does that count?

Yeah, that counts.

I feel like the Little Mermaid was always my favorite.

Okay.

And the only way that that has changed now that I'm an adult is I love karaoke as well, so I go and sing Little Mermaid songs at Kar.

Okay.

Like a Part of your World or Poor Unfortunate Souls are my two favorite from Disney movies.

So you liked a little bit of both sides.

You liked the Ariel and the Ursula.

Like, with Ursula, I can act it out, too.

Yeah, that's way more fun.

Way more fun.

She's a big lady, and I'm a big lady.

Do you wear, like, purple or the black dress?

I don't, but for Halloween one year, actually, I dressed up as Ursula.

I had, like, the white wig and everything.

Did you paint your face purple?

I didn't paint my face.

I tried to do white one year.

I don't even remember what I was trying to be.

And I got, like, the cheap white paint, and it just, like, smeared into my skin.

It did not work.

I'm like, Note to self, don't get the cheap stuff.

All right, so at what age did you kind of start to write?

I think I was in middle school one day, and I just grabbed some printer paper off our printer and just started writing with, like, a pen.

I don't even remember what the story was about, and I don't think it made sense at all because my sister found it one day.

Like, I hit it.

I hit it, and she found it, and she was reading it, and she's like, this could never happen.

So I guess she was, like, my alpha reader.

But I can't remember how old I was.

It was definitely, like, middle school.

Okay, so I think that's pretty much everybody's worst nightmare, someone finding your hidden manuscript.

It was hidden for a reason.

Exactly.

Wait, hold on.

I actually think I have that.

Oh, my gosh.

Yeah.

You've kept it.

Well, that wasn't very hidden.

Well, now it's not hidden.

Because I live alone.

But see, it's like that color printer paper.

I don't know.

What is that?

The fashion colors ones where you don't really use that for printing?

You wouldn't use that for a school project usually.

But I don't even know why we buy it colored.

That's what I get for my daughter to use for crafts and stuff so she can cut it up and do different colored stuff.

Exactly.

So your first not necessarily first one you published, but how long did it take you to write your first full length novel?

Well, it's weird because I'd always write, and then I wouldn't finish the story, and so I would just go to go back and forth to it whenever I could.

So it took a long time to finish the book, and then I didn't publish it, so I wrote another one.

And I was like, I didn't publish that one either.

And then, like, 2015 came around.

I'm like, you know what?

I read about the KDP.

I'm like, I'm going to publish this book.

And it was horrible.

I published it under another fake name because Settlemeyer is my Pin name.

It was a plus size book, a book with a plus size main character.

And it just wasn't good.

I didn't have anyone to edit it because I didn't have money, and it just wasn't good.

So I unpublished it.

And then Pandemic came around, and I work in the news.

So we were covering COVID nonstop, right?

And it was depressing.

And I'm like, I need to do an outlet.

Yeah.

So I returned to one of my unfinished books, and that was The Trinity Found.

That's the first book in my Trinity trilogy.

And I finished it.

I think I started back because I only wrote, like, one chapter, and then I started writing on that again in July of 2020.

And then by December 2020, I published it, if that gives you an idea of how long it takes.

So you said you didn't have the first one edited, did you?

With the Trinity series, did you know to get an editor or pay to get an editor?

Yeah, so The Trinity Found, I got an editor on fiverr.

Okay.

But I waited so long.

My release date was coming up, and I think it was like, two weeks before I really needed to uploaded the book.

And he's like, oh, yeah, I can get it to you, no problem.

He left so many mistakes.

But that was my fault because I didn't give him enough time.

Yeah, and so it came out, and then I think I got it proofread a year after it came out.

Okay, anyone who's publishing and you're like, you can't afford an editor, just do it and then go back when you have enough money, get it proofread if you can.

I've heard a lot of people will use their beta readers to essentially do.

Now, that would obviously depend on the quality of the beta readers that you're using.

If you're using all friends of yours, they may not be the best for finding mistakes like that.

Yeah, exactly.

But yeah, that's a lot of the feedback that I've heard is like, utilize the people that you know to help along.

Not necessarily not like, hey, you're my friend.

You're going to do this for free.

That's just rude.

There is a normal publishing ish process that most indies seem to use that would be helpful if you don't have the money to pay for editors and such.

That is what I always suggest.

Like, if you just want to get it out there, use your friends if you can, and then go back and redo it.

So another thing with the Trinity book is I tried to make my own cover.

Okay.

Like canva?

Yeah, just like a stock photo and whatever.

I don't even think I use canva.

Yeah, terrible.

It kind of looks like a fairy.

So one day my friend Morgan Rhodes, she's a Ya author, she messaged me on Facebook because we're friends.

And she's like, hey, I see you're trying to do this self publishing thing and that's so great.

I'm excited for you, but you should really have someone professional do your cover.

And I'm like, I am all for having this constructive criticism because I didn't know what I was doing.

And so her friend, who's also an author, also does covers.

And so that's where the Trinity found.

I don't know if guess I could go back and show you the COVID that it was changed to.

But the one that I've seen more is the newer one, the beyond the.

Oh, yeah, beyond the.

So I had a cover artist and she redid the Trinity covers.

So that was my first three books that I released.

The Trinity Found.

Trinity Returns.

Trinity Rises.

And so you said you released the first one in 2020.

When did you do two and three?

Trinity returns was June 2021.

And then Trinity rises was March 2022.

That's a pretty good time frame on those.

Yeah, pretty quick turnaround.

Those books don't have plus size main characters, so I was like seeing more on TikTok about plus size main characters.

And I'm like, you know what, I wrote that one plus size book in 2015 and it didn't do very well.

And I'm like, well, maybe there is a demand for plus size main characters.

So the first book I ever wrote that I did not publish, I was like, you know what, I'm going to redo this.

I'm going to make my character older and I'm going to make her plus size.

And that's where beyond the bright lights came from.

Okay, you said you already had that one, so how long did it take you when you picked it back up to get it ready?

Trying to think when I started because I wrote that all out and then I went back to rewrite the whole thing.

Can't remember when I picked it back up, though.

Well, I released.

Trinity rises in March 2021.

So it was probably like April.

Okay.

Shortly after, yeah, or maybe it was March, like right before I released Trinity Rises, I went back to rewrite this first book I ever wrote and then I released beyond the Bright Lights in August 2022.

So August last year.

Now this one was a little bit different because I think I've seen you talk about on TikTok, you actually hired out to make the COVID for the newest one.

So when I was thinking about the COVID so I have a subscription to Canva, and I bought like a pack of stock photos from deposit photos because you can't just take any photo you find off the Internet right, to make a cover.

And so I was looking you should.

Not, because I just exactly, it's illegal.

So I was looking at these stock photos and I was searching for plus size women, and there are like a few, but then they're not really in good poses.

And they weren't really what I was looking for because my character was older.

And then I wanted to pair them with a male model in a romantic pose.

And there was definitely no photos of plus size women paired with a man.

Like any size, like skinny, big, whatever.

There's no stock photos of them together.

I'm like, what am I going to do for this cover?

I made a TikTok and I was asking people, would you rather see a cover that has real people on it, cartoon cover, or like a discrete cover?

And I was surprised the majority of people said, like, real people on cover because I feel like people hate real people.

I don't know.

And then the photographer who did my cover, she came across my page.

I don't know if she was already my TikTok friend, but she's like, I'll shoot it for you.

And I was like, funny.

I didn't think she was real.

I was thinking about it and I was like, and she's in Boston.

I'm like, oh, Boston is not that far from New York.

Okay, let's talk about this.

So I messaged her and we had a call and she's like, I've got a girl and that's Hazel.

Hellcat.

Is her like pin up?

Not pin up.

She does burlesque, okay?

And she shoots with Mitsy all the time.

And so I had to find the male model, and I went on Casting Network.

There's like a website where you can find actors and models, okay.

Casting networks.

Anyway, I posted well, I was actually first, I looked through the male models in the Boston or New York area, and I found David because he looked the closest to my main character.

And I sent him a message and I said, hey, would you want to be on a book cover?

And then I explained he would be.

Posing with I'm not crazy.

This is legit.

I was like, I'm an author.

Do you want to be on a book cover?

And then I made sure to say, you'll be posing with plus size women because men are weird.

And so I didn't hear back from forever, and I'm like, okay, well, I guess that's my answer.

So I posted a job listing, and I got a lot of responses, like, dozens, like 50 maybe responses when I.

Imagine in the listing, you specified posing with a plus size woman.

Yeah, I did, and there were, like, a couple of guys that I had messaged, and I was like, Would you be okay with this?

They're like, yes, I would love to do this.

And then before I made the decision, david the first guy I saw and wanted messaged back and was like, I am so sorry.

I never check my messages here.

I would love to do this.

That's how that worked out.

And I paid them $250 each because it was like, an hour's worth of shooting.

And then Mitsy had offered to do the photo shoot for, like, pro bono, and then she was just like, Pay what you can.

So I think I ended up paying her 300 or some dollars.

And then I paid my cover artist.

To put it all together.

Yeah, and then that's how that came up about.

And then now that beyond the fame is coming out, it's a plus size man on the COVID I ran into the same issues.

Yeah.

Finding.

There'S, like, even fewer options for plus size male models.

And so I made another TikTok video, and one of my followers, who beta reached for me, commented Zack Miko's name.

And I feel like I'd seen Zack on TikTok before.

He is a professional plus size male model.

And she was like, Zack would be perfect for this role.

And I was like, yeah, but he's like, a professional.

He's famous.

He's been on Good Morning America.

There's no way I can afford that, is what I'd be thinking.

Exactly.

I was like, there's no way I can afford him.

So when I finished the book and I was ready to start the process of doing the COVID so first I followed him on TikTok, and then he actually followed me back.

I was like, oh, that's good.

Okay.

And then when I was ready to do the COVID I messaged him, and I was like, hey, would you be interested in this?

And he's like, Absolutely I would, but I am under contract with my agency, so you have to do everything through them.

Okay?

So I messaged his agents, and they did not answer me back for forever.

And so I messaged back again, and he's like, they have your email.

They're just always so busy.

I'm like, okay.

But he's like, they have your message.

They're talking to management about that.

I'm like, what does that mean?

Good thing?

Should I be like, scouting other options.

I know.

And they actually did not give me an answer until the beginning of January.

And the photo shoot was for January 17.

So I was like, oh, my God, walk down the street, look at the stranger.

Well, there were a couple of other guys that there was some guy named Alex who's like a bigger man on TikTok.

I forgot his last name, but I think he said he would be interested.

But he's also rep by an agency.

So I was pretty sure I'd go through the same thing with him.

And then there was a guy in Boston.

I think his name is like, Chillery Clinton or Chillery Hidden, I don't know, some weird name on TikTok.

But he's funny and he's cute and he's a bigger guy.

And he said he would do it too.

And he was actually in Boston.

So I had other options.

But Zack's people end up saying, yes, he could do it.

They're just like they weren't sure.

Because it is a romantic, erotica book, and Zack is kind of a wholesome.

We might ruin his image with this book, basically.

Look, I feel like when people are.

Going to read it, they're going to.

Be picturing Zack the whole time.

Sorry, Zach.

So you find him.

How'd you find the female?

I don't think I've seen the new cover.

Is that one with a female as well?

Yeah, the new cover is not out yet, but I did get the results back.

So I have all the results from the photo shoot, but then I sent the COVID to the COVID artist, so she's working on that.

So how did you find the female for that one.

Size?

My character is mid size.

So I messaged Mitsy, the photographer, because she did the COVID for the on the Bright Lights.

She's doing it again, but of course this time she wasn't going to do it pro bono, and I did not expect her to.

Right.

So she sent me an option of a girl.

Like, she shoots all the time.

And I was like, well, she's not quite what I was looking for.

And then one day she randomly posted another girl, like, not even tagging me or sending me a message.

She just for herself.

Yeah.

And I click on the girl's profile and I start looking at all her pictures.

I was like, she's perfect.

And so I messaged Mitsy.

I was like, Would Amy?

Her name is Amy.

I was like, Would Amy be interested in being a model?

And so Mitsy like, messaged Amy and was like, hey, what are you doing on January 17 by chance?

Do you want to be on a book cover?

And Amy's like, absolutely.

I imagine if you were in that world, which I'm on the voice side of things, my face is while I do TikTok, lives with Narrating, like, you're paying for my voice, not my face.

I imagine it'd be really weird to be suddenly getting into, especially if you're used to doing wholesome stuff, and suddenly it's like, hey, but also, every Disney star ever wanted to eventually branch into other stuff.

Maybe it's not unreasonable.

Well, I mean, Zack says wholesome, but he just means more.

It just leans more towards family friendly.

But he was totally cool with being on a romance book cover.

And it's funny because both Zach and his agent asked me the same question.

Is the character a serial killer?

Is he a bad guy?

I was like, no, he's a good guy.

He's just had bad things happen to him, and he's actually a really great guy.

My character.

That was the line drawn.

He just can't be a serial killer.

And then I was thinking, like, sorry, dark romance author, right?

That can't be on your that's so funny.

That's so funny.

I imagine so.

I've done narration wise.

That's, like, the one thing that people always get.

Like, do you do some auditions will list up, like, do you have these triggers?

Or if they don't list it on the audition, they'll then come back later and be like, hey, are you okay with these triggers?

Kind of stuff.

So far, I have, like, two lines that I draw.

I'm like, I don't want to do any legitimate witchcraft books, which for around Halloween, there was a lot of those up.

I'm like, I'll do fantasy with witches in it, but I don't want to have to learn all the words for spells and junk and then, like, demons.

I don't want to do, like, real demon worshipy stuff either.

I'm just like those are my two lines of you can totally be into that.

That is I am okay with that.

I just don't want to invite that into my life.

Exactly.

But I've done fantasies with witches in it.

I've done fantasies with demons in it.

That's fiction because you could become your.

Own main character in one of those books by summoning a demon and falling in love.

Yeah.

So during that time, I actually did do a ghost audiobook where she moved into an old funeral home, and so there was, like, ghosts in the funeral home.

That is a whole different ballgame of narrating.

I found out around that time.

Oh, God.

I was like, how do you even do, like, suspense type narration?

I haven't done that yet.

I've done all, like, fantasy and romance, which are similar.

Yeah, the answer is most of them are very monotone.

I don't do monotone well.

I had to listen to, like, 20 books to find someone who wasn't monotone.

Oh, my God.

I'm like, why?

Or, like, they didn't do character voices at all.

Really weird that's with suspense books.

Yeah, like, suspense thriller is what I was looking at because the ghost house and all that.

I am so sorry.

I did not get a chance because.

Of all the other technology issues I was having to look up your books, I imagine you have an ebook and print formats.

Do you have audio out yet or plans for Audio Out yet?

So I do have audio out for beyond the bright lights.

It came out like a month ago.

Okay.

And I went through ACX.

Okay.

And that was a whole process.

So I actually found a couple who auditioned, and I asked if they could do a duet narration, and they said, yeah, we live together.

No problem.

And so I think I hired them around, like, October, and I was like, take your time.

I'm in no rush.

I've never done an audiobook for any of my books.

I didn't do them for the Trinity trilogy because I hardly make any money on those books.

And so I was like, Take your time.

I'm in no rush.

And so after Thanksgiving came around, they messaged me and they're like, we're almost done.

And then like a week later, they said, all of our system crashed.

We lost the majority of the book.

I know.

And they're like, we're so sorry.

We understand if you want to cancel the contract.

I was like, oh my God, no, that's like something, you guys.

And so I was like, do what you need to do.

Take your time to read.

I can't even imagine revoicing that.

I wrote the book, and I don't even, like, rereading it, so I can't even imagine revoicing it, the whole thing.

But they did the whole month of December.

And another thing is the female audio narrator got sick.

And I'm like, yeah, I got sick too, so totally understandable.

Don't feel bad about that either.

They were just very apologetic, and I appreciated that.

That's my huge thing.

I've heard nightmares of authors that I've talked to on here, of like, oh, my editor ghosted me or my cover artist ghosted me, or whatever the case may be.

Audiobook narrator.

I'm like just be like I had about, I don't know, three months into me narrating.

My dad passed away.

And so I immediately reached immediately, like, literally on our way to the hospital.

And I'm like, hey, this is what's going on.

And all but one book was like, just keep going.

One was a Christmas Book.

This was in November.

They needed it by Christmas.

So I'm like, I get it.

We'll cancel it.

It's fine.

But yeah, I mean, it's not that hard to be upfront.

I'm currently narrating a series where the narrator ghosted the author for two years.

Oh my God.

Just disappeared off social media.

And so now I'm doing these books and I'm like, I'm so sorry that that happened to you.

I had worked with her on another book, and I'm like, you know that I get it done.

Sickness and stuff happens.

Yeah, that's good for you to understand, because some don't.

Well, they had already submitted, like, five or six chapters, and so if they were going to ghost me, they wouldn't have done all that work to begin with.

So I was like, I totally get it.

Take your time.

And plus, it was a holiday.

It was December.

I was like, yeah, I don't want you guys to stress about getting it redone, so just do what you need to do.

But they did it.

They got it all done, and I think I submitted it to ACX the beginning of January, and they take forever.

Two weeks ish yeah, that's in fact, every book.

So technically, in the ACX contracts, it says that you guys, the authors have, like, ten days to approve it.

I'm like Thanksgiving hits, and I'm like, submitting books, and I'm like, just get it back to me.

January is fine.

I understand holidays happen, and a lot of my authors work in retail, which was insane over the holidays, and I'm like, it's fine, take your time, enjoy it.

Don't feel rushed.

That's not going to be good for either of us.

Yeah.

So you had the audiobookmate.

Now, you said you uploaded the chapters.

So you actually no, sorry.

They did okay.

Yeah.

I was like I know.

Typically I do, unless you went through them through something else and then you uploaded it.

I think I remember seeing your book, but it was specific about, like, you wanted a couple, and I am not a couple.

Well, I didn't know I wanted a duet narration, but it just worked out that they were able to do it.

I wanted a man and a woman, so I was listening to both the female auditions and then the male auditions.

There was another couple that I think submitted, but there was, like, one of the voices I wasn't a fan of.

I've noticed there's not a lot of couples that work together, but there's a lot of people that are used to working with, oh, I really like working with this other narrator kind of situations.

I have not done that yet, but.

Maybe someday, I don't know.

Yeah.

So you have the audiobook made.

Is book two out yet, or is it about to come out?

Okay.

And so you haven't released the COVID yet.

When are you doing the big reveal?

Well, I'm just waiting for her to send it.

She doesn't really give dates.

My cover artist, when she done, but I told her you need it by yeah.

So I'm hoping by the end of this month, I'll have the COVID to reveal.

But the manuscript is going to the editor on Monday, so I'm doing, like, final read throughs right now, and then she'll take, like, a couple of weeks to get it done.

And then once I get the manuscript and the COVID I'll upload everything and then order author copies so I can send out my physical arcs.

That whole thing is so stressful.

So by the time this airs, that.

Book will actually have released, because I.

Think this will be in, like, April.

Or May ish got.

Yeah.

So you'll have that book will be officially out, and we will know what the COVID looks like.

Exactly.

So going all the way back to 2015 with that first book, what were you doing to promote the book at the time or anything at all?

No.

Who bought it?

Mostly my family and friends, honestly, and the very few strangers that did read it.

And I remember and look, I know reviews aren't for authors.

Authors.

Yeah.

But this was before I knew that because I've learned so much on TikTok.

I've learned that reviews aren't for authors.

I wouldn't have known that because I'm a new author.

I do the same for audiobooks, but I do pay attention to see if there's, like, some oh, my gosh.

You need coaching to fix problem.

If you were getting a bunch of reviews saying, oh my gosh, this is terribly edited, you should maybe pay attention to that.

Right.

Where, like, one saying, oh, my gosh, her voice is so annoying.

Well, my voice is my voice.

So like yeah, that's just you find a different book.

Yeah.

So you weren't really doing anything?

No, I did not do anything for that first book, but the few strangers that read it, they did not have good things to say about it.

And my favorite review from someone was a plus size disappointment fair, because I didn't do editing with that book.

I'm sure the characters weren't that developed because that was early on in my writing, and I wasn't very strong.

So what was your reasoning?

You said you used a pseudonym.

What was your reasoning?

If your family knew about it, what was your reasoning for using that as opposed to your own name?

Okay?

My real name is Edith Taylor.

That's no secret.

I don't care.

You guys want to know who I am?

That's me.

And then when I lived in Memphis, my friend Hassan, he started doing photography, and he would shoot a lot of pin up models, and they would have these cool names like Bobby Baltimore or Ruby Rockets, whatever.

And so I was like, what would my pin up name be?

And then I was like, edie everson.

And so that's what I published the horrible book under Edie Everson.

Okay, fake name number one.

And then when I started writing my Trinity books, I was like, these are going to be like, young adult books, so I probably should write it under a different name because Edie Everson, I was like, I'm going to write adult romance books under Edie Everson.

So settle.

Meyer.

I was like, we'll do young adult books.

Well, I released the first Trinity book, and then when I was writing the second Trinity book, my characters got h****.

And they were older because they've grown in a book.

They weren't really young adult to begin with, really.

They were like, 18 in my first book.

But it was very like it's more.

New adult than.

Settlemeyer just turned into be all of it.

Yeah.

And by the time I released the third book and I started writing beyond the Bright Lights, I was like, I already have a decent following on Settlemeyer and I have a website for it.

I don't want to go back to Ed Everson and do a whole new website and try to build up a whole another fan group.

Right.

I just try to make it super clear in marketing that this is very spicy yeah.

Compared to my Trinity books.

Yeah, I think so.

Mine, my first five books were done under my legal name before I was like, oh, hey, your day job runs background checks sometimes.

Maybe you shouldn't be doing all this.

Because what if they're like, oh my God, you do all these audiobooks and we don't want you repping our company because it's a conflict of interest, which it wouldn't be, but companies are weird sometimes.

So I started my first podcast under Brie Carlyle, which my family all know about, my conservative Christian family know about.

And then I got my first fiction audiobook, like paid fiction, not just podcast fiction.

And she's like, oh, hey, I've written like a 50 Shades kind of book, or, I'm currently writing this and I'd like you to narrate that too.

And I'm like, we all need a different name because I done Let the Cat Out of the Bag with the one.

So freya victoria.

Now I'm like thinking about my own books, but I'm like, I have a kid series in mind, so I'm like, we're going to release kids series under the Brie Carlyle name and then everything else under the name that very few people know about.

Yes, and thankfully, because I've done erotica and stuff at this point and I'm like, I'm so glad that most of my family has no idea what I'm doing.

They know I narrate audiobooks, but what kind?

No.

And if I can help it, they never will.

That's funny.

I don't even care.

I promote it on my personal page.

I'm like, It's not safe for work with your reading.

My freya.

Victoria.

My personal TikTok has like less than 100 followers on it.

And Freya is like, up over 2000 something now.

I've done way better.

Now all the other social medias are like, none of them have I haven't figured them out yet.

I'm too old for this.

Same like, what is social media?

I Google everything, like, trying to figure out what the trends are, whatever, and it changes too fast.

So it's like, just do whatever works for you and go from there.

So now you're clearly doing stuff, too.

When did you stumble into book talk and how has that helped you with your books?

I created my TikTok, I think in December 2020.

Right when I released the book.

Because I was like, okay, I'm only going to do TikTok from my book because I was so out of it.

I was like, I'm not going to download this stupid app.

It's stupid.

It doesn't make any sense.

I said the same thing.

I'm old.

Like, I shouldn't be on TikTok.

But then I was like, Googling, how to market my book.

Well, that doesn't help, too, that when you do download it, the first things you get are all these comedy and dance things that make you feel even more like you're too old for it.

No, yeah, I can't do any so you're Googling I Googled how to market my book and TikTok kept coming up and I'm like, okay, I can try that.

So I downloaded it, and I didn't have a lot of followers at the beginning, as most people, and then I posted about a giveaway one day for my first book.

And so I posted a giveaway for my first book and it didn't get a lot of views.

Okay?

And so I did it again.

I was like, I've got this free book.

And then suddenly that's the video that popped off and I was getting like 20,000 views.

I got 20,000 views.

All these comments like, I want a free book, of course, but I only have a certain amount available, right?

And so I commented, I don't have any more books.

Thank you to everyone who was commenting.

And then I had to hide that video because people were like, well, if you don't have any more free books left, you should take the video down.

Yeah.

So I did.

I was like, okay, fine.

But I had actually gained enough followers to get 1000 from that video, and so I could go live.

And then just over the years, I slowly built a following.

But it wasn't until last year I posted a video of myself because I work in the news.

So I was in the newsroom and I sit like, my desk is behind, like, a camera set up.

And so I posted a video about me at work behind a camera on live TV.

And that video got like 1.7 million views.

And I got a lot of followers from that one.

Unrelated to books at that point, I would imagine.

Yeah, exactly.

But I think that video had pushed me over 10,000 followers.

So I joined the Creators Fund, but I really didn't make a lot of money on the Creators Fund.

And then I think I ended up getting out of the Creator's Fund because I wasn't making money.

And then I posted the behind the scenes video of the photo shoot for beyond the Bright Lights, and that one did like 4.5 million views.

So that's like my most ever viral video.

And of course, it came with the fat phobic comments.

Yeah, hey, the more comments you get, the more they're pushing it.

I leave comments on.

Now, some comments I will remove because they're just not okay comments, but like, ones that it's.

Like they're like, gosh, you're so terrible.

I'm like, oh, it's so isn't it?

This is the snarkiest comments that I'll do.

So I have a daily fiction podcast that I do, all classic novel, like, audiobook style.

So each day a new chapter of a classic novel, and I'll have people comment, and they're like, oh, my God, you have all the wrong inflection, and your voice is just terrible and blah, blah, blah.

So I've gotten to the point where I'm like, isn't it great that we can all have our preferences and you can go find someone else who you do like?

And then in my head, I'm like, thank you for boosting my video with your stupid comment.

I know, right?

That's what I should reply.

Thanks for contributing to algorithms.

Thank you so much for boosting oh.

I did delete a lot of the hateful comments, though.

It's ridiculous.

They were mad because I didn't have another plus size.

Man.

The male model wasn't plus size.

But I feel like people always feel like fat people have to be paired with another fat person, which is fine, but romances happen between all body types, and so that's what I'm trying to do.

I can only write one book at a time.

I remember the first fat person book that I read.

She was overweight, and I don't remember what they described.

It's been several years since I read this book.

But she was overweight, and she decides she's going to go get healthy.

She was very not healthy with whatever it was she was doing.

So she's like, I'm going to join a gym and start working out to get healthy.

Not to lose weight, just to get healthy.

And it's her and the trainer end up having a thing, not because she gets thin while at the gym, although that was a byproduct of going to the gym every day.

But it was like, just this.

He liked her at the beginning as well as at the end.

He's like, I don't care what size you are.

That's like, the first book that I've read many since then.

But that's like the first one, and probably because it was the first one, it kind of stuck in my head.

Yes.

Who the author was and what the book was, I have no idea.

There was a gym involved.

Yeah, I can't even remember the first book that was, like, a really plus size main character, I think, like, the Suki Stack House books.

Did you ever read those?

I got them for Christmas.

I haven't read them yet.

So True Blood, that show, was based on those books.

But Suki, the character was described as, like, a size ten, which now would be considered mid size.

Right.

So I feel like that's the first book I ever read that had a main character who wasn't like, your super skinny main character, athletically built.

Right?

And then in the show, they cast her super skinny, and I'm like, all right, well, but yeah, back then, there just wasn't a lot of different body types.

That's what I'm trying to do.

Beyond the bright lights, it's a plus size woman and a skinny man.

And then beyond the fame is a plus size man and a mid sized woman.

And then the next book will be another plus size woman and a skinny man.

But I can only write one book at a time, so maybe I'll write two plus size man and a woman.

I don't know.

Depends on what your characters tell you.

Yeah, I know.

I'm such a mood writer.

I'm a mood everything.

Mood writer, mood reader, mood TV, movie.

Watcher whatever comes to me.

So funny about True Blood at the time that was airing well, shortly after I don't remember what season it was.

Then I was in college, and I had this professor.

And in those days, I think the spiciest thing I'd read was Nicholas Sparks at that time, okay?

So I was like, innocent little brain.

Okay?

And I was homeschooled, like, my entire life.

Like I already said, conservative Christian Family.

Like, my little brain Nicholas Sparks was the spiciest I'd read.

So they had this professor that would go on and on and on about True Blood and how great it was and all this stuff.

So I'm like, all right, I'm going to start watching True Blood.

And I didn't even make it through the first episode.

My brain was just like, this is too much.

Oh, my God.

Then I progressively started reading worse stuff.

So worse not bad.

I don't think it's bad at all.

I think different people have different tolerances for spice.

But as things go, when you are used to only reading Nicholas Sparks, you eventually want something slightly worse, so you keep getting worse and worse.

I saw someone on TikTok just describe it as like, a cycle, like a circle.

Like, you'll read worse and worse and worse and worse, and then you need to mental reprieve from that.

So you go back to the sweet romances and just keep going around.

I'm like, yeah.

So my Christmas book list was a bunch of smutty books, including the I don't know if they're smutty the Sookie Stackhouse books.

I also got the.

Gosh.

I can't even think of all the names of them.

A bunch that I've now seen on TikTok listed as, like, these are super smutty.

The Twisted love series.

I think I actually got that at my birthday.

But just a bunch of books.

And my husband bought most of them for me.

And I'm like, you realize what kind of like, I gave him access to the list that no one else sees.

Books from all the TikTok recommendations.

And he's like, you just read your p*** books.

It's okay.

Like, whatever.

Oh, my gosh.

Settle has always liked the Little Mermaid.

The Little Mermaid is a literary fairy tale written by the Danish author Hans Christian Anderson.

First published in 1837 as part of a collection of fairy tales for children, the story follows the journey of a young mermaid who's willing to give up her life in the sea as a mermaid to gain a human soul.

The original story has been a subject of multiple analyses by scholars such as Jacob Bogild and Pernell Higard, as well as the folklorist Maria Tadar.

These analyses cover various aspects of the story, from interpreting the themes to discussing why Anderson chose to write a tragic story with a happy ending.

It has been adapted to various media, including musical theater, anime, ballet, opera and film.

There's also a statue portraying the mermaid in Copenhagen, Denmark, where the story was written and first published.

Since we've already done all the versions of the Little Mermaid I could find, today we'll be reading another Hans Christian Anderson story.

The Snow Queen.

You may know this as a story that inspired the movie Frozen.

Due to its length, we'll be splitting this story across settles episodes.

Don't forget we're reading Lemort 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 Snow Queen in Seven Stories, part One story the first, which describes a looking glass and the broken fragments.

You must attend to the commencement of this story, for when we get to the end, we shall know more than we do now about a very wicked hobgoblin.

He was one of the very worst, for he was a real demon.

One day, when he was in a merry mood, he made a looking glass, which had the power of making everything good or beautiful that was reflected in it almost shrink to nothing, while everything that was worthless and bad looked increased in size and worse than ever.

The most lovely landscapes appeared like boiled spinach, and the people became hideous and looked as if they stood on their heads and had no bodies.

Their countenances were so distorted that no one could recognize them, and even one freckle on the face appeared to spread over the whole of the nose and mouth.

The demon said this was very amusing.

When a good or pious thought passed through the mind of anyone, it was misrepresented in the glass.

And then how the demon laughed at his cunning invention.

All who went to the demon's school, for he kept a school talked everywhere of the wonders they had seen, and declared that people could now for the first time see what the world and mankind were really like.

They carried the glass about everywhere, till at last there was not a land nor a people who had not been looked at through this distorted mirror.

They wanted even to fly with it up to heaven to see the angels.

But the higher they flew, the more slippery the glass became, and they could scarcely hold it, till at last it slipped from their hands fell to the earth and was broken into millions of pieces.

But now the looking glass caused more unhappiness than ever.

For some of the fragments were not so large as a grain of sand, and they flew about the world into every country.

When one of these tiny atoms flew into a person's eye, it stuck there, unknown to him.

And from that moment he saw everything through a distorted medium or could see only the worst side of what he looked at.

For even the smallest fragment retained the same power which had belonged to the whole mirror.

Some few persons even got a fragment of the looking glass in their hearts.

And this was very terrible, for their hearts became cold like a lump of ice.

A few of the pieces were so large that they could be used as window panes.

It would have been a sad thing to look at our friends.

Through them other pieces were made into spectacles.

This was dreadful for those who wore them, for they could see nothing either rightly or justly at all.

This the wicked demon laughed till his side shook.

It tickled him so to see the mischief he had done.

There were still a number of these little fragments of glass floating about in the air.

And now you shall hear what happened with one of them.

Second Story a little boy and a little girl.

In a large town full of houses and people, there's not room for everybody to have even a little garden.

Therefore they are obliged to be satisfied with a few flowers and flower pots.

In one of these large towns lived two poor children who had a garden something larger and better than a few flower pots.

They were not brother and sister, but they loved each other almost as much as if they had been.

Their parents lived opposite to each other in two garrets where the roofs of neighboring houses projected out towards each other and the water pipe ran between them.

In each house was a little window so that anyone could step across the gutter from one window to the other.

The parents of these children had each a large wooden box in which they cultivated kitchen herbs for their own use, and a little rose bush in each box, which grew splendidly.

Now, after a while, the parents decided to place these two boxes across the water pipe so that they reached from one window to the other and looked like two banks of flowers.

Sweet peas drooped over the boxes, and the rose bushes shot forth long branches which were trained round the windows and clustered together almost like a triumphal arch of leaves and flowers.

The boxes were very high, and the children knew they must not climb upon them without permission.

But they were often, however, allowed to step out together and sit upon their little stools under the rose bushes or play quietly.

In winter, all this pleasure came to an end, for the windows were sometimes quite frozen over.

But then they would warm copper pennies on the stove and hold the warm pennies against the frozen pane.

There would be very soon a little round hole through which they could peep and the soft bright eyes of the little boy and girl would beam through the hole at each window as they looked at each other.

Their names were Kay and Goethe.

In summer they could be together with one jump from the window but in winter they had to go up and down the long staircase and out through the snow before they could meet.

See, there are the white bees swarming, said Kay's old grandmother one day when it was snowing.

Have they a queen bee?

Asked the little boy, for he knew that the real bees had a queen.

To be sure they have, said the grandmother.

She is flying there where the swarm is thickest.

She's the largest of them all and never remains on the earth but flies up to the dark clouds.

Often at midnight she flies through the streets of the town and looks in at the windows.

Then the ice freezes on the panes into wonderful shapes that look like flowers and castles.

Yes, I have seen them, said both the children, and they knew it must be true.

Can a snow queen come in here?

Asked the little girl.

Only let her come, said the boy.

I'll set her on the stove and then she'll melt.

Then the grandmother smoothed his hair and told him some more tales.

One evening when little Kay was at home, half undressed, he climbed on a chair by the window and peeped out through the little hole.

A few flakes of snow were falling and one of them, rather larger than the rest, alighted on the edge of one of the flower boxes.

This snowflake grew larger and larger till at last it became the figure of a woman dressed in garments of white gauze which looked like millions of starry snowflakes linked together.

She was fair and beautiful, but made of ice shining and glittering ice.

Still she was alive and her eyes sparkled like bright stars.

But there was neither peace nor rest in their glance.

She nodded towards the window and waved her hand.

The little boy was frightened and sprang from the chair.

At the same moment it seemed as if a large bird flew by the window.

On the following day there was a clear frost and very soon came the spring.

The sun shone, the young green leaves burst forth, the swallows built their nests.

Windows were opened and the children sat once more in the garden on the roof high above all the other rooms.

How beautiful the roses blossomed this summer.

The little girl had learned a hymn in which roses were spoken of and then she thought of their own roses and she sang the hymn to the little boy and he sang too.

Roses bloom and cease to be but we shall the Christ child see.

Then the little ones held each other by the hand and kissed the roses and looked at the bright sunshine and spoke to it as if the Christ child were there.

Those were splendid summer days.

How beautiful and fresh it was out among the rose bushes, which seemed as if they would never leave off blooming.

One day Kay and Goethe sat looking at a book full of pictures of animals and birds.

And then, just as the clock in the church tower struck twelve, Kay said oh, something has struck my heart.

And soon after there's something in my eye.

The little girl put her arm round his neck and looked into his eye, but she could see nothing.

I think it is gone, he said.

But it was not gone.

It was one of those bits of the looking glass, that magic mirror of which we have spoken.

The ugly glass which made everything great and good appear small and ugly, while all that was wicked and bad became more visible and every little fault could be plainly seen.

Poor little Kay had also received a small grain in his heart, which very quickly turned to a lump of ice.

He felt no more pain, but the glass was still there.

Why do you cry?

Said he at last.

It makes you look ugly.

There's nothing the matter with me now.

Oh, see.

He cried out suddenly.

That rose is worm eaten, and this one is quite crooked.

After all, they're ugly roses, just like the box in which they stand.

And then he kicked the boxes with his foot and pulled off the two roses.

Kay, what are you doing?

Cried the little girl.

And then when he saw how frightened she was, he tore off another rose and jumped through his own window, away from little Goethe.

When she afterwards brought out the picture book, he said it was only fit for babies in long clothes.

And when grandmother told any stories, he would interrupt her with but.

Or when he could manage it, he would get behind her chair, put on a pair of spectacles, and imitate her.

Very cleverly to make people laugh.

By and by he began to mimic the speech and gait of persons in the street.

All that was peculiar or disagreeable in a person he would imitate directly.

And people said, that boy will be very clever.

He is a remarkable genius.

But it was the piece of glass in his eye and the coldness in his heart that made him act like this.

He would even tease little Goethe, who loved him with all her heart.

His games, too, were quite different they were not so childish.

One winter's day when it snowed, he brought out a burning glass.

Then he held out the tail of his blue coat and let the snowflakes fall upon it.

Look in this glass, Girda said he.

And she saw how every flake of snow was magnified and looked like a beautiful flower or glittering star.

Is it not clever?

Said Kay, and much more interesting than looking at real flowers.

There's not a single fault in it.

And the snowflakes are quite perfect till they begin to melt.

Soon after Kay made his appearance in large, thick gloves and with his sledge at his back, he called upstairs to Goethe, I've got to leave to go into the great square where the other boys play and ride.

And away he went.

In the great square the boldest among the boys would often tie their sledges to the country people's carts and go with them a good way.

This was capital.

But while they were all amusing themselves and Kay with them, a great sledge came by.

It was painted white, and in it sat someone wrapped in a rough white fur and wearing a white cap.

The sledge drove twice round the square and Kay fastened his own little sledge to it, so that when it went away he followed with it.

It went faster and faster, right through the next street.

And then the person who drove turned round and nodded pleasantly to Kay, just as if they were acquainted with each other.

But whenever Kay wished to loosen his little sledge, the driver nodded again.

So Kay sat still and they drove out through the town gate.

Then the snow began to fall so heavily that the little boy could not see a hand's breath before him.

But still they drove on.

Then he suddenly loosened the cord so that the large sled might go on without him.

But it was of no use.

His little carriage held fast and away they went like the wind.

Then he called out loudly, but nobody heard him while the snow beat upon him and the sledge flew onwards.

Every now and then it gave a jump, as if it were going over hedges and ditches.

The boy was frightened and tried to say a prayer, but he could remember nothing but the multiplication table.

The snowflakes became larger and larger, till they appeared like great white chickens.

All at once they sprang on one side.

The great sledge stopped and the person who had driven it rose up.

The fur and the cap, which were made entirely of snow, fell off.

And he saw lady tall and white.

It was the Snow Queen.

We have driven well, said she, but why do you tremble?

Here, creep into my warm fur.

Then she seated him beside her in the sledge, and as she wrapped the fur around him, he felt as if he were sinking into a snow drift.

Are you still cold?

She asked as she kissed him on the forehead.

The kiss was colder than ice and it went quite through to his heart, which was already almost a lump of ice.

He felt as if he were going to die, but only for a.

Moment.

He soon seemed quite well again and did not notice the cold around him.

My sledge.

Don't forget my sledge was his first thought.

And then he looked and saw that it was bound fast to one of the white chickens which flew behind him with the sledge at its back.

The Snow Queen kissed little Kay again, and by this time he had forgotten little Girda, his grandmother, and all at home.

Now you must have no more kisses, she said, or I should kiss you to death.

Kay looked at her and saw that she was so beautiful he could not imagine a more lovely and intelligent face.

She did not know what seemed to be made of ice as when he had seen her through his window and she had nodded to him.

In his eyes she was perfect, and she did not feel at all afraid.

He told her he could do mental arithmetic as far as fractions, and that he knew the number of square miles and the number of inhabitants in the country, and she always smiled so that he thought he did not know enough yet.

And she looked round the vast expanse as she flew higher and higher with him upon a black cloud, while the storm blew and howled as if it were singing old songs.

They flew over woods and lakes, over sea and land.

Below them roared the wild wind.

The wolves howled, and the snow crackled.

Over them flew the black screaming crows, and above all shone the moon, clear and bright.

And so Kay passed through the long winter's night, and by day he slept at the feet of the Snow Queen.

Third story the Flower Garden of the Woman Who Could Conjure.

But how fared little Goethe during Kay's absence?

What had become of him no one knew, nor could anyone give the slightest information excepting the boys who said that he had tied his sledge to another very large one, which had driven through the street and out at the town gate.

Nobody knew where it went.

Many tears were shed for him, and Little Goethe wept bitterly for a long time.

She said she knew he must be dead, that he was drowned in the river which flowed close by the school.

Oh, indeed, those long winter days were very dreary, but at last spring came with warm sunshine.

Kay is dead and gone, said Little Goethe.

I don't believe it, said the sunshine.

He is dead and gone, she said to the sparrows.

We don't believe it, they replied.

And at last Little Goethe began to doubt it herself.

I'll put on my new red shoes, she said one morning, those that Kay has never seen.

And then I will go down to the river and ask for him.

It was quite early when she kissed her old grandmother, who was still asleep.

Then she put on her red shoes and went quite alone out of the town gates toward the river.

Is it true that you've taken my little playmate away from me?

She said to the river.

I'll give you my red shoes if you'll give him back to me.

And it seemed as if the waves nodded to her in a strange manner, and she took off her red shoes, which she liked better than anything else, and threw them both into the river.

But they fell near the bank, and the little waves carried them back to the land, just as if the river would not take from her what she loved best, because they could not give her back little K.

But she thought the shoes had not been thrown out far enough.

Then she crept into a boat that lay among the reeds and threw the shoes again from the farther end of the boat into the water.

But it was not fastened, and her movement sent it gliding away from the land.

When she saw this, she hastened to reach the end of the boat, but before she could so, it was more than a yard from the bank and drifting away faster than ever.

Then little Goethe was very much frightened and began to cry, but no one heard her except the sparrows, and they could not carry her to land.

But they flew along by the shore and sang as if to comfort her.

Here we are.

Here we are.

The boat floated with the stream.

Little Gerta sat quite still, with only her stockings on her feet.

The red shoes floated after her, but she could not reach them because the boat kept so much in advance.

The banks on each side of the river were very pretty.

There were beautiful flowers, old trees, sloping fields in which cows and sheep were grazing, but not a man to be seen.

Perhaps the river will carry me to little K, thought Goethe.

And then she became more cheerful and raised her head and looked at the beautiful green banks.

And so the boat sailed on for hours.

At length she came to a large cherry orchard in which stood a small red house with strange red and blue windows.

It had also a thatched roof, and outside were two wooden soldiers that presented arms to her as she sailed past.

Gerta called out to them, for she thought they were alive.

But of course they did not answer.

And as the boat drifted nearer to the shore, she saw what they really were.

Then Goethe called still louder, and there came a very old woman out of the house, leaning on a crutch.

She wore a large hat to shade her from the sun, and on it were painted all sorts of pretty flowers.

You poor little child, said the old woman.

How did you manage to come all this distance into the wide world on such a rapid rolling stream?

And then the old woman walked in the water, seized the boat with her crutch, drew it to land, and lifted Goethe out, and Goethe was glad to feel herself on dry ground, although she was rather afraid of the strange old woman.

Come and tell me who you are, said she, and how you came here.

Then Goethe told her everything, while the old woman shook her head and said, m him.

And when she had finished, Goethe asked if she had not seen little K.

And the old woman told her he had not passed by that way, but he very likely would come.

So she told Goethe not to be sorrowful, but to taste the cherries and look at the flowers.

They were better than any picture book, for each of them could tell a story.

Then she took Goethe by the hand and let her into the little house, and the old woman closed the door.

The windows were very high, and as the panes were red, blue and yellow, the daylight shone through them in all sorts of singular colors.

On the table stood beautiful cherries, and Goethe had permission to eat as many as she would.

While she was eating them, the old woman combed out her long flax and ringlets with a golden comb, and the glossy curls hung down on each side of the little round, pleasant face, which looked fresh and blooming as a rose.

I have long been wishing for a dear little maiden like you, said the old woman, and now you must stay with me and see how happily we shall live together.

And while she went on combing little Gerda's hair, she thought less and less about her adopted brother Kay, for the old woman could conjure, although she was not a wicked witch, she conjured only a little for her own amusement.

And now, because she wanted to keep Goethe.

Therefore she went into the garden and stretched out her crutch towards all the rose trees, beautiful though they were, and they immediately sunk into the dark earth so that no one could tell where they had once stood.

The old woman was afraid that if little Goethe saw roses she would think of those at home and then remember little K and run away.

Then she took Goethe into the flower garden.

How fragrant and beautiful it was.

Every flower that could be thought of for every season of the year was here in full bloom.

No picture book could have more beautiful colors.

Goethe jumped for joy and played till the sun went down behind the tall cherry trees.

Then she slept in an elegant bed with red silk pillows embroidered with colored violets, and then she dreamed as pleasantly as a queen on her wedding day.

The next day, and for many days after, Goethe played with the flowers in the warm sunshine.

She knew every flower.

And yet, although there were so many of them, it seemed as if one were missing.

But which it was she could not tell.

One day, however, as she sat looking at the old woman's hat with the painted flowers on it.

She saw that the prettiest of them all was a rose.

The old woman had forgotten to take it from her hat when she made all the roses sink into the earth.

But it is difficult to keep the thoughts together in everything.

One little mistake upset all our arrangements.

What?

Are there no roses here?

Cried Goethe.

And she ran out into the garden and examined all the beds, and searched and searched.

There was not one to be found.

Then she sat down and wept, and her tears fell just on the place where one of the rose trees had sunk down.

The warm tears moistened the earth, and the rose tree sprouted up at once as blooming as when it had sunk.

And Goethe embraced it and kissed the roses and thought of the beautiful roses at home and with them of little K.

Oh, how I've been detained, said the little maiden.

I wanted to seek for little K.

Do you know where he is?

She asked the roses.

Do you think he's dead?

And the roses answered, no, he's not dead.

We've been in the ground where all the dead lie.

But Kay is not there.

Thank you.

Said little Goethe.

And then she went to the other flowers and looked into their little cups and asked do you know where little Kay is?

But each flower, as it stood in the sunshine, dreamed only of its own little fairy tale of history.

Not one knew anything of Kay.

Gerta heard many stories from the flowers as she asked them one after another about him.

And what?

Said the tiger lily arc, do you hear the drum?

Turn, turn.

There are only two notes always turn, turn.

Listen to the woman's song of mourning.

Hear the cry of the priest and her long red robe stands the Hindu widow by the funeral pile.

The flames rise around her as she places herself on the dead body of her husband.

But the Hindu woman is thinking of the living one in that circle of him, her son, who lighted those flames.

Those shining eyes troubled her heart more painfully than the flames which will soon consume her body to ashes.

Can the fire of the heart be extinguished in the flames of the funeral pile?

I don't understand that at all, said little Goethe.

That is my story, said the tiger lily.

What?

Says the convovulus?

Near yonder narrow road stands an old knight's castle.

Thick ivy creeps over the old ruined walls, leaf over leaf, even to the balcony in which stands a beautiful maiden.

She bends over the ballast drades and looks up the road.

No rose on its stem is fresher than she.

No apple blossom, wafted by the wind floats more lightly than she moves.

Her rich silk rustles as she bends over and exclaims will he not come?

Is it K, you mean?

Asked Goethe.

I am only speaking of a story of my dream, replied the flower.

What?

Said the little snowdrop between two trees.

The rope is hanging.

There is a piece of board upon it.

It is a swing.

Two pretty little girls in dress as white as snow and with long green ribbons fluttering from their hats, are sitting upon it swinging.

Their brother, who is taller than they are, stands in the swing.

He has one arm round the rope to steady himself.

In one hand he holds a little bowl, and in the other a clay pipe.

He's blowing bubbles.

As the swing goes on, the bubbles fly upward, reflecting the most beautiful varying colors.

The last still hangs from the bowl of the pipe and sways in the wind.

On goes the swing and then a little black dog comes running up.

He's almost as light as the bubble, and he raises himself on his hind legs and wants to be taken into the swing.

But it does not stop and the dog falls.

Then he barks and gets angry.

The children stoop towards him and the bubble bursts.

A swinging plank, a light, sparkling foam picture.

That is my story.

What do the hyacinth say?

There were three beautiful sisters, fair and delicate.

The dress of one was red, of the second blue, and of the third pure white.

Hand in hand they danced in the bright moonlight by the calm lake.

But they were human beings, not fairy elves.

The sweet fragrance attracted them, and they disappeared in the wood.

Here the fragrance became stronger.

Three coffins, in which lay three beautiful maidens glided from the thickest part of the forest across the lake.

The fireflies flew lightly over them like little floating torches.

Do the dancing maidens sleep, or are they dead?

The scent of the flower says that they are corpses.

The evening bell tolls their knell.

You make me quite sorrowful, said little Goethe.

Your perfume is so strong.

You make me think of the dead maidens.

Is little K really dead then?

The roses have been in the earth, and they say no.

Kling Klang told the hyacinth bells we are not tolling for little K.

We do not know him.

We sing our song, the only one we know.

Then Goethe went to the buttercups that were glittering amongst the bright green leaves.

You are like bright suns, said Goethe.

Tell me if you know where I can find my playfellow.

And the buttercup sparkled gaily and looked again at Goethe.

What song could the buttercup sing?

It was not about K.

The bright warm sun shone on a little court on the first warm day of spring.

His bright beams rested on the white walls of the neighboring house and close by bloomed to the first yellow flower of the season, glittering like gold in the sun's warm ray.

An old woman sat in her armchair at the house door and her granddaughter, a poor and pretty servant maid, came to see her for a short visit.

When she kissed her grandmother there was gold everywhere, the gold of the heart in that holy kiss it was a golden morning.

There was gold in the beaming sunlight, gold in the leaves of the lowly flower, and on the lips of the maiden.

There, that is my story, said the buttercup.

My poor old grandmother, sighed Goethe.

She's longing to see me and grieving for me as she did for little K.

But I shall soon go home now and take little K with me.

It is no use asking the flowers.

They know only their own songs and can give me no information.

And then she tucked up her little dress, that she might run faster.

But the Narcissist caught her by the leg as she was jumping over it.

So she stopped and looking at the tall yellow flower and said perhaps you may know something.

Then she stooped down quite close to the flower and listened.

And what did he say?

I can see myself, I can see myself, said the narcissist.

Oh, how sweet is my perfume.

Up in a little room with a bow window stands a little dancing girl, half undressed.

And she stands sometimes on one leg and sometimes on both, and looks as if she would tread the whole world under her feet.

She's nothing but a delusion.

She is pouring water out of a teapot on a piece of stuff which she holds in her hand.

It is her bodice.

Cleanliness is a good thing, she says.

Her white dress hangs on a peg.

It has also been washed in the teapot and dried on the roof.

She puts it on and ties a saffron colored handkerchief round her neck, which makes the dress look whiter.

See how she stretches out her legs, as if she were showing off on a stem.

I can see myself.

I can see myself.

What do I care for all that?

Said Goethe, you need not tell me such stuff.

And then she ran to the other end of the garden.

The door was fastened, but she pressed against the rusty latch and it gave way.

The door sprang open and little Goethe ran out with bare feet into the wide world.

She looked back three times, but no one seemed to be following her.

At last she could run no longer.

So she sat down to rest on a great stone.

And when she looked round she saw that the summer was over and autumn very far advanced.

She had known nothing of this in the beautiful garden where the sun shone and the flowers grew all the year round.

Oh, how I have wasted my time, said little Goethe.

It is autumn.

I must not rest any longer.

And she rose up to go on.

But her little feet were wounded and sore, and everything around her looked so cold and bleak.

The long willow leaves were quite yellow.

The dew drops fell like water.

Leaf after leaf dropped from the trees.

The slow thorn alone still bore fruit, but the slows were sour and set the teeth on edge.

Oh, how dark and weary the whole world appeared.

Thank you for joining Freya's fairy tales.