When my daughter (who writes as Eli Donovan) and I first started discussing doing a book with fairytale retellings, we had several possibilities in mind but the one which resonated with me the most was the Swan Princess.

I could see how my novella for the proposed book could be set in my already existing fantasy world of Claddare and I was excited to think of adding a third book to my connected series. Fantasy isn’t the genre I’m known for writing but it’s a palate cleanser for me, gives my Muse a break from scifi romance and ancient Egypt…and have I mentioned my love for Andre Norton’s Witch World series?

I was entranced with this series of hers since I was a kid, with Year of the Unicorn being my favorite and those two characters firmly implanted in my head. I still reread that book at least once a year and I even wrote a blog post about Witch World and how often the characters showed up in other Witch World books. I always wished my writing career had overlapped with Ms. Norton’s so maybe someday I could have been invited to ‘play’ in her Witch World by writing a story for one of the anthologies she did with guest authors. Yes, I know, vain of me to hope I’d even be considered to contribute but if you’re going to dream, dream big! At some point it finally dawned on me I could write my own fantasy world, with magic and shifters and mysteries…duh. So I wrote the first Claddare book, The Captive Shifter.

Now fantasy romance is a huge genre and I’m the teeny tiniest player there, especially with only a few books, so I can’t devote much time to my Claddare stories because the scifi romance genre is my home and where most of my readers are. Of course it’s a self fulfilling prophecy because if I don’t write more books set there, it’s really hard to attract readers.

For my daughter things were much simpler because she has a connected series of fairytale retellings already established. (She writes scifi romance too and was in two Pets in Space anthologies.)

But getting back to the subject of swans, the most romantic compliment any man ever gave me was to tell me I reminded him of a swan in the moonlight and after that point, I was all in on swans. So, to make this long story short, Eli and I settled on reimagining the Swan Princess fairytale. She threw elements of the story behind the Swan Lake ballet into her novel in the book as well, but I focused on Claddare.

I have a recurring character that my readers are quite fond of, Nadelma the cook at the Witch Queen’s castle. She got her own Cinderella retelling in book two, Winter Solstice Dream, so I was excited to bring her back as a supporting character in this new novella. (She’s a duchess now…)

Author’s own collection…Swan Princess by Lenox

So my princess Mairi is under a curse and turns into a swan at the most random moments, which is a problem because she’s supposed to marry the stuffy old  ruler of a neighboring territory, who’s going to pay a big bride price for her hand. Her despairing parents send her off to the Witch Queen to beg for help with the curse and while there she meets Cade, a wolf shifter from the North. He tries to help her control the process and learn to exert herself when the swan takes over. I had all kinds of fun writing the Swan and how Mairi has to learn to interact with this headstrong, beautiful bird, who is also part of her.

While falling in love with Cade…

While still betrothed to a man whose previous young wives died under mysterious circumstances…

Here’s an excerpt from one of the sessions where Cade is trying to teach Mairi about being a shifter. They’re in a meadow far from the castle. He’s speaking:

“Call the swan for me and change, but don’t let her take to the air until I give my permission.”

Mairi nodded, her attitude determined and optimistic. She walked from the shade into the sunlight, closed her eyes and concentrated on her vision of the mythical lake where she now pictured her swan counterpart to dwell.

We didn’t fly last night, the swan said, suddenly looming in her mind’s eye. Today.

Yes, today. Cade agreed, but only after we show him we remember our accomplishments of yesterday.

The change swept through her, all pins and needles and pulses of energy, and she stood on the grass on her sturdy black legs, webbed feet planted firmly. Spreading her wings and honking, she and the swan announced their arrival.

“Good,” Cade said out loud. He walked over to them and changed into his wolf. Mairi overrode the swan’s instinctive terrified reaction and, other than serious hissing and a few mock stabs of the beak, the swan settled down. I want you to fully experience the swan’s point of view, he said to Mairi mentally, the wolf staring at them with intense golden eyes. Don’t lose yourself to her. Let her do what she wants for now, and I’ll track you.

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Mollified, the swan shook herself to settle her thousands of feathers and launched into the air with one powerful stroke. Mairi had an intense moment of vertigo and fought her way through it, conscious of Cade’s mind close by, ready to help if needed. It was an odd sensation to be a passenger in another body, but she trusted the swan now. Seeing with the bird’s eyes was incredible, so much sharper than her own human vision, but on the other hand her sense of smell was diminished.

The swan ignored her efforts to become acclimatized and climbed to a good altitude over the meadow, circling it twice then taking a new heading with purposeful wing strokes. Remembering Cade’s joy for her over being able to fly, Mairi tried to take it all in, despite her fear of being so high in the air. Once she relaxed, she was astonished at the feeling of freedom in the wide blue sky, the sense of power as she soared above the trees and whatever mundane activities might be taking place on the stolid ground. She relished the sensation of the wind sweeping over her wings, the pull and relaxation of her own powerful shoulder muscles and the unlimited places she could go.

The swan circled the lake, honking and calling greetings to the bevy below on the waters, before coming in for a landing at what seemed to Mairi to be a terrifyingly rash angle and speed. At the last second the swan braked with her wings and settled onto the water’s surface with barely a ripple, arching her neck into the most graceful curve and serenely drifting. Her reflection was of no interest to the swan, but Mairi caught glimpses of herself and the other swans as they glided across the waters. With no warning, the swan suddenly ducked her head below the surface and as Mairi watched in shock, caught a fish, swallowing it whole as she raised her head again.

Nausea swept over her at the idea of eating a live fish, but she was distracted by the calls of a wolf. Turning her head toward the shore, she saw Cade sitting there as a wolf, watching them. She wondered if he could tell which of the many swans was her animal form.

The morning passed in a blur as they drifted on the water, the sun warming her feathers. At one point, several large cob swans began preening and displaying their impressive wing spans in front of Mairi’s swan, engaging in a mock battle. Struck by a scary thought, she asked the swan, You wouldn’t mate with them, would you? She wasn’t sure what she’d do if such a situation arose, and hoped she was powerful enough as the human to pull the swan away.

I am no ordinary swan, although it pleases me to let them think I’m one of them. As a shifter, it’s the mortal’s responsibility to find a mate for us among his or her own kind.

The swan’s answer was reassuring up to a point. Struck by a new concern, checking on the spot where the wolf still sat, she asked, Must it be a swan shifter? Cade said he knew of no others.

The swan gave a mental shrug as she preened her feathers. Shifter magic calls mates together as the goddess wills. We could even end up with a wolf. This last was said slyly.

Or a human? Mairi was thinking with distaste of her waiting almost fiancé and her duty to marry him for the benefit of Lulenberg.

Such a match is not unknown. But the swan clearly didn’t like the idea. To be a mate is much different than mere coupling, you know.

THE SWAN PRINCESS REIMAGINED by Veronica Scott and Eli Donovan

***The Swan and Her Wolf by Veronica Scott – An exciting new novella from USA Today Bestselling author Veronica Scott! Princess Mairi has been cursed by an unknown enemy, forced to turn into a swan at random times of the day and night. Desperate to be free of her affliction, she goes to the Witch Queen’s court to beg for help. An all important marriage of state is pending for Mairi, and her family is counting on the rich suitor’s bride price to fill their coffers. But the would-be groom would never marry her if he knew of the curse. Wolf Shifter Cade senses something uncanny about Mairi when they meet at Court, and he’s fascinated by the charming princess. His attempts to learn her secret and then to help Mairi with her troubles bring the two of them dangerously close together. His wolf insists she’s his fated mate, and Mairi finds him irresistible…but her duties as princess stand in the way of any true happiness. Will the curse be lifted? And will the couple be able to achieve their Happy Ever After?

***The Swan’s Prince by Eli Donovan
An irresistible new short novel in the beloved fairy tale world of Eli Donovan…

On a remote island, the swan-shifter Odette grapples with her father’s dark schemes as he forces her to use her magic for his own ends. When he steals her power to sink a ship and kill almost all hands onboard, she resolves to thwart his future plans by any means necessary.
Meanwhile, Tristan, a nobleman from a neighboring country, survives the uncanny shipwreck and soon finds himself entangled in Odette’s world of mystery and danger. Odette is irresistibly drawn to Tristan, but she’s cursed to be a swan by day and a human only by night. How can they possibly be together if she’s living only a half-life as a human? As their bond deepens, they must confront their pasts, trust each other with their secrets and, hopefully, find their way toward a future together.

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