A short and
sweet retelling of the beloved Cinderella story set on the Montana prairies.
Life on her brother’s
ranch is lonely for Ellie Strickland. Ed’s ungracious manners and tight-fisted
habits keep visitors away and his mother and sister close to home. But when
Cole Newcomb, son of the wealthiest rancher in the county, meets Ellie by
chance, he is struck by an unexpected impulse to rescue her from her
solitude—and Ellie’s lonely summer is transformed.
When Cole asks her to go
with him to the Fourth of July dance, Ellie is determined that nothing, from an
old dress to Ed’s sour temper, will stand in her way. By the time the Fourth of
July fireworks go off at midnight, will they herald only more heartache, or
maybe—just maybe—a dream come true?
Novella, approximately
21,000 words.
Now available!
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Q&A with Author Elisabeth
Foley
What is your favorite scene in Corral
Nocturne?
The climax of the story: the aftermath
of the dance. I enjoyed writing it the most; it turned out just the way I
wanted it, which made me very happy…and it’s just my favorite part of the
story.
Do you share any
personality traits with Ellie Strickland?
We’re not exactly alike, but we’re
both a quieter type of personality. Like Ellie, I tend to be shy in groups of
people, especially on first meetings, or if I don’t know anyone very well; but
I can talk easily and comfortably with people once I get better acquainted with
them.
How much research do you do?
If I’m already familiar with the
setting, I usually do some preparatory reading on specific things, events and
places that are going to be important to the story. I research smaller things
as they crop up along the way, and then my last edit is usually a fact-check
just to make sure I got all the details right. For Corral Nocturne, that
involved things like confirming the proper terms for parts of a wagon and
checking the date that word s like “gramophone” came into circulation.
Do you have to be alone or have quiet
to write?
Being entirely alone isn’t a
requirement (and living in the midst of a family of six, it’s not always feasible!).
I do like a reasonably quiet room—I can’t write with busy background noise like
a TV or music playing, as some people can.
What is your favorite quote?
“Why is joy not a fit subject for an
artist?” – Eugene Manlove Rhodes
In today’s culture, it increasingly
seems that the greater proportion of darkness and tragedy in a work, the
greater its validation as “serious” art. This quote captures perfectly the
attitude I’d like to see revived: themes of joy and happiness and hope in
fiction considered equally valuable and worthwhile.
Elisabeth Grace Foley is a
historical fiction author, avid reader and lifelong history buff. Her first
published story, "Disturbing the Peace," was an honorable mention in
the first annual Rope and
Wire Western short story competition, and is now collected with six
others in her debut short story collection, The
Ranch Next Door and Other Stories. Her other works include a series
of short historical mysteries, the Mrs. Meade Mysteries; and short fiction set
during the American Civil War and the Great Depression. A homeschool graduate,
she chose not to attend college in order to pursue self-education and her
writing career.
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