E.J. Kitchens

Hello! Thanks so much for joining the fun of Once Upon 2025! I am incredibly grateful and excited to be here again this year.Before we set off on this year’s adventure, let me introduce myself. I’m E.J. Kitchens (you can call me Elizabeth). I love tales of romance, adventure, and happily-ever-afters and spend a considerable amount of time writing just those kinds of stories. After many years as a biologist doing non-research work (like teaching labs and growing bacteria for labs–yes, you read that last bit right) at a university, I left the safe lands for the wild and dangerous lands of Freelance. I now write, freelance copyedit, offer writing and self-publishing coaching, and also work in the food industry for stability and wonderful people-time (and with my last name, it was inevitable). I love my current collection of jobs and my corner of Alabama. When I’m not busy with my jobs, church, and family, I’m reading, plotting further writing-related business opportunities, watching black-and-white movies, hunting wildflowers in the lovely woods, and dreaming about traveling to far off places. You can learn more about my clean adventure-romance books and writing coaching at my website (https://www.ejkitchens.com).

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Equines United Seaside Tour

I love a good adventure, and as two of my three 2024 releases featured water, and I made a trip to the beach with family, I thought it would be fun to go on a seaside tour. And what better way to see the sea than by galloping across the sand?

After a bit of research, I decided on Equine United Tours for our excursion. So grab a mount and hit the sand! 

Which horse would you choose? Or would you bring your own? Do you have any horse adventure stories? Seaside stories?

Most of my “horse knowledge” comes from C.S. Lewis’s The Horse and His Boy, namely, to hold on with my knees. Armed with that knowledge and the experience of two easy trail rides (where the horses didn’t want to move but did want to lay down in the creek), I decided to ride a horse on the beach at Essaouira, Morocco. Now, we in the US tend to be very safety and liability conscious. Not so much elsewhere. In Essaouira, locals have horses and camels out on the pebbly beach, and you walk up and pay to ride. They ask if you’ve ever ridden before (not how much you know), then put you on the horse and set you loose. No helmet and no forms to sign! And no set path.

We mounted up and set out over the rocky beach on our own. Or tried to. My very tall and beautiful horse did not want to go. The owner got on his horse and joined us to help my friend and I along. We went into a canter–think bump, bump, bump–then into a gallop! Please remember–I had never done either before in my life! And certainly not on a very tall horse over a rocky beach with no helmet.

It was amazing.

Well, except for the bump, bump, bump part of cantering and the constant need to pull my dress down (which had a split for easy walking) down because I did not think my wardrobe through properly (tucking your dress under your leg does not help, fyi).

That poor horse was probably sore from me going up and down on its back as we cantered, because I had no idea how to manage a canter, but the gallop was thrilling! 

So, if you go horseback riding adventuring on your next trip, remember to dress properly and learn to canter before you go.
Fun fact: In my Little Mermaid retelling “The Mermaid and the Cursed Prince,” part of Tala’s experience learning to be human involves learning how to canter (which I based on my experience and later YouTube learning). And yes, her horse does run off with her, but her handsome human prince helps her get it under control. 😉

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Cursed for Keeps

Several of my books involve horses. Another one, set in the same world as  “The Mermaid and the Cursed Prince,” is Cursed for Keeps, a humorous “Snow White and the Seven Dwarves” and “Frog Prince” mashup.

About the story:

If you were an adventurous prince cursed to turn into a frog unless you got a kiss every single day–and your betrothed had been avoiding you for years–what would you do?

Well, if you were the very honorable Robert of Pondleigh, you’d try to get home to your beloved aunt for a smack on the cheek each morning and take her adventuring with you to find your bethrothed. Unfortunately for Robert, he gets injured in a bandit attack and stuck in a Cottage for Retired Enchanters with seven eccentric enchanters until he heals. But . . . there just so happens to be a suspiciously familiar maid who likes to ride horses there.

Does Robert get his daily kisses or must he eat flies? And more importantly, can he find out why Snow has been avoiding him and change her mind before it’s too late?

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The Treasure Chest 

You’ve been galloping through the waves like a heroine from the movies for some time now, your hair blowing in the wind, and now you and your guide decide to slow your pace and explore a rocky coastline visible ahead.

After dismounting, you wander into a cave, and lo and behold, within a hidden chamber you find a treasure chest!

What kind of treasure do you find? 

When you explore the contents of the treasure chest, you discover three types of treasure in the box. Use the image above to find out what you’ve discovered.

My treasure chest has _________, ___________, and ________.

Treasure 1: Shirt color

Treasure 2: Eye color

Treasure 2: Chair color

My treasure chest has a magic sword, comfortable and flattering dresses, and an every-story-in-one-cover book, so I can read anything I want but only need to carry one book! Everything a girl needs for an adventure, right?

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Wrought of Silver and Ravens

In Wrought of Silver and Ravens, my hero, Athdar, carries with him a secret and a very special treasure, both of which he guards with his life. Until he finds people he can trust with his life and his heart.

In this adventure-filled found family story, a lonely, distrustful guard must choose whether to reveal his secrets to help save seven princesses cursed to dance every night or keep his secrets and his isolation and leave the princesses and his fellow guards, even the captain who loves him like a son, to the evil schemes of a strange and powerful prince. This is a complete, four-book epic 12 Dancing Princesses retelling.

(I’ll let you in on one though–the treasure he carries and guards with his life and four adorable magical lion cubs, his inheritance from his mother and grandfather.)

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A Song of the Sea

Now that you’ve had some time to marvel over your treasure, it’s time to sing a song. Of victory, of joy, or just because you’re at the sea. Songs and the sea seem inextricably linked, from sea shanties sung by sailors to tales of siren songs. I’ll get us started, and you can keep it going (and restart when we finish) in the comments. Let’s go A to Z with each line being about something related to the sea. It doesn’t have to be perfect meter, just have fun. I look forward to hearing how it goes!

Anemone, anemone, are you waving a hello or a goodbye?

Blue like the deep blue sea you can be.

C

D

E

Fasten the sails

Gusty winds do blow

H

I

J

K

L

M

N

O

P

Q

R

S

T

U

V

Y

X

Y

Z

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The Parting 

’Tis time to say goodbye. Thanks so much for having me! I love the clean fairytale community and am grateful to be able to add stories to it as well as enjoy the company and great books. Speaking of, I hope you’ve enjoyed filling up your treasure chest with great stories.

You can see my personal story treasure chest here.

Your activity now is (if you choose) is to sign up for my newsletter to keep up with my stories. You can signup and get a free short story here and you can also follow me on Instagram.

If you’re interested in writing or self-publishing, be sure to check out my coaching options on my website.

Thanks for stopping by and enjoy the next fairytale author’s page!

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