Work In Progress: Etta’s Parallel Story

For those of you who have read the Swan Bride (and I hope a lot of you have) you might recognize the main character of my current work in progress as Leda’s half-sister: Etta Wood. She is a swan maiden with a black feather cloak who married a woodcutter several years before Leda’s story in the Swan Bride.

Though Etta mostly serves as a foil, sounding board, and mentor to Leda in the Swan Bride, I have been interested in expanding the story of her romance as it follows the more traditional stories of Swan Maidens (while Leda’s story more closely resembles Swan Lake).

This will be a shorter novella that should serve as an alternate entry point for the Borderland Bride series. I would also consider this a “parallel story” as some of the events in this story were referenced or happen at the same time as in the Swan Bride, just told from a different character’s viewpoint.

I have really enjoyed parallel stories lately, and this is actually the second parallel story I have written for the Swan Bride. The first was Nora’s Story in the Storybook Bride—the story of a seamstress (Nora Nilsdotter) who participates in the same bride competition as Leda. Inspired by Cinderella and the Red Shoes, this story shows the bride competition from Nora’s viewpoint and everything that happens with her behind the scenes.

(And it is already up on Amazon and given away free to my newsletter subscribers).

I’m also curious to know what other parallel stories have you read/enjoyed (where the author expands the point of view of a side character in their own story)?

And/or is there a side character from a book that you WISH had their own story? Who and why?