Brian Oliver’s Original Email to Ella (How They Met)

In Cinder & Ella, Brian and Ella share a passion for all things reading and fantasy. Ella has a book and movie review blog, and “met” Brian the day he wrote her an email about a post she’d written on his favorite book series. While they agreed that The Cinder Chronicles was the best set of books ever to be penned, and that the author was a genius, that was pretty much where their mutual understanding stopped. Brian’s bold letter about Ella’s post, and Ella’s heated reply, sparked a strong Internet friendship that carried them both through some difficult times.

Excerpt from the book:

“I met Ella through her blog over three years ago, after I came across a post she’d written about my favorite book series.” He flashed the audience a devastating smile. “You guys might have heard of it—The Cinder Chronicles by L.P. Morgan.”

Cheers erupted, and after the noise died down Brian continued on. “She had this insane theory that Prince Cinder should have chosen Ellamara instead of Princess Ratana, which of course I absolutely had to argue with. I wrote a very nice and polite Letter To The Editor explaining how completely misguided her theory was.”

Brian chuckled, but I scoffed. “Nice and polite? He called me a pig-headed, naïve feminist romanticist!”

Everyone in the room laughed, and even I had to smile because a secretive smirk crept over Brian’s face. No doubt he was thinking about the exact same thing I was.

“When she wrote me back, it was love at first fight.”

I thought it would be fun to share with you guys, the actual letter that Brian wrote to Ella, which you won’t find in the book. Enjoy!

Brian’s Letter To The Editor

To: EllaTheRealHero@yahoo.com

From: Cinder458@gmail.com

Subject: Words of wisdom…?

More like the absurd ramblings of a pig-headed, naïve, feminist romanticist. As much as I respect your love for the greatest book series of all time, I simply cannot let your backwards ideas stand without argument. Ella, the real hero of The Cinder Chronicles? In what reality? Was Obi-Wan the hero of Star Wars? Or Mr. Miyagi the hero of Karate Kid? I don’t think so. If Ellamara were the hero of the story, they’d have to change the title of The Druid Prince to The Boring Book About That Weird Chick No One Cares About.

And you think Cinder should have chosen her over Princess Ratana? ARE YOU CRAZY? Ellamara was a too-good-for-everyone, cryptic-just-to-be-difficult man-hater. All she ever did was give a bunch of vague, unhelpful advice and constantly harp on Cinder and try to change him. So typical of a woman. And she was way too stubborn—always thought she knew best, and always had to be right about everything. (Kind of reminds me of someone…)

Ratana was so much better for Cinder. I mean, come on. She was as fierce a warrior as he was. She was always up for an adventure, supported Cinder when he had risky ideas, and believed in him when no one else did. Plus, she was a princess. She understood the kinds of responsibilities Cinder had as the leader of his people. She was raised to be a queen. She could help Cinder run the kingdom after he took the throne. If Cinder had chosen Ella, it would have ruined the book.

I hate to say it but, as entertaining as your blog post was, it sounded a bit defensive. Are you sure you didn’t just hate the fact that Cinder chose the beautiful, fun, popular, rich chick instead of the quiet, shy outcast? Hit a little too close to home maybe? You know, they say our favorite characters are often the ones we can most relate to. Hence the reason Cinder is my favorite character ever written. He’s awesome. He’s impulsive and passionate. I’m awesome. I’m impulsive and passionate. He’s under a lot of pressure. I’m under a lot of pressure. He’s good looking. I’m good looking… You see what I’m saying?

You’re probably just like Ellamara, aren’t you? Only you’re much more capable of stringing together coherent thoughts. I bet you’re shy and awkward in real life, but you come alive online. You should stop hiding behind your blog. I’ve read a few of your posts. You’re funny, and though your opinions are severely misguided, you show a great amount of intelligence in your writing. Your wit and sarcasm are totally awesome. You’re pretty, too. I mean, the braces are a little unfortunate (been there, done that, hated it), but you still have a beautiful smile and your eyes are stunning. I bet if you borrowed a little of Cinder’s confidence you’d have the guys flocking to you like crazy.

From one die-hard fan to another, I sincerely hope this letter will help you realize how wrong you are, and that the book is absolutely perfect the way it is. But considering how obstinate you seem, it’s more likely we’ll have to agree to disagree. Still, your blog is pretty cool. Keep up the good work.

Sincerely,

Your newest follower,

Cinder458