"The Ice Princess" Comes Out of Hiding

Bonita M Quesinberry, a Buzzle featured author, today announced "The Ice Princess," a poem of epic proportions like that of old masters and a fairytale for those 8 to 80—rarely done in these days of short, snappy rhymes—recently was entered into a poetry contest at AuthorsDen. This is the first time the 508-stanza/5160-words composition has been made available for public reading—both to AuthorsDen members and visitors—since written in 1988; at the same time, a 15,000-word prose version also was written. Already, the poem is receiving rave reviews at AuthorsDen, where visitors also may add their comments.

In 1989, retired Disney animator/creator Don Patterson reviewed an audio of "The Ice Princess" and declared it "destined to rival the great classics" such as "Snow White," "Cinderella," and even "Fantasia:" this latter, one of many collaborative efforts of which Mr. Patterson animated. He so believed in "The Ice Princess" that he directed Ms. Quesinberry of Washington and her aunt, Jan Osborne of California, to specific people at Walt Disney Studios: who in turn, requested the manuscript by agent so as not to get lost in their 'slush pile' of unsolicited submissions.

Unfortunately, the agent stole "The Ice Princess" and registered it, as the owner, with Library of Congress. Fortunately for Ms. Quesinberry, she previously had taken the precaution of sending a copies of the manuscript and audio tapes in several sealed envelopes to various people around the country: with instructions not to open the manila envelopes bearing a crucial postmark. Still, it took a year, an attorney, the FBI, and helpful Library of Congress personnel to finally retrieve this rare work: aided immensely by the fact this agent had not listed himself also as author of "The Ice Princess."

It was then Ms. Quesinberry discovered "The Ice Princess" had been plagiarized in prose by the agent and two other California writers unknown to her: the agent's lawyer, during a short period of her attorney communicating with him, made the mistake of sending a copy of the plagiarized version to Ms. Quesinberry along with the copy of her poem she originally had provided the agent. The FBI then was brought into the case.

As Mr. Patterson noted, the beauty of "The Ice Princess" is that appeals to all ages and, unlike subliminal negative messages found in some classic children's stories, this fairytale is positive as well as being about looking to self and finding love within self; yet, it has mystery and a lot of fantasy that would equate to great special effects on screen. Mr. Patterson went on to say, "Ms. Quesinberry is a great and rare talent that needs to be discovered by the world!"

Ms. Quesinberry described the theft incident as so emotionally traumatic—as a naive unpublished writer at the time—that, once recovered and despite Mr. Patterson's most encouraging review and help with Disney, she stuffed "The Ice Princess" into a desk drawer and moved on to other writing: not sure then if she ever wanted to be published in any genre. Of course, she did go on to be published in romance and, more recently, in works of Biblical prophecy. Now, she's taken this first step toward considering possible publication, and eventually might even think about movie production, for "The Ice Princess." The only unnerving aspect of this new venture, to her, is once again having to seek an appropriate agent.

If interested in this rare epic poem, "The Ice Princess" can be read at http://www.authorsden.com/visit/viewpoetry.asp?AuthorID=9723&id=78392.

Other of Ms. Quesinberry's works are detailed at her website, Unicorn Haven at http://www.geocities.com/pen_for_god

THE ICE PRINCESS
A rare epic poem and fairytale for ages 8 to 80