Dear Gail Carson Levine,
I am the middle grade fantasy author of the Enchantria series. I'd just really like to thank you. You inspired my love of reading. I first read Ella Enchanted when I was around nine, and it has remained my favorite book ever since! I was around ten when I decided to write a book during my extremely boring summer vacation, and that book turned into a fully fledged middle-grade fantasy series. I'd just like to thank you so much. Without your book, Writing Magic, I don't think I ever would've gotten through the series. Writing Magic was the book that actually inspired me to become a writer and create stories and worlds like you do. I don't know if you'll really read this, and I know you probably won't reply, but I'd just like to say that without you, I probably wouldn't be the writer I am today. All your writing prompts, tips, and your own experiences really introduced me to the writing life, and I just really realized that that was exactly what I wanted to do. And today, I'm the author of a whole book series (the rest will be published soon), a thousand story ideas, and someone who really writes to inspire others just like your books and characters inspired me. So thank you so much.
Wendy/Isabelle Knight (my pen name).

Hello! I first read Ella Enchanted when I was in 6th grade. I reread it many, many times. I had never engaged in the fantasy genre before and rarely have since - I get bored easily of the lengthy explanations and descriptions. I also read many others in the next several years and eventually introduced them to my children. We moved to Germany (from the U.S.) this summer and have been listening to audiobooks during our drives to new adventures. Listening to Ogre Enchanted on our way to Cologne was so much fun! Even my son, who was determined to dislike the “girly book” got completely hooked with the violence and laughed every time “dragon pee” was mentioned.

Ella Enchanted will always hold a special place in my heart. It’s immersive and engaging, with each of the characters so well developed and interesting. I read my copy over and over. Thank you for writing it.

Dear Ella W,

The short answer is, I don't know, not just because I wrote ELLA so long ago--mostly because the curse was tricky. I avoided commands that were puzzling in exactly the way you say. If she were given a physically impossible command, I don't think she'd have to die trying to obey it.

I'm very glad you've enjoyed my books and have stayed with them!

Gail

Dear Ms. Levine,

I am a longtime lover of your books. My copy of Ella Enchanted was given to me for my eighth birthday years ago and is so well-read that the cover is now held to the book by several layers of tape. Although the heroine's name matching my own is certainly part of the charm, what really captivated me was your world-building. I love the fairies, the languages, and your magic system.

I've had a question for several years now about Ella's curse. At the beginning of the book, as a baby, she is told to stop crying, and she obeys. She seems too little to understand speech yet, so does her obedience happen regardless of her understanding the words? That is to say, if someone spoke to her in a language she didn't understand (an unlikely scenario, I suppose, given she's such a polyglot) or used a word she didn't know, would she still have to obey them?

--An Ella on her 14th reread of Ella Enchanted

Destinee--I love your approach, but I can't license a new screenplay because Miramax has that right (which I agreed to as part of the original agreement). You can write it, of course, for your own pleasure or as a writing exercise, but it can't move forward unless Miramax gives the okay. After that, I would have to approve it too.
I'm delighted that ELLA has meant so much to you.