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by Shana Keller

Not all ideas arrive fully formed. Sometimes inspiration strikes like lightning—sudden, intense, and impossible to ignore. Other times it comes quietly, like a feeling that lingers long after the moment has passed.

CEECEE, UNDERGROUND RAILROAD CINDERELLA was one of those quieter ideas.

After rearranging my bookshelves for the millionth time (it’s an obsessive hobby), I fixated on an old Disney copy of Cinderella. I kept the book on my desk for a while, knowing I wanted to write a Cinderella story that featured someone who looked like me. And how could I honor the story I loved, while making it my own?

The Disney version had left a strong imprint on me as a child, and I couldn’t quite imagine what a new angle would even be.

A few months later, I scrolled across Vashti Harrison’s gorgeous illustration of a young Black girl in what looked, to me, like a Cinderella dress. Yes! I thought, feeling closer to the idea. The image stayed with me, but the story still eluded me. Yet the need to write it—whatever it was—wouldn’t go away. Frustrated, I put it on the back burner. Again.

Then, several months later, I read a story that changed everything.

It was an imagined conversation between Harriet Tubman and Susan B. Anthony. In it, Harriet described rescuing a young girl from a life of bondage. Suddenly, all the pieces clicked.

That’s the thing about ideas: they don’t always arrive with a clear purpose. Sometimes they come to you as questions you don’t yet know how to answer.

The Cinderella story I thought I knew wasn’t about waiting for rescue at all. It was about the courage to escape. It was about a girl who refused to accept a life that was forced on her. It was about self-determination, resilience, and the fierce truth that you can rescue yourself—if you’re willing to step into the unknown.

That’s how my retelling was born: a Cinderella who was enslaved, who didn’t wait for a prince, and who didn’t need anyone to grant her freedom. She didn’t need a glass slipper to prove her worth. She only needed a plan, a fierce heart, and the belief that she could become her own hero.

If there’s one thing I’ve learned from this journey, it’s this: when something catches your eye—when an image or a line or a character’s face sticks with you—don’t dismiss it just because you don’t know what it means yet. And don’t force it into a story before it’s ready. Hold onto it. Keep it close. Let it sit in the back of your mind.

Because ideas have their own timing.

Some will arrive like lightning, demanding immediate attention. Others will whisper, then wait patiently for you to be ready. The quiet ones often take longer—but they tend to stay. And when the pieces finally fall into place, you’ll realize the story was inside you all along.

Shana Keller grew up a middle child in Middle America wondering exactly how clouds stayed in the air. She’s traveled all over the country and some parts of Europe with her family, and moved too many times to count. She is the author of multiple picture books including the Irma Black Honor, BREAD FOR WORDS, A Frederick Douglass Story and TICKTOCK BANNEKER’S CLOCK, rated a Best STEM book by the Children’s Book Council. You can visit her at ShanaKeller.com and on Instagram @shanakellerwrites.