Sit, Cinderella, Sit

A debut memoir and (sort of) Cinderella story about a woman who'd been told she was "too old" to create magic who flew to rural China, edited a film without speaking a word of Mandarin, and discovered her own power.

Lisa Cheek loved editing TV commercials-almost as much as she loved her dog, Ron Howard. Then, she "aged out" of advertising, at 45. After being let go, Lisa got a call-at 2:45 AM-from a director who, like everyone in Hollywood, had a film he wanted to make: the original Cinderella story. Now, his dream could come true-if Lisa granted his wish.

In Sit, Cinderella, Sit, Lisa Cheek shares her adventures in editing a film made on location in China-along the Tibetan border-where Mandarin was the only language spoken by everyone but her. Stuck in a house with fourteen men she couldn't understand, literally, she yearned for conversation and coffee.

But there were moments of wonder and laughter. Lisa forged a bond with her translator and a woman named Sunny. She rescued one dog, and then another. "Everyone speaks Cinderella," the director had assured her. Maybe he was right.

Told with humor and heart through a fairy tale lens, with flashbacks into the author's not-always-happy childhood, Sit, Cinderella, Sit is a story about what can happen when you take a leap of faith, look and hear beyond people's differences, and dare to believe in yourself.