by Kiara London
daydreams-to-neverland.tumblr.com . . .
HW: What’s your favorite way to spend a rainy day?
KL: Movie marathon! Grab a friend or a sibling, pop some popcorn, make your favorite drink, and turn the TV room into a blanket fort dream! May also include various face masks and nail polishes. Thunder makes the movie extra intense.
“The Writing Life”
HW: When did you realize you wanted to be a writer?
KL: I think I’ve always wanted to be a writer. I’m a daydreamer, and I’m always stuck in my own little world. I’ve been a storyteller since I was little, and I would act out my stories with dolls. However, it wasn’t until I was fourteen and I had finished my first book that I knew for sure that writing was the only thing I really wanted to do.
HW: Do you have any writing rituals? Like, do you always write in a specific place?
KL: I have to be in a writing mood, you know? I mean, I can force it, I can get those creative juices flowing. But it’s always more natural when I’m in that mood. I love writing when it’s gloomy outside. I’ll make myself some coffee or tea and I’ll get cozy. It doesn’t have to be anywhere specific, but I have to be alone. I tend to mouth out dialogue and get super intense in the face, and that’s just embarrassing, so . . . yes, I must be alone.
I can only type. I used to be able to handwrite, but I’ve gotten way too used to how fast my thoughts get down when I type. So it’s a must now.
And, funnily enough, I prefer to be a little sleepy.
HW: What’s your process? Are you an outliner or do you just start at the beginning and make it up as you go?
KL: I cannot, for the life of me, outline. I wing everything. I know how I want to start, I know how I want to finish, but the middle is a bunch of question marks. I figure it out as I write.
HW: What was it like getting the edit letter?
KL: In one word: overwhelming. I remember going through it the first time and thinking whoa. I was so excited, but I was also freaking out a little bit because there was so much to be done. And, more than that, it finally hit me that this was real. I just got an edit letter. From a real publisher. Oh. My. God.
But, really, I was so happy and excited to start working on my book.
HW: How does the revision process work for you?
KL: The same way my writing process works. I wing it, ha-ha.
I start from the beginning and work to the end. But because I was revising that way, I had to backtrack a hundred times and make a ton of notes everywhere to remind myself to fix something later in the book.
It was messy. And I worked in large clumps instead of bit by bit. If it weren’t for those edit notes, I would have been super frustrated.
I really need to find a better system, ha-ha. I can only get better.
HW: What’s the best writing advice you’ve ever heard?
KL: I know people get caught up in perfection—and that’s why a lot of people never finish their first drafts.
The best writing advice I’ve ever heard is to write without ever hitting backspace. Just focus on getting your ideas and dialogue down. You can go back and clean it up, I promise.
3
“I SOLEMNLY SWEAR THAT I AM UP TO NO GOOD.”
(HARRY POTTER AND THE PRISONER OF AZKABAN)
Saturday morning Liv woke to the sound of the garage door closing. Her mother had the day off, but she went in for a few hours each weekend and had done so for as long as Liv could remember. The house was cold, and an icy wind rattled the bedroom windows. Liv rolled over and pulled the covers over her head, waiting for sleep to retake her.
Heady warmth spread through her limbs. Behind closed lids, images flickered: the video she’d done for her final project last semester, the girl in the audio lab who always asked Liv for help with the anticrackle effect, Xander dragging her through fabric stores so he could pick out “the right brocade,” the new ONLY ONE MAN CALLS ME DARLIN’ T-shirt Liv wanted to buy.
“You ready, darlin’?”
The alien bug crouched, ready to attack.
“G’bye, Spartan.”
Liv’s eyes snapped open. With a groan, she whipped off the covers and swung her legs off the bed. No point in sleeping if that was what she’d dream about. Twenty minutes later, she was back in bed, albeit showered and dressed, with a cup of tea on the bedside table and her laptop balanced on her knees. Out of habit, she opened her e-mail.
Three hundred eighty-seven messages.
Liv blinked in confusion. “What the . . . ?”
The hundreds of messages had one source: her Spartan post from the previous night. With shaking fingers, she scrolled through them. Tweets, replies, likes, and, most exciting of all, “evidence posts”—at least fifty of them—filled the screen. These were getting their own reposts and replies, too. She leaned back against her pillow, heart pounding.
#SpartanSurvived had taken off.
Liv fumbled for her phone and flicked off airplane mode. It began to vibrate in her hand, four separate tweets from Joe, Brian, and two other fangirls appearing.
@JoesWoes: @LivOutLoud OMG Liv-GET ONLINE! Something’s going on with Starveil. O_O
@StarVeilBrian1981: @LivOutLoud Check out the new manip I just posted:
New Spartan post, btw. You should do a vid or something.
@SpartanGrrl: @LivOutLoud Liv! LIV! LIIIIIIIVVVVVVVV!!!! Where ARE you??? There’s a Spartan revolution about to begin!
@VeilMeister: @LivOutLoud Check out this post, bb. http://tinyurl.com/Starveil3
“Oh my God!” Liv gasped as the realization hit her. “I’m trending.”
Liv started to type an answer to Joe’s tweet, then stopped and deleted it. It felt important she keep anonymous, at least for now. It wasn’t supposed to be a joke. It was a call for action. She flicked back to VeilMeister’s tweet. Not just a call to arms, a Spartan revolution.
Grinning, she finally decided on Xander. Besides being her friend, he had absolutely no connection to the Starveil fandom. Even if he accidentally said something online, it wouldn’t matter. The only people who really knew him were the steampunk crowd. Besides, he needed to be in the know, since they had a vid to film. She wrote half a page of text, then deleted it after all, calling instead. The phone rang three times before a sleep-laden voice answered.
“Liv?” Rustling echoed in the background. “You all right?”
“I’m fine. I just need to talk to someone.”
“So text me,” Xander mumbled. “Goodness. What century were you born in?”
“But I need to talk to you now, not three hours from now!”
“I cannot imagine anything that can’t wait three hours.” The sound of yawning came through the phone. “There are reasonable ways to wake a person in the morning, you know.”
“From someone who prefers an inkwell to a Sharpie,” Liv said, giggling, “you are a surprising technology snob.” She peeked down at her computer screen. Forty-six new notifications had arrived in the time since she’d woken. “So are you awake yet?”
“Mrrrph. I’m trying . . . I really am.”
“I’ll take that as a yes. I need you to go online, Xander.”
“As in right now?”
“Yes, now.”
“But I’m so tired,” he moaned. “Can’t this wait?”
“No.”
“Honestly, Liv. How are you awake at all?”
“Please, Xander,” she pleaded, “just do it.”
“All right . . . let me grab my tablet.” He yawned again. “Okay, I’m online. This better be good.”
“I need you to go to the Starveil wiki.”
There was a pause. “Are you joking? You know how I feel about Star—”
“Just GO.”
“Fine . . . But only because it’s you asking, dearest.” Liv heard him moving around, the phone being shifted. “All right. I’m over on the dark side. You’d better have the cookies I’ve been promised.”
Liv giggled. “Now find the list of
Spartan forums.”
“Where? I don’t see it,” Xander grumbled. “This is really the worst-designed fan page I’ve ever—”
“They’re over on the left side of the page. You see them now?”
“Um . . . yeah. Yeah, I got it. Which one?”
“Just click on the search box at the top of the list and type in Spartan Survived.”
There was a pause.
“Okay,” Xander said. “I’ve got about a hundred different results. Which one?”
“All of them!” Liv laughed. “That’s me! I’m trending.”
There was a pause of several seconds.
“That’s . . . you?”
“Yes! That project I was telling you about last night? I kind of started it on my own. I put out a post. It should be the first one on the list.”
Liv heard him moving about, sheets rustling. Xander’s voice returned, brighter than before. “Is this the Spartan Rescue Mission post?”
“Exactly! It’s trending. I’ve got like . . .” She refreshed her e-mail browser, eyes widening at the new list. “Close to five hundred replies already.”
“Are you kidding me? This is for freaking Starveil. Unbelievable!”
Liv choked back laughter. “Don’t be mad,” she teased. “I’m sure steampunk will have its day.”
She could hear the grin in Xander’s tone. “It already does, Liv dearest. You just have to meet real-life people at cons to truly experience it.”
“So you keep saying.”
“Then why don’t you come with me this summer? Dragon Con is something you must experience to understand. Arden and I are already planning our dual cosplay.”
Liv rolled her eyes at the mention of Xander’s girlfriend. “Wouldn’t that be . . . kind of weird?”
“Why would it be weird?”
“I dunno . . . With Arden and you, and then . . . me?” Liv laughed. “I’m not excited to be a third wheel.”
“Pfft! Arden adores you. Besides, every room is packed that weekend. That’s just how Dragon Con works. My cousin’s coming, too. We could find room for you, if you wanted.”
“I don’t think so. But thanks.”
“Not a problem,” Xander said. “And seriously, Liv, this whole thing you did with the Starveil post is fantastic. Bravo, dearest! Five hundred overnight is . . . It’s amazing! I’m in awe.”
“Thanks, Xander. That means a lot.” She grinned. “So are you ready to start a revolution?”
He chuckled. “I think it’s already started.”
Kiara London is the Internet-savvy, hopelessly romantic alter ego of Bethany Novak-Tveten, who in real life is part of the US Air Force. She started writing on the online writing site Booksie when she was thirteen and then transferred to Wattpad, where her debut novel, Kiss Cam, was originally posted. She spends most of her time scrolling down Tumblr, attempting to read everything she can get her hands on, and drooling over fictional men.
daydreams-to-neverland.tumblr.com
A Swoon Reads Book
An imprint of Macmillan Publishers Limited
First published in the US 2016 by Feiwel and Friends
This electronic edition published 2016 by Macmillan Children’s Books
an imprint of Pan Macmillan
20 New Wharf Road, London N1 9RR
Associated companies throughout the world
www.panmacmillan.com
ISBN 978-1-5098-1892-1
Copyright © Kiara London 2016
Excerpt from All the Feels
copyright © 2016 by Danika Stone
The right of Kiara London to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by her in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
Pan Macmillan does not have any control over, or any responsibility for, any author or third-party websites referred to in or on this book.
You may not copy, store, distribute, transmit, reproduce or otherwise make available this publication (or any part of it) in any form, or by any means (electronic, digital, optical, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise), without the prior written permission of the publisher. Any person who does any unauthorized act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.
A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
Book design by Liz Dresner
Visit www.panmacmillan.com to read more about all our books and to buy them. You will also find features, author interviews and news of any author events, and you can sign up for e-newsletters so that you’re always first to hear about our new releases.
