All the Feels
by Danika Stone
Publisher: Swoon Reads
Release Date: June 7th 2016
Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary, Romance
Synopsis:
College freshman Liv is more than just a fangirl: The Starveil movies are her life… So, when her favorite character, Captain Matt Spartan, is killed off at the end of the last movie, Liv Just. Can’t. Deal.
Tired of sitting in her room sobbing, Liv decides to launch an online campaign to bring her beloved hero back to life. With the help of her best friend, Xander, actor and steampunk cosplayer extraordinaire, she creates #SpartanSurvived, a campaign to ignite the fandom. But as her online life succeeds beyond her wildest dreams, Liv is forced to balance that with the pressures of school, her mother’s disapproval, and her (mostly nonexistent and entirely traumatic) romantic life. A trip to DragonCon with Xander might be exactly what she needs to figure out what she really wants.
The Secret Side of All the Feels
When you see All the Feels in stores, it’s easy to forget that there was a long process to get to that point. But like all books, it had a rocky road from first idea to publication. Here are a few of the factoids, trivia, and mishaps that occurred along the way.
1. I almost didn’t write All the Feels. That’s right. When I started writing, I had two ideas for books. One was a serious literary fiction and one light-hearted fandom romp. My husband was the one who argued for funny. I guess it worked!
2. Xander is based on my brother-in-law. Surprise, surprise… there really ARE people who cosplay 100% of the time, and I’m related to one. He’s not into Steampunk—that’s my thing—but if you see Indiana Jones walking around your local mall, it might just be him.
3. I honestly didn’t think All the Feels would get selected for publication. When you write something as different as All the Feels, there’s no guarantee that ANYONE is going to like it, never mind read it. I put it into the Swoon Reads contest on a whim, certain it would go nowhere. The phone call from Macmillan was one of the most surreal moments in my life.
4. The first version had Liv’s dad in it. In the original draft, Liv finds her father at Dragon Con. It was a last-second addition and never totally felt right. When I jumped into edits, it was the first scene to be scrapped.
5. There are lots of echoes of REAL moments in All the Feels. The creepy Mad Hatter moment actually happened me. So did the cringe-worthy suggestion of a date. (Also me!) As a writer it’s kind of nice to take the horrifying moments in one’s life and spin them into something better.
From All the Feels, Chapter 2
Spartan Forum, 2:15 a.m.
New thread, topic: Spartan Rescue Mission
@SpartanSurvived:
ATTN: All members of the Starveil Rebellion. Many of you have heard that Captain Matt Spartan, commander of the Star Freighter Elysium, has been reported missing in action. Surveillance footage from the final escape pod shows the Elysium being destroyed, but in the last hours, there have been multiple reports of an unidentified transceiver messaging in the Omega Quadrant.
We need you, soldiers. Spartan needs you. Look for evidence. Find reports, word-of-mouth testimony, footage if you can. If we have any hope of finding Spartan alive, it will come down to your ingenuity and determination. This rescue message must spread far and wide. Post your findings on all fandom platforms using the hashtag: #SpartanSurvived
THIS IS YOUR CALL TO ACTION.
@SpartanSurvived
Liv chewed her lower lip, rereading the text once and again. Leaving a post like this on one of the busiest Starveil forums was a call to arms. It was so outrageous - so arrogant - she couldn't doubt the potential for ridicule. Trolls loved tearing apart things like this. And if they decided to start flaming her post, they'd burn her idea down to the ground. But if she didn't post it, she'd never know.
Her fingers drummed on the armrest. Post or not. That was the big question.
Liv lifted her phone, scrolling through her texts. There was one from Joanne. It had arrived while she was out with Xander.
@Joeswoes: So upset over that stupid ending, Liv. How do you get over losing a character you love? Spartan's REAL to me. He's my baby, you know? :(
Liv did know. He was her baby too. He was everyone's! And by killing the character off they'd wounded an entire community of fans. She reread Joe's text, her finger hovering over reply for a long moment.
She set the phone down again.
Her gaze darted back to the computer screen. THIS IS YOUR CALL TO ACTION. If she posted this, it needed to be real. She needed people to believe Spartan could come back. They needed to trust that he'd made it out of the ship. It couldn't just be fangirl to fangirl, writing Starveil AU's that never really happened. This would be the guerrilla warfare of character ships. The fans would have to reweave the details they had into a new explanation of those last seconds of film. They'd take no prisoners, leave no wounded fans behind. But, as in any war, that meant the intel behind the revolution had to stay secret for as long as possible.
Fandom had to believe.
Liv released her breath, heart beating in her temple. It's up to you to make your happy ending.
She hit post.
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Danika Stone is an author, artist, and educator who discovered a passion for writing fiction while in the throes of her Masters thesis. A self-declared bibliophile, Danika now writes novels for both adults (The Intaglio Series, Edge of Wild and Ctrl Z) and teens (Icarus, and All the Feels). When not writing, Danika can be found hiking in the Rockies, planning grand adventures, and spending far too much time online. She lives with her husband, three sons, and a houseful of imaginary characters in a windy corner of Alberta, Canada.Ms. Stone is represented by Morty Mint of Mint Literary Agency.
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