Reposted by 💀kris is kickstartering London and the King of Bones💀
👧a kidnapped girl
😼a sassy cat
🧛♂️a vegetarian vampire
🐺a “fearless” werewolf
💀the spoiled skull of a former king
They’re off to see the wizard... to stab him in the heart.
www.kickstarter.com/projects/kam...
#WritingCommunity #BookSky #WriteSky #KidLit #LGBTQBooks #IndieAuthor
kickstarter.com
London and the King of Bones
A Halloween-themed portal fantasy for middle graders by a Nebula Award-nominated author.
![Courtney had been London’s one and only best friend since the creation of the Sun—that is, the papier-mâché Sun London made in grade two, which Courtney promptly stepped on in search of her fallen eyewear. Courtney was the new girl that year, her family having just moved to Canada from Taiwan. London knew what moving to a new place was like. London immediately apologized for her Sun being in Courtney’s path, and Courtney apologized for destroying a vital celestial body, and they continued apologizing until deciding to make it up to one another over a shared juice box and animal crackers.
Rising rent prices forced Courtney’s family to move to the other side of town last year, but she and London wouldn’t let public transportation get in the way of their friendship. Four video calls a week were mandatory to replace lost visitation time; they put the clause in their long-distance-friendship contract, safely tucked away at the back of London’s shirt drawer.
Courtney, as her legally binding best friend forever, looked at London with worry lines creasing her forehead. “Are you sure you [want] to do anything tonight?”](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:fuvsruzgllbgcionosop57mz/bafkreiafma2tgq2xym2aeqk352wsk3qwcutraofmdxdi6abe5x5uuystbq)
![The owner of the voice stood up, bags rolling off its body to reveal yet another shiny, black trash bag, worn as a dress. It was about the farthest thing from a thousand feet tall, though the monster part was somewhat accurate. Two big, white eyes peered out from a half-open ramen cup, wet noodles flowing out around the rim like hair escaping from a scrunchy that hadn’t been washed since the ’80s. Its arms and legs appeared to be made of mismatched toy limbs, including a pink paw, a toy soldier’s combat boot, a ceramic doll’s hand, and a large tarnished fork. It stood about as tall as London’s hips and brandished a lead pipe like a sword.
London kept her hands up in a show of surrender. Without thinking, she blurted out, “What [are] you?”
“Well that’s rude!” the garbage monster squeaked. It waved the pipe and whacked a stained pillow, feathers shooting in the air. “I’m a normal girl! What the heck are you?”](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:fuvsruzgllbgcionosop57mz/bafkreia4424vt5eeskl7lhagga3nx6gnr37i2fqt24iwh7yumuebinlii4)
![The cover of my book, Lonely in Happy Town. Designed by Tyler Cleroux. The font is reminiscent of Animal Crossing and there are two gaming controllers with hearts on them, on a pink backdrop. E.M. Anderson, author of The Remarkable Retirement of Edna Fisher and The Keeper of Lonely Spirits says it’s “[A] cozy but cathartic read about love, anxiety, and rebuilding community.”](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:fuvsruzgllbgcionosop57mz/bafkreieifein6i4n7qmsyysbfslzrlldutzfox37tg7zd6ses2op6yicra)
![Still in costume, London lay in bed, her body heavy. She thought maybe blue pinafores were cursed. Next Halloween, she was staying home in pajamas. Eating all the Halloween candy, watching TV, and snuggling Mom and a cat she hoped wouldn’t be able to talk anymore.
If she had a next Halloween.
London forced herself to sit up. Her torn winter coat was balled up in the corner of the room. The walls were decorated like it had been a teenager’s room before, with glossy posters of a pouting, green-skinned boyband called Zom-Bae and one of a skeleton king lounging on a throne also made of skeletons that said [Game of Bones]. She reached for a small, circular mirror on the dresser. She tried flattening her wild hair, running her fingers through knots and tangles, but it was no use.
“You’re taking this pretty well,” Myrtle said, opening one eye.](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:fuvsruzgllbgcionosop57mz/bafkreiabb354e3ipfimoqcqgzx4uy5yfiuw5jo6cikfftssuja5mhp6zju)
![Four years to the day. Larry Lark didn’t say goodbye to his family, didn’t pack his things. The police found no trace of him. But London knew in her heart, he wasn’t missing—he’d left.
The first two Halloweens, she was heartbroken, but still went trick-or-treating with Courtney. The third, she was furious, and they stayed in to watch classic Halloween movies like [The Nightmare Before Christmas] and [Hocus Pocus]. But today, she was really, really ready to move on.
“I do,” London decided. “From now on, I’ll remember Halloween as the anniversary of my first party.”](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:fuvsruzgllbgcionosop57mz/bafkreib6va5wtjk6mciiuc4hzbhrfzkksejvm6u6lq73yuojtkdlwo2dee)
