In Chapter Twenty (potentially the worst chapter of all), we’re back to the pattern of nothing happening in the palace. Kree’s older sister Lily prepares for a ball and Orchid tries on a dress--that’s it. I talk about losing momentum in your plot as well as how to combine seemingly unrelated plot threads into a cohesive story.

In Chapter Nineteen, Orchid returns to the palace to fanfare and open arms. Kree, stuck inside herself, tries to ruin Orchid’s life by embarrassing her when a handsome suitor comes to dinner. I talk about identifying critical plot moments and how to chose where to turn your focus in the narrative.

In Chapter Eighteen, Kree somehow manages to slay Mountus with a single stab even though an entire army from Canopy couldn’t kill him. However, her trials are not over. Weak from the battle, Kree loses her inner struggle with Orchid and is overtaken. Stuck inside her own body, she she watches as Abreen and Jamison are kidnapped and she is dragged back to the palace. I talk about using emotions in your story like colors in a painting and the importance of letting your characters fail.

In Chapter Seventeen, Kree finally confronts Mountus and, instead of fighting him, receives an wildly unnecessary amount of backstory. I talk about how to build to a climax, the importance of knowing when to start over, and how to give meaningful criticism.

In Chapter Sixteen, the mood is tense as the confrontation with Mountus and Orchid grows closer. When Abreen and Jamison fall into a mysterious mountain passage, Kree chases after them, meeting two mysterious figures along the way. I commend my fourteen year old self for some decent writing in this chapter and talk about how to evoke a specific tone in your writing through descriptive language.

In Chapter Fifteen, Kree, Abreen, and Jamison learn they’ve been camping in the Valley of Perfection, a dangerous place of illusion and magic, and are chased away by the valley demons—a hoard of white bunnies (because, sure, why not?). I talk about how funny this scene is and what a shame it is that fourteen year old me didn’t commit to a humorous story and tried to be way more serious than she could pull off.

In Chapter Fourteen, our favorite trio of overzealous fourteen year olds actually act like fourteen year olds for once and take a night off from the quest to dance by the campfire. Kree and Jamison have *a moment.* I talk about why this scene is my favorite in the entire book and setting goals for yourself in your writing (as well as my personal love of Nanowrimo).

In Chapter Thirteen, in a stroke of incredible convenience, the trio receives help escaping from a random forest imp named Quinnley who seems to know way too much about them (which is never explained because he disappears from the narrative after this). Kree has a dream about her family attending her funeral and feels suddenly conflicted about leaving them. I talk a lot about characters—from fleshing out side characters to dissecting why Abreen and Jamison are so flat—as well as my deep-seated hatred of adverbs.

In Chapter Twelve, Kree is nearly forced to marry the king of the forest imps to save Abreen and Jamison from becoming their main course at dinner, but thanks to an insane plan Kree comes up with in two seconds, the group miraculously escapes with no issue whatsoever. I talk about the bizarrely inconsistent tone of this novel, using asides effectively in your plot, and how to chose which perspective to tell your story from.

In Chapter Eleven, Kree, Abreen, and Jamison finally leave Canopy to go off on their quest to slay the dragon Mountus. All is going well for like five minutes until strange forest creatures drop down from the trees and take them hostage. I talk about the horrific magic system in this novel and how to use foreshadowing effectively (hint: don’t copy fourteen year old me).