The Stolen Chapters (30 page)

Did he really believe it?

And the acknowledgments page was even stranger than the rest of the book. “He's writing about
me
?” she said, straightening her Batman cape across her shoulders. “Is this . . . a joke?”

Apparently, Acknowledgments-Liesa was thinking the same thing, as “ ‘Is this . . . a joke?' asked Liesa” was right there at the top.

Sometimes being an editor was a lot harder than anyone knew. Especially with
this
author.

“Did you see this?” Liesa said to Emma Sector, her coeditor on the books. “
This
is what I've been dealing with since
Half Upon a Time
.”

Emma shook her head. “He's got you going over a list of everyone he's thanking. Look.”

Liesa glanced down and saw that Acknowledgments-Liesa was running over a list of who James had thanked: Michael Bourret, his agent; Mara Anastas and Mary Marotta, his publishers; Carolyn Swerdloff, Teresa Ronquillo, Matt Pantoliano, and Lucille Rettino in marketing; Faye Bi, his publicist; Katherine Devendorf in managing editorial; Adam Smith, the copy editor; Sara Berko in production; Laura Lyn DiSiena, who designed the book; Chris Eliopoulos, his interior illustrator, and Vivienne To, his cover artist; Michelle Leo and the education/library team; Christina Pecorale and the rest of the sales team; and Stephanie Voros and the subrights group. All the people who worked really hard, basically to give James the chance to narcissistically insert himself into his own book.

Those poor, poor people,
Acknowledgments-Liesa thought.

Real Liesa shook her head, wondering again why she put up with this. Why did
everything
have to be so meta with James? “Can't he do it the easy way, just once?” she murmured. And how was he going to thank his friends and family, his loved ones, if this was all written from her perspective? She shook her head.

Her e-mail beeped, as it did every 1.2 seconds, and she thankfully turned away from the acknowledgments to look over at her computer.

Except, of course, it was him. It was
always
him.

Subject: Whoops!

LIESA!!!!!

I totally forgot to add in all my friends and family and loved ones! Obviously, I need Corinne in there, like, right at the top of everything. And my parents, who probably still wonder what they did wrong. My family. Everyone who's supported me. The Laird family, Katie, Heather, Mark, and Kim. My readers, ESPECIALLY my readers, who are the greatest, most kindest, wonderfulest people ever.

Also can we put a thank-you in to J. K. Rowling as if she and I are friends? Something like “and most importantly, thanks to J. K. Rowling (or Jo, as I call her) for all those long talks we had over coffee, where we just laughed together over nothing.” That's legal, right?

James

Liesa banged her head against her desk twice, took a deep breath, then hit reply.

Subject: Re: Whoops!

Hey,

No, that would be sort of odd, since you don't know her. Speaking of odd, why don't you just maybe write your acknowledgments in a more normal way? Then you don't have to confuse everyone even more, especially right when they're finishing the book.

Speaking of confusing, are you actually trying to say you're Nobody in this book?

The reply came just seconds later.

Subject: Re: Whoops!

;)

“And NOPE!” Liesa shouted, shutting her computer down. “It's OVER! It's just OVER!” She grabbed the acknowledgments, planning on ripping them up, then glanced down at the pages and saw that Acknowledgments-Liesa was doing exactly that too.

“ARRRGH!” she shouted, both in real life and on the page, then collapsed into a heap on her desk, shuddering every few seconds.
Why? Why do I do this?!

“Writers,” Emma said quietly from the doorway as she clicked off the light, then closed Liesa's door. “They really
are
just pure evil.”

A
LSO BY
J
AMES
R
ILEY

Half  Upon a Time

Twice Upon a Time

Once Upon the End

Story Thieves

This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real places are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and events are products of the author's imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or places or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

ALADDIN

An imprint of Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing Division

1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, New York 10020

www.SimonandSchuster.com

First Aladdin hardcover edition January 2016

Text copyright © 2016 by James Riley

Interior illustrations by Chris Eliopoulos copyright © 2016 by Simon & Schuster, Inc.

Jacket illustration copyright © 2016 by Vivienne To

All rights reserved, including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form.

ALADDIN is a trademark of Simon & Schuster, Inc., and related logo is a registered trademark of Simon & Schuster, Inc.

For information about special discounts for bulk purchases, please contact Simon & Schuster Special Sales at 1-866-506-1949 or
[email protected]
.

The Simon & Schuster Speakers Bureau can bring authors to your live event. For more information or to book an event contact the Simon & Schuster Speakers Bureau at 1-866-248-3049 or visit our website at
www.simonspeakers.com
.

Book design by Laura Lyn DiSiena

Author photograph by Maarten de Boer

The text of this book was set in Adobe Garamond.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Riley, James, 1977–

The stolen chapters / by James Riley. — Aladdin hardcover edition.

p. cm. — (Story thieves ; 2)

Summary: Mysteries abound as memory-erased Owen Conners, boy magician Kiel Gnomenfoot, and their half-fictional friend Bethany confront secrets, stolen memories, hidden clues, surprising twists and endings, and some very familiar faces.

[1. Books and reading—Fiction. 2. Characters in literature—Fiction. 3. Adventure and adventurers—Fiction. 4. Magic—Fiction.] I. Title.

PZ7.1.R55Sp 2016

[Fic]—dc23

2015012733

ISBN 978-1-4814-0922-3 (hc)

ISBN 978-1-4814-0924-7 (eBook)