Where Is Araminta Green? (ONC 2024)

End Notes

I want to give a huge thanks to everyone who has read this story. Your comments, votes, and reads mean the world to me! To be able to transfer an idea from my mind onto the page and into someone else's mind is a true trick of magic. This is a story I didn't quite know what it would be when I started but it became a deeply personal project because Jordan and Araminta's struggles were also mine during my teenage years.

To end this story, I wanted to take the opportunity to answer some questions I imagine someone reading may have at this point. And keeping in theme with the story, I will do so in podcast format. I would love to hear readers' thoughts regarding these questions as well.

Interviewer: I thought this story would be a Jordan/Araminta romance, why did you trick me?

Lisa: Initially, I imagined it to be just that. But as I started to outline the plot, establish the character motivations, and discover the themes of the story, it just didn't quite work. I felt like having Jordan having been in love with Araminta defined her value as based on his attraction to her, which didn't feel like the message I wanted to send. I also struggled with how to make Jordan evolve personally during the story with such a romantic plot since Araminta wouldn't appear until the end. So, enter Derek Chao. The social butterfly. Who could help Jordan step out of his comfort zone and ultimately lead him toward Araminta.

A small side note is that I also contemplated a backstory where the reason Valeria and Araminta had a fall out was because they kissed at a party and later the whole school found out (leading Araminta to believe Valeria told everyone, when in actuality she isn't to blame). I figured that could tie into Jordan's anxiety after kissing Derek, as he fears a similar divide. I worried that would make their stories too similar though but it's something I may still add in rewrites.

Interviewer: Why did you choose to tell this story in podcast format?

Lisa: Because I'm an idiot? And because I wanted to challenge myself. I'm not going to lie though, writing those episodes was very taxing and it took a while for me to find a fitting format (using guides for how to transcribe podcasts as a template).

One decision I made early on here, which I know may seem unorthodox, was that I wanted every word of the podcast to be on the page, not just excerpts. The reason for this is that I felt that me picking what excerpts were included broke the illusion of Jordan curating the content and picking what to include in the actual episodes. It created a loophole where something could have been mentioned outside of the parts featured, and I didn't want to give myself that loophole.

Another thing I had to work around to not break the illusion was that I couldn't set any scenes right after an interview (if the interview was featured in podcast format). Because what you read wasn't just a transcript of an interview but an edited episode of a podcast (with cuts, sound effects, inserted audio from the studio, etc). And this edited episode wouldn't be finalized until a few days after the actual interview took place. So while I may for example have wanted Derek and Jordan's first kiss to happen after they interviewed Jane, I couldn't find a way to set a scene there without breaking the already established storytelling rules.

Interviewer: Where the hell is this story set? It's never even mentioned.

Lisa: Yeah, I kind of forgot about that... Truthfully, it's something I did have a headcanon for but since I didn't have the time to research locations in detail, I worried I would get things wrong. But I imagine this story to be set in the Pacific Northwest, a place known for its mysterious vibes and thick wood. My vision is that Jordan goes to university in Portland and his (yet-unnamed) hometown is located about two hours outside. I did have an idea of the town being called Salem (so he could joke about it not being that Salem, despite the witchy vibes) but I worried that the fact that there is already a Salem, Oregon, would lead to confusion in that regard (and that place is too big to fit my descriptions of Jordan's hometown).

Interviewer: Will there be a sequel? You certainly laid out heavy hints for a second story at the end, but you also did so in your previous ONC novella and I'm yet to see a continuation of "Why Is There An Alien Princess In My Room?".

Lisa: I definitely have the best intentions... Right now, I have grand ideas for a ghost-themed standalone sequel which would have Araminta as the main narrator (since her continued story feels interesting to explore). It would feature renovation hijinks, mysterious messages from ghosts, and possibly a love story with supernatural vibes. But I won't make any promises for when you may see such a story as I also have a lot of other projects on my to-do list. That said though, I do feel like this story may be one of my more marketable stories, as it's very high concept, so that sequel could move up that list.

Interviewer: So since you won't dive right into that sequel, what are your plans now?

Lisa: First, I will relax a little and take the opportunity to catch up on my reading! There are a lot of awesome ONC novellas this year that I want to prioritize reading. Then, I will spend some time polishing up this story for the Wattys. Currently, it's about 1k words short of 50k so I will make sure to add at least that much, and I will also weed out some typos, grammar issues, and clunky sentences. After that, I will look into if I can finish another story in time to enter into the Wattys as well (this would be something I've already started, I'm not writing a whole damn story before then!). Once that's done, I will see where inspiration leads me regarding my next project.

Interviewer: Thank you! That wasn't awkward at all, you basically interviewing yourself and all that... Can I go now?

[Eerie music starts]

Archive this story in your library and follow Lisa London on Wattpad to get notified about any new projects coming from her.

[Crow caws]