Here are some behind the scenes! Want to find out about the origin of this book? Want to know the story behind it? Want to know about some deleted scenes of the book? Keep reading!

PS: I will be publishing an Ask Me book right after this. Have a question about this book? Perhaps something you didn't understand or would like to know more? Feel free to ask questions about my books or me!

With that being said, let's get on with the behind the scenes!

~Facts~

- Actually, I had this idea ever since the early chapters of The Dare That Became A Reality. It was an idea that I kept in my head for quite a long time, I had no idea how to start writing it.

- The writing of this book was inspired by The Land Of Stories series by Chris Colfer.

- I had another title in mind for the book which was "In Another World...". I then decided with the current title because I could end the book with those words. (The same way I ended The Dare That Became A Reality.) People liked the way I ended that book and so I decided to do the same for this.

- The idea for the riddle from chapter 15 came from The Land Of Stories (The Wishing Spell), where you had to collect a series of items to form the key back to home.

- In chapter 37 where Pitch is taking control of Jack was also inspired by The Land Of Stories (An Author's Odyssey) which was dark magic entering a person's system thus taking control of him/her.

- The breaking of Jack's spell was inspired by one of the cartoons I watched during childhood, Winx Club.

- There were 3 versions of Elsa's confession to Jack in chapter 45, I kid you not. In the end, I took a part from each.

- The idea of them losing their powers in Alternia was from Miss Peregrine's Home For Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs. If you had read the book, the peculiar children would age if they linger outside their loop for too long. I took the concept and changed it my way to cause the loss the magic in them.

- The idea of Aidan, Cleo, Darrel, Ethan and Isabelle having powers was a last minute decision. That's why their powers were mentioned rather late in the book. I wanted them to have a bigger part to play in the story.

-Originally, instead of a gateway, it was supposed to be a magical forest, but I couldn't quite fit it into the book cover. So, I decided to change it to the gateway and use the magical forest for chapter 15 instead. This forest below was supposed to serve as the way to Alternia.

~Deleted scenes~

- Olaf wasn't included in the book. He would have stayed behind to take care of Sven. Astrid was supposed to go with Hiccup to Alternia as well.

- The effect of no magic was supposed to take place immediately when everyone arrived at Alternia.

- The Stabbington brothers were supposed to be a part of The Nightmares too.

- The five that helped, one of them was supposed to be a betrayer. He/She was secretly working for The Nightmares, leaking information to them.

-There were no love triangles between the characters. (But hey, for drama)

- Grand Pabbie and a few more trolls would have followed them through the gateway as well, for some of the trolls had went through and never came back. Grand Pabbie was concerned about them.

-Mor'du was supposed to be in his bear form in Alternia.

- I originally intended to end the book with the cliffhanger from chapter 47 and start off a sequel.

- After Jack found out about Hiccup's confession to Elsa, he would have gotten himself drunk and depressed. Jack, drunk, said his feelings about Elsa out loud. At the same time, Elsa was looking for Jack and heard everything.

- All the Disney and DreamWorks characters were supposed to be present in Alternia, fighting The Nightmares together. (Which, that includes all the villains from Disney and DreamWorks) But there would just be way too many characters to handle.

- If all Disney and DreamWorks character were present, they'd all gather at Tiana's Palace. (Kinda like their HQ) The Nightmares, mostly Pitch, would usually harass Tiana for money.

- After deciding not to include everyone I wanted to make Alternia have no history of other Disney and DreamWorks characters. The 5 from The Nightmares were the first and only there, as well as the other 14 characters/protagonists.

- In the crystal cave, Eugene was supposed to die due to the wound being too severe. Rapunzel had not found her crystal yet. The Guardians were ceased to exist as well.

-This was supposed to be what everyone went into for chapter 15.

~Deleted theories/versions~ *

-Instead of all of them going into Alternia willingly, The Nightmares would have conjured up a spell that could bring them out of their worlds, but the spell would have malfunctioned, thus sending them to Alternia, leaving them stuck with no way of return.

- The gateway would have led to the real world (our world), where they would have oddly discovered that there's movies about them, everyone knows their life stories etc.

- The gateway would have led to a parallel universe and switched their lives with their parallel ones, high school or college students. (This one's a bit confusing to explain)

As you have seen, there were a few different theories/versions for The Gateway That Led To You and I had quite the trouble trying to pick only one 😆. I elaborated each and it was so hard to pick only one, then only I could start writing the rest of the book. I know that some of you may have preferred the other versions that I had in mind, but hey, it's my opinion. I thought that this choice was the best way to write the book, I had my idea on how to write from this side. I repeat this is my opinion. You have yours and I have mine, cool?

*UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES are these ideas to be copied and used by others for their own books. These ideas are strictly mine, I wrote this behind the scenes part as a bonus and I will not tolerate with those who use it to their own benefit.

One last fact. It's a bit more on the personal side.

The five who helped - Cleo, Isabelle, Ethan, Darrel and Aidan, are actually my best friends during my childhood, which sadly I have lost contact over the years *sniff*😢. It's been 7 years I think? Maybe 8. Some moved away to I have no idea where.

So, this is dedicated to my childhood friends, you understood me, made me feel special when no one else did, you lent a hand to me when I was left alone, I felt like I went into another world to meet such wonderful people like you, since we never went to the same schools. You gave me more happiness, joy and company than I could ever ask for. I had such a unique friendship with you guys and I can't thank you enough.

Cleo, Aidan, Isabelle, Ethan and Darrel, thank you for giving me the best years of my childhood and quite possibly my life. Wherever you are, I hope this gets to you on some Pacific wind, wraps itself around you and whispers in your ear, tells you that I miss you and I wish that you were here.

Here's to you my friends, I hope we will be able to meet each other again sometime in the future.

~M