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MTV News interview: Chris Colfer Shipping ‘Bits Of My Soul’ With His Novel

“Glee” star Chris Colfer has been writing his novel, “The Land of Stories: The Wishing Spell,” since he was 10. That means he’s been writing it for over a decade. It didn’t all actually come together until more recently, but he can still recall characters and phrases he penned on that early draft of his novel, out Tuesday (July 17).

“I was obsessed with fairytales, and I was a very, very inquisitive kid, and I would ask my mom all kinds of questions. It all kind of formed a story in my head, and I really wanted to be a published author when I as 10, but I had a hard time writing a novel when I was 10,” Colfer told MTV News. “So I decided to wait until I was little bit older and then get it done.

“It’s always been the same story,” he continued about the final incarnation of the long-simmering story. “Every single character has always been the same since then. There were some lines I remember writing when I was 10 that stayed with me, along with the story, that I made sure were in the book as well. Like, I knew it had to start with ‘Once upon a time.’ “

The story focuses on twins who fall down a rabbit hole into an enchanted world. The catalyst for that trip? Their charmed book of stories. The land where they end up is full of their favorite storybook characters. But, after some time in this magical place, they find that getting home will take more than just clicking their ruby slippers together.

Colfer confessed that with the book out now, he’s feeling a little bit of the anxiety. “[I’m] so excited. I have these raging bats in my stomach, which are like butterflies, but a little more anxious,” he said. “The whole thing has been one huge surprise, but also very expected at the same time.

“It’s been probably one of the most difficult processes I’ve ever had to do writing the book, recording the audio book and also the absolute most nerve-racking [part]: have other people read it and it going out into the world and knowing that it’s going to be in most of the bookstores [Tuesday] … it’s nerve racking,” he added. “I feel like little bits of my soul are being shipped domestically.”

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