Up in the Stars

Thank You / Vignettes

In which I cried over my laptop for hours while reading all of your lovely comments and then tried to find the right arrangement of letters to express just how much you all mean to me.

★          ★          ★

I'm truly at a loss for words.

First and foremost, I want to thank every single one of you.

From those who silently read to those who would leave incredible trails of comments, I cannot describe how grateful I am that you took the time to read my book.

Writing Up in the Stars has been a journey unlike anything I had ever experienced.

Enid and the Immortals have lived in my head for a few years.

I think I first thought of Alexander when I was a freshman in high school, when I did an assignment on the Greek god Apollo.

The other three trickled in over the following years and soon I had formed an entire new universe in my mind that I could visit.

Most nights before I went to bed, I would visit them.

A few of the scenes (Alex and Enid performing together, Theo and Enid playing chess, Dante cooking, etc.) have been bouncing around in my head for years.

But I wanted to get it down on paper.

I wanted to share it.

I wrote and posted the very first chapter on September 2nd of 2019.

My sophomore year of college was just starting, and it took until two weeks after my spring finals to write the epilogue.

Over eight months of writing and updating weekly, often twice a week.

This was my first real attempt at a book-length work and I am absolutely overwhelmed (in the best way) with how it went.

And now, I have a finished novel.

A book!

That I wrote!

356 pages on a word document that I typed into life.

It really hasn't fully sunk in for me yet.

Having all of you along on this journey has made it even more unreal.

There were weeks where inspiration would leave me stranded or I'd find myself too busy with homework.

But the thought of reading your responses and hearing your thoughts kept me eager to write.

I came to recognize your usernames and profile pictures and I grew to care so much for all of you.

What an amazing little community we have formed in this small corner of the internet.

I get emotional just imagining one person taking time out of their life to read my book, let alone this many.

I adore you all so much!

Thank you.

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

I wish I could give every single one of you a hug.

But hopefully you can feel my gratitude through the screen!

So, on to some hot-button questions.

Will there be a sequel? What about bonus chapters?

There will not be a sequel to UITS. I feel very strongly that I am leaving Enid and the Immortals where they are meant to be. In order to write a compelling sequel, I would need some sort of antagonistic force or "drama" to give substance to the plot. And I truly think that their lives are going to be peaceful and happy for the rest of time. It would feel wrong to force more issues.