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.

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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.

In terms of bonus material – I have spent the past few days writing some vignettes from the rest of their lives. They will be at the end of this author's note along with some collages I made. That will be (I think) the last of UITS that I will be posting on Wattpad.

What next?

Well, first I'm going to take a break! Writing and posting weekly chapters for eight months was actually much more consuming and tiring than I had even imagined. I spent many nights up late, trying to crank out final edits before putting a chapter live for you guys. I'm really looking forward to taking some time to live only in the real world for a while (well, not counting the worlds of the books I'm going to read).

Next I will be doing a massive edit/rewrite of UITS. As I said above, I posted each chapter as I wrote it. I flew through chapters and didn't have the chance to really ever do a deep edit. It's my ultimate goal to actually publish this book, but it has a ways to go before I'm going to be happy enough with it to do so. There are a few errors / plot holes that I want to fix up. I also have quite a few new chapters I want to add (looking back in retrospect, I wish I had spent more time depicting the early stages of their relationship/ when she was just their "intern") that will strengthen the story line. At this time, I think I'm going to be leaving the Wattpad version as is (i.e. I won't be editing it – just my doc).

Will you be writing a new book?

Yes! I'm not sure when I'll start on it (after a break and the edit/adding to UITS), but I have quite a few thoughts floating around my head for multiple new books. The hardest decision is probably going to be which one to start with! Writing is my favorite hobby and something I hope will be my career someday. So, as long as you guys are still interested in my work, I'll probably be around!

That's about all of the questions I can think of.

If there's anything else you want answered (about future plans, UITS, anything) please leave a comment and I will happily answer it!

So, onto the vignettes.

I had to stop for crying breaks as I wrote these.

I hope you enjoy the final moments with our four.

He'd learned from a young age to hide his emotions.

To tuck them into the dark corners of his mind.

Build a wall between him and the world.

Even as a child, he rarely cried.

His mind like ice, sharp and perfect.

He was a statue built of marble, unbreakable.

Yet.

As she walks toward them, wrapped in the most beautiful white dress.

As he slips a ring onto her finger, gold with three beautiful diamonds in the center.

Happiness unlike anything he has ever felt melts all of his defenses.

As they marry her, he is nothing but emotion.

Theodore weeps.

"What do you mean you don't want any? You love my piccata!" He demands, waving the spatula around in exasperation.

Dante misses her wince, a nauseous look on her face.

But the other two don't, they are stepping forward to question her when they are cut off my his continued remarks.

"I made it specially for our anniversary! Two years of being married!  And now suddenly it's not your favorite anymore? Oh god, wait, do you like any of my cooking? Have you been faking liking it all these years? Theo, Alex, do you two-" His ramble switches between English and Italian.

Enid cuts him off with a laugh.

When he looks up, she is glowing.

"Dante, I love your food. Tonight, I'm just kind of nauseous... It's just..." She trails off, glancing down.

A smile like sunshine stretching across her cheeks.

Her hand pressed comfortingly to her lower stomach.

"I'm pregnant."

Three little heads poke around a corner.

Each topped with familiar hair.

Golden curls.

Chocolate waves.

Midnight locks.

Each nearly a spitting image of their father.

"Shh! They'll notice us!" Orion, the oldest, whispers.

He grins as the music grows louder, loving the way the notes wrap around him just like his father does.

Leo shoves his brother to the side, leaning to get a better view.

His mischievous smirk growing as he watches his dad and mom waltz across the living room floor.

The youngest, Castor, watches his brothers with a disapproving frown on his cherub face.

Ever the responsible, rule-abiding one.

"Excuse me, what are these little monkeys doing out of bed?" The voice behind them causes all three of them to spin around in shock.

Craning their necks to stare up at one of their three dads.

Though the biological ties between the boys and their fathers were obvious, they saw all three men as their fathers equally.

Their mother made sure of that.

Alexander grins as he scoops up Castor and Leo.

Orion had recently told his mother and fathers that he was now "grown up" as a seven-year-old and would no longer abide by being carried.

"Bedtime, boys. Your mama would have my head if she knew I let you stay up any later." He chuckles at their whines of protest.

He lets them all slip into Orion's bed, knowing they would find their way there at some point anyways.

That is, if they didn't break into the master bedroom to squeeze between him and his beautiful wife.

"Goodnight, dad!" They chorus as he shuts the door gently behind him.

Downstairs, he pulls Enid from Dante's arms.

And he kisses her and kisses her and kisses her.

She watches from the kitchen window as six silhouettes build snowmen in the distance.

The sun is hanging low in the sky, vivid hues beginning to bloom across the horizon.

Their breath like ghosts in the chilly evening air.

Leo is tossing snowballs toward the window, beckoning for her.

In a few minutes, she will go out and join them.

A tray full of hot chocolates in hand.

She will tighten the scarves around her boys' necks, will press warm kisses onto the cold cheeks of her husbands.

But for now, she watches her family through the window.

So full of joy that a few tears slip from her eyes.

It is everything she has ever wanted.

How desperately she wants to freeze this moment.

To memorize every part of it so she can return to it in the future.

So hyper aware of how precious this time is.

Her boys are barely teenagers, just on the brink of independence.

She wants to save this day, to tuck it in her pocket.

But she knows it isn't possible.

She wipes her face and grabs the tray of mugs.

And when the six most important people in her life turn to greet her, she knows that living it just once is more than she could have ever asked for.

Dropping into the snow to make a seventh snow angel in an already formed line, she stares up at the sky.

It is still too early for stars, but she knows they are there.

Looking down at them.

Sitting up, she watches her husbands and her children.

Theodore tugs her up, brushing the snow from her hair with a gloved hand and a grin.

She grabs a handful of snow and throws it at him.

They play until the last stretch of sun disappears behind the snowy mountains to the east of their home.

It is everything.

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Comments fill my heart with joy.

All my love, Sappho ★