I'm doing the happy dance to end this week because I FINALLY finished my Polar Night sequel! I had reached a point earlier this month where I was very close to giving up on the whole story because I was so frustrated with it. But the idea of giving up on it gave me the kick in the pants I needed and I finally got a burst of energy to get busy and finish the story once and for all.
I have tons of revising to do, to put it mildly, but I know I will be able to do that now that I finally have the whole story in place. And I am actually excited about the revising and anxious to jump into it. Now I guess I will be hiding in my revising cave. :D
The plan at the moment is for the sequel to be published in January. It's called Polar Day and it is fitting that I finished it during the week of the summer solstice as this story takes place in the summer as opposed to the dark winter setting of Polar Night.
For the sequel, I wanted to utilize the "midnight sun" phenomenon of the Alaskan summers, and Polar Day revolves around the sun, magic, and fire.
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| Midnight on the Summer Solstice in Bethel, AK |
I also plan to release a prequel novella which takes place during the building of the Alaskan Railroad during the late 1910s and includes the same kind of magic featured in Polar Day. I'm going to publish that myself on Kindle in the fall, assuming all goes as planned between now and then!
I'm just really excited now to dig into my revisions and also to get back into blogging and social media. I forced myself to stay off just about everything until I finished this story so now I'm looking forward to catching up. I've missed the blogosphere!
Happy Friday and weekend to all. :)
Congratulations! That's how I feel about finishing first drafts. Now I have something to work with.
ReplyDeleteCongratulations on finishing. It's a great feeling and achievement worth celebrating :)
ReplyDeleteGrats!! I'm doing the happy dance with you and your cartoon cat. That's really a gorgeous picture too.
ReplyDeleteAnd I meant the gorgeous picture was the sunset, not the cartoon cat...not that the cartoon cat isn't cute or anything. :)
ReplyDeleteBrilliant news. I can't wait to read it. I loved Polar Night!
ReplyDeleteThat's awesome! Congratulations!
ReplyDeleteExcellent, Julie! And we've missed you, too. :)
ReplyDeleteMadeline @ The Shellshank Redemption
Yay! Congratulations, Julie!
ReplyDeleteWoo Hoo! Congrats on finishing!!
ReplyDeleteAww, thank you all so much! I appreciate it! :)
ReplyDeleteCongrats on finished. I almost gave up on a book I was frustrated with a few weeks ago. But I ploughed onward and now I'm doing edits. Love the picture and the idea of the prequel.
ReplyDeleteCongrats! Good luck with your future book plans too. Sometimes you have to take time away from social systems, to get the novel writing done. Welcome back.
ReplyDeleteA heartfelt congratulations Julie! So awesome. And the prequel sounds intriguing. Have a great weekend :-)
ReplyDeleteCongratulations on finishing, I love this kind of happy dance :)
ReplyDeleteCongratulations! I like that you called it the revising cave...it is kind of dark and scary in here...Have fun!
ReplyDeleteCongratulations! I know (and hate) the feeling of wanting to give up on a story, but it always turns out fine eventually. Now where's the champagne?
ReplyDeleteCongratulations!!!!! I'm happy you didn't give up on it. Best of luck with your plans for a prequel, and your revisions. :)
ReplyDeleteHi Julie - that's such good news - well done .. and I'm sure writing a prequel makes sense to Polar Night and its sequel ..
ReplyDeleteCongratulations and I love the photo - sad it's summer solstice tomorrow - could we keep summer for 10 months of the year!! .. cheers Hilary
Great job getting the sequel done. And good luck on those revisions. I'm fifty pages away from finishing my major overhaul. Feels like coming up for air after being submerged for three months. :)
ReplyDeleteCongratulations! That is great progress. You are on a role.
ReplyDeleteThanks again to all of you! Reading your comments makes me want to do another happy dance. Thanks! :)
ReplyDeleteWoohoo! Congrats on finishing your book. I know how exciting that is - and I know how daunting revising is. But you can do it!!!
ReplyDeleteI'm so happy for you, Julie. What a great feeling, eh? Good for you.
ReplyDeleteWoo HOO! Congratulations! I'm excited for you. And I'm looking forward to "Polar Day" and the prequel.
ReplyDeleteHappy weekend! (And it's perfectly acceptable for you to do a happy dance on the inside and wear a big grin all weekend.)
Hey Julie,
ReplyDeleteHearty congrats to such excellent news. I shall do a happy dance here. Although I dance like a dad at a wedding. LOL
Have yourself a lovely weekend, Julie.
Gary :)
Huge congratulations. And a wobbly happy dance from this side of the world too (only the dancer is wobbly - the happiness isn't).
ReplyDeleteCongratulations, Julie! I can't wait to share this feeling of relief and victory when I finally get through my current edit. "Argh" is the word, just "argh". :)
ReplyDeleteI was just thinking, when reading this post, that I can't wait to see POLAR DAY's cover. Because POLAR NIGHT's cover is so awesome.
YAY, JULIE!!!!! CONGRATS!
ReplyDeleteSO glad to hear you finished your first draft! I know you'll get through you revisions on time...you are a woman with a mission. LOL...
LOVE the photo for Polar day... Just beautiful!
KEEP ON DANCING!!!!!
Have a great weekend!
Thank you Lexa, Joylene, Susan, Gary, EC, Trisha, and Michael! Thanks for all the happy dances, I'm still doing one here. :)
ReplyDeleteWell done! And now the real work can begin ;o)
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ReplyDeleteFrom all these comments you have a lot of friends rooting for you - and add this humble body as well.
ReplyDeleteHow great to have finished - Congratulations times over! I look forward to the cover reveal - and you know where to come when it's time for an added little push!
A great achievement and you should be proud and have a glass of wine to toast to this success. It sounds like a very good read for sure. Congrats again!
ReplyDeleteYAHOO!!! We're all doing a happy dance with you!I Love the title which is perfect for your sequel.
ReplyDeleteOh, that's a wonderful feeling. Enjoy your cave time and best of luck for speedy revisions. Unlike you and Alex, I hate it (and between ghostwriting for other's, that's what I'm supposed to be doing.)
ReplyDeleteshahwharton.com
Wonderful news!!!
ReplyDeleteThank you Derek, Inge, Birgit, Cathy, Shah and Donna! You guys rock. :)
ReplyDeleteCongratulations! That's awesome...your premise reminded me of that episode of Twilight Zone where the sun gets closer to the Earth and it just keeps getting hotter and hotter... I won't give away the ending in case someone hasn't seen it, but Rod Serling's point was that any extreme is bad. We need balance--not too much day, not too much night, for instance! The episode was called The Midnight Sun.
ReplyDeleteCongratulations! I'm in a similar boat and need to get a first draft completed soon. Good luck with this project!
ReplyDeleteMary Montague Sikes
Oh, how exciting! Congrats! I absolutely love Polar Night, so I'm glad you didn't give up on this sequel in the end. Good luck with all the revising you still need to do! :D
ReplyDeleteThanks Stephanie, Mary, and Heather! And Stephanie, I've never heard of that Twilight Zone before but now you have me curious, I want to track it down. Thanks again, all!
ReplyDeleteCongratulations on a job well done!
ReplyDeleteI'm doing the happy dance with you, Julie. Congrats on finishing it up. Best of luck on your edits. I used to think they were the worst but now I find myself enjoying the tweaking.
ReplyDeleteGreat job, Julie. A prequel and a sequel! Very impressive.
ReplyDeleteCongratulations! Looking forward to reading Polar Day :)
ReplyDeleteCongratulations!!
ReplyDeleteWoo-hoo! Congrats! I hope you had a lovely weekend. :)
ReplyDeleteCongratulations Julie!
ReplyDeleteI'm looking forward to the sequel!
A prequel too? Yay!
Thank you so much Michael, Elsie, Lee, Carol, Tonja, Christine, & Michelle! I really appreciate your comments and kind words. :)
ReplyDeleteCongrats on finishing. I know you did a little happy dance. The prequel sounds so interesting, too. I've stayed away from the internet lately to work on writing and feel like I've missed so much good news.
ReplyDeleteCongratulations! Sounds like an exciting time ahead :)
ReplyDeleteSuzanne @ Suzannes-Tribe
xx
I loved Polar Night, and I'm so excited that the sequel and prequel are finished! Congrats Julie!
ReplyDeleteJulie
Thank you Brinda, Suzanne, and Julie! :)
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