T H A N K Y O U

Two years and 110,000 words later, we've reached the end of Sparkler Snapshots! Thank you so much for coming on this journey with me. It was a blast while it lasted, but all good things must come to an end.

Unfortunately, I couldn't fit every holiday around the world in this story, otherwise I would've worked myself to the ground and written to the maximum of 200 parts. There was a lot of picking and choosing going on, mostly on a first come, first serve basis.

I had to include famed celebrations, such as Christmas, but I tried to go for less well-known festivities to raise awareness about them and get you to appreciate how cool they are! I didn't know about 60% of the holidays in this story until I wrote about them. If there's a class which quizzes us on worldwide celebrations, I'm sure we can ace it now :)

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Q & A

Q: How did you come up with the idea for this story?

A: It was a spur-of-the-moment idea. I was struck with it on April Fools' Day in 2016 at school, since everyone was pranking each other and it got super crazy. So, I thought it'd be fun to write about holidays. I made a terrible cover, wrote the first chapter, and uploaded it on the same day.

I didn't expect this story to take two years to complete, which is the longest time I've spent on a story thus far. I planned for it to last a year, going full circle, but school got to me and I had to prioritize exams. I didn't think I would actually manage to finish this, but here it is! Even though hardly anyone reads it, I'm really proud of it. It's my best work so far.

Q: How did you research the chapters? How long did the research take?

A: Oh man, way more research than any of my other stories combined. Like, waaaaaay more. It was basically the equivalent of 48 school projects. Writing each chapter was far more difficult than regular fiction, because the just write the damn thing and don't overthink it mindset was totally pointless here. I needed to make sure that the information I used was legit. If I later found out that my research was incorrect, I would rewrite entire chapters. That's why my updates were so slow.

Q: Which Sparkler Snapshots chapter is your favourite?

A: If I had to choose my ultimate favourite, it would be the Easter chapter, Mad as a March Hare. That Alice in Wonderland theme was the only time I've ever written fanfiction, and it was super fun. I think I wrote the characters pretty well, considering I don't know much about Alice in Wonderland.

I also love the Friday the 13th chapter, Black Cats and Top Hats. Aside from the plot being messy and rushed, which I'll fix when I have time, I think it's fairly well written and I love the concept of the chapter.

Ooh, the Halloween chapter, Hocus Pocus, was super fun to write. I've never been to a haunted house, but it was an interesting idea to explore. I love toying with fantasy and action, and I hope to write more of it soon.

Q: Will you be writing any new stories?

A: I have two projects tentatively planned for the rest of this year, but I'm going to take a short break from writing. Only for a couple of months, don't worry. The earliest I'll post a new story will be June. I'm super busy with university and I have to keep my grades up, or I'll be kicked out of my degree. So, as usual, education takes priority.

P.S. Keep an eye on the Friday the 13th chapter, won't you? ;)

Updated A/N (May 2020): lmao so yeah you guys already know what the two projects are now: Coffee Culture and How To Avoid Bad Luck. I know I haven't updated either in a billion years and I am very very sorry. Zoom university is kicking my arse (along with the general anxiety of living through a global pandemic) so I've been fixated on trying to save my grades at this point. I will let you know when new chapters are ready.

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I'm so overjoyed about finishing this story and I really hope you had fun on this journey with me! I love you to the moon and back, you guys are the greatest, and I'll be back with new stories before you know it. Stay classy, stay snazzy, and stay awesome. Peace out.