Hydrangeas on Fire: The End

As our focus on Hydrangeas on Fire starts to fade and Chad and I become more invested in our new (and improved) writings, I wanted to take a moment to leave with you my last thoughts and thank our supporters.

It’s important to note that HoF was the very first thing we wrote—ever. We learned a lot about creative writing during those months, and even more during the grueling weeks of editing. Writers are familiar with crappy first drafts, and although we may jokingly call HoF a crappy final draft, we really believe it’s a treasure and shows our potential. It was after we completed HoF when we wrote a number of short stories. Chad’s short story, “The Dragon and the Snake,” won First Place in the Crime Category for the Tenth Annual Writer’s Digest Popular Fiction Awards. If we hadn’t written HoF that probably would not have happened.

It’s also important to note that we self-published HoF all on our own, not because we wanted to make any money off of it, but because we wanted something we could hold in our hands that we created. In addition, we had our sister, Elaine, design the cover (which is really the best thing about the book, along with the last group of chapters that tie together the story), making HoF an inclusive Ahn siblings project. So, keeping this all in mind, we hope you enjoy its parts as a whole rather than scrutinize it word-for-word. What I mean by that is, don’t get caught up on any typos or awkward lines, but instead try to appreciate our efforts and thoughts behind the novel’s themes and ideas.

Although we aren’t expecting to sell thousands upon thousands of copies, it’s humbling to know that there will possibly be a point in time when the number of hours Chad and I have spent working on HoF will be matched, then surpassed by the cumulative readings of it by others, like you. Of course, this is no big deal for popular authors who earn this achievement with each book they publish. Even if that never happens for HoF, it could happen with our next novel, or the one after that. We’ll keep writing with that goal in mind.

I thank you for reading this and also supporting us. I am grateful to our friends who have bought our book, and even more grateful to those who then read it. But it means a lot more to know complete strangers have bought, read, and reviewed our book. And even if a review is not favorable, as long as it isn’t hateful, it shows that the person cared enough to let us know what HoF meant to them.