Polar Day VBT

Blurb:

The midnight sun bakes Fairbanks, Alaska as residents gather for the annual summer solstice baseball game. Amidst the revelry and raucous shouts of “Play ball,” a spark alights and a jogger bursts into flames. Detective Danny Fitzpatrick, still reeling from his near death at the hands of vampire Aleksei Nechayev, watches in horror as the man burns alive.

Someone is burning Fairbanks and its residents and leaving nothing but smoldering embers behind. As the city sweats under a record-breaking heatwave and unexplained fires claim more victims, Danny and his colleagues struggle to find an arsonist who can conjure fire out of thin air.

To Danny’s horror, the only one who may be able to help him stop the arsonist is his nemesis Nechayev. Will the vampire help in the hunt for a witch?

Excerpt:

The inquisitive Fairbanks detective Danny Fitzpatrick had ruined the peaceful home Aleksei had maintained in the Arctic town of Coldfoot for decades. He enjoyed checking in on the detective and, while he couldn’t help but feel a strange fondness for the man he had chosen to let live, he always hoped to find him struggling with some new problem. He was tickled to see that this time he got his wish.

Aleksei grinned from ear to ear as he read about the mysterious fires that were plaguing Fairbanks while the city suffered through its worst heat wave in history. How fascinating! And by all accounts, the police, including the dear detective, had no idea who was starting the fires or even how they were doing it.

Fire was one of the few things Aleksei feared and hated as much as humans did. He still remembered the time he had been nearly burned to death by a male witch not long after he’d arrived in Alaska. He couldn’t help but wonder if a supernatural force was responsible for these fires as well. Was there a witch on the loose in Fairbanks?

Since he was safe and sound on the other side of the world, Aleksei desperately hoped so. How would his favorite detective deal with a situation like that? And what of the fire starter? What was his, or her, motivation? What was the game?

His lousy winter here in Australia had suddenly taken a surprisingly lovely turn. Clearly, the summer in Fairbanks was turning out to be more horrific than anyone there could have imagined. He couldn’t wait to see how it all unfolded. It was going to be such fun.

Julie, thanks so much for stopping by. So, why don’t you tell us a little about yourself?

Thank you for having me! I’m so glad to be here. I live in Cincinnati, Ohio with my dog and my cat and I work as a librarian to pay my bills while I indulge my passion for writing. I love animals and have written some articles and features about animal rescue. One of my current goals is to do more of that. I’m a tv addict and a sports fan but I also love walking my dog and exploring parks and trails so I’m not a total couch potato. I graduated from Ohio State University and I am a Buckeye fanatic.

How did you get started writing?

I got a very late start! I’d always enjoyed writing anything and everything – letters, emails, school papers, etc. – but I never thought that I could be creative or write fiction. I’ve been making up stories in my head for as long as I can remember but I never wrote them down. Back in 2010 I started volunteering as a writer for Best Friends Animal Society and the experience changed my life. I loved writing articles for their website and crafting the features to make them engaging and uplifting. I started a blog not long after and now I can’t stop writing.

What was the inspiration for your book?

This book is a sequel to my first novel Polar Night, so I was inspired by that. Polar Night is set during the dead of winter when parts of Alaska experience nearly 24 hour darkness, so I wanted to explore the opposite phenomenon in this book. Polar Day takes place in the summer when there is near 24 hour daylight. The thought of constant sun and heat inspired me make the story about fire.

What’s the one genre you haven’t written in yet that you’d like to?

I would love to write a children’s book. I loved to read as a kid and I think it would be fun to try my hand at creating something kids would enjoy.

Are there any genres you won’t read or write in? Why?

There’s nothing that I won’t read but I don’t think I could ever write a romance. I am terrible at writing love scenes! I also tend to be drawn towards dark stories that don’t necessarily have happy endings, so I don’t think that genre is for me.

So, what are you working on right now? Have any other releases planned, or still writing?

I’m still writing and don’t know when my next release may be. I am working on a ghost story that takes place in Cincinnati during World War I but I still have a long way to go on it. I’m also working on a short story for an anthology that my writing group Untethered Realms is putting together. We plan to release that in the fall.

Alright, now for some totally random, fun questions. Favorite color?

Red

Favorite movie?

The Shawshank Redemption

Alright, you have one superpower. What is it?

Flying

You can have dinner with any 3 people, dead, alive, fictitious, etc. Who are they?

My maternal grandfather and both of my grandmothers. My grandfather died long before I was born so I never got to meet him and my grandmothers both died when I was 9/10 years old so I feel like I didn’t know them well either. 

Last question: Which of your characters are you most like and how/why?

I am most like Danny because I am more than a little cynical and also a bit of a loner. I’m not as jaded as Danny is but I can definitely relate to him. I’m also not a murderer so fortunately I’m not at all like Jamie or Aleksei. :D

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Author Bio and Links:

Julie Flanders is a librarian by day and a writer all the rest of the time. She is also a television show addict with a particular fondness for Game of Thrones and The Walking Dead and a slightly obsessive sports fan who cheers for the Ohio State Buckeyes and the Cincinnati Reds. Julie is an animal lover and animal rescue advocate who shares her home with her rescued dog and cat. She has written about the joys of pets for outlets such as Cat Fancy, Thrive in Life, and Best Friends Animal Society. Visit Julie at julieflanders.net.

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