Thank you to book bloggers Maggie Desmond-O’Brien and Lisa Lueddecke. Maggie grew up on a farm in Minnesota and Lisa rescues abused racehorses. You both were such a help to me in learning horse lingo.
Many thanks to my Washington, D.C., writer friends, who spent hours discussing the plot and characters over cheese and wine: Jessica Spotswood, Robin Talley, Andrea Coulter, and Caroline Richmond.
As always, I couldn’t do this without insightful readers: Allison Bridgewater, Julie Romeis, Sarah Cloots, Tamson Weston, Tiffany Schmidt, Tiffany Smith, Kari Olson, Natalie Bahm, Jen Fisher, Shanyn Day, and Jessica Wallace. Thank you to Trish Doller for keeping me sane. Christy Maier—thank you for taking the time to read this book and give such helpful feedback.
I’m also grateful to Marguerite Coffey and Michele Truitt for their friendship and many thoughts on the culture of horse racing! To Susan Curley, thank you for being such a good friend and supporter of my work. Thanks to Leslie Moeller for sending me articles about horse racing.
Thank you to everyone at Nelson Literary Agency: Sara Megibow, Kristin Nelson, Anita Mumm, and Angie Hodapp. Sara—you are the best literary agent ever! I love how when I ask if there’s anything I could be doing to promote my books, you always say, “Just get back to writing and let us do the work!” I love your editorial eye and I’m grateful that you keep pushing me to get better and better.
I am so thankful for the team at Sourcebooks and all the wonderful support they give me. Leah Hultenschmidt, you are such a great editor and advocate for my books. Derry Wilkens, thanks for all the great publicity work you do. To Jillian Bergsma, my production editor, I appreciate your keen attention to detail and the guidance you have given me. Thank you to Todd Stocke and Sean Murray for your tireless efforts to promote my books and for the fabulous distribution.
Thanks to my family for supporting me, especially my parents, brother, and sister. Also, Bob and Jackie Kenneally, Pam and Bob Beggan, and my husband, Don. Dad, I think you should write Tattoos of the Clinically Depressed. For real.
Finally, thank you to my readers. I love your reviews, your comments online, and your emails. You make it all worth it.
About the Author
Miranda Kenneally grew up in Manchester, Tennessee, a quaint little town where nothing cool ever happened until after she left. Now Manchester is the home of Bonnaroo. Growing up, Miranda wanted to become an author, a major league baseball player, a country music singer, or an interpreter for the United Nations. Instead, she became an author who also works for the U.S. Department of State in Washington, D.C., planning major events and doing special projects, and once acted as George W. Bush’s armrest during a meeting. She enjoys reading and writing young adult literature and loves Star Trek, music, sports, Mexican food, Twitter, coffee, and her husband. Visit www.mirandakenneally.com.