A flood of emotion rushes into me. Pain and anger. Sadness and pity. But most surprising of all, hope.
I keep walking.
Skye’s footsteps are growing louder now. And the closer I get to her, the faster I walk, and the lighter I feel. My throat begins to relax.
Two steps behind her, I say her name.
“Skye.”
13 Inspirations
JOAN MARIE
for saying, “I do,”
and when I almost gave up because I thought
I’d never sell a book,
for saying, “You will.”
ROBIN MELLOM & EVE PORINCHAK
“The road to publication is like a churro-
long and bumpy, but sweet.”
You two made it sweet.
(Disco Mermaids forever!)
MOM & DAD & NATE
for encouraging my creative pursuits from the beginning…
no matter how ridiculous.
LAURA RENNERT
for saying, “I can sell this.”
KRISTEN PETTIT
for saying, “Can I buy this?”
Your editorial guidance brought this book to a whole new level.
S.L.O.W. FOR CHILDREN
(my critique group)
for being so critical…in a good way.
LIN OLIVER & STEPHEN MOOSER AT SCBWI
for years of professional support and encouragement
(the Work-In-Progress grant was nice, too).
ROXYANNE YOUNG AT SMART WRITERS.COM
for believing in this book from the beginning
(the Grand Prize designation was nice, too).
KATHLEEN DUEY
for mentoring me through the early stages of this creative pursuit.
CHRIS CRUTCHER
for writing Stotan!, the first teen novel I ever read.
and for encouraging me to finish this, the first teen novel
I ever wrote.
KATE O’SULLIVAN
Your excitement about this novel kept me excited
about this novel.
THE LIBRARIANS & BOOKSELLERS OF SHERIDAN, WYOMING & SAN LUIS OBISPO, CALIFORNIA
Not just co-workers, but friends.
NANCY HURD
The reason I wrote my first book…thirteen years ago.
“Thank You”
Jay Asher
