To all you readers who got lost in Sev’s world, thank you. You are amazing. It still boggles my mind that I get to write stories and people like reading them. Without you, this book would have been an idea that never came to light.
Writing is the best thing in the world. It is also the worst thing, which is why I’m glad I don’t do it alone. I started Sev’s story as a sort of coping mechanism for being a stay-at-home mom to a little one-year-old. I felt as if I’d lost myself in a wave of baby boogers, spaghetti on the floor, and nonsense words because interacting almost exclusively with a baby makes you forget how to speak like an adult. Writing helped me feel like I wasn’t a nonperson who existed only to serve a miniature overlord. The baby in question is nine now and still attempts overlording when he can, but he’s much better at holding intelligent conversations these days.
For this last book (and all the others), thanks cannot be adequately expressed for my extraordinary editor, Sarah McCabe. She should add Reader of Too Many Words to her business cards because my initial drafts are always suffocatingly long. Maybe her second title should be Wielder of Common Sense and the Delete Button because she persuades me to scale back and always makes me believe it’s my idea. Sarah, you’ve taught me a lot about getting to the point.
Thanks to David Field and Isaac Yeram Kim for putting together such a beautiful cover, Jessica Handelman for the gorgeous series design, and Heather Palisi for the jacket design. I write the words, but you all make them look good. I’m so grateful to get to work with the rest of the Simon Pulse team: Mara Anastas, Chriscynethia Floyd, Liesa Abrams, Michael Rosamilia, Katherine Devendorf, Rebecca Vitkus, Sara Berko, Caitlin Sweeny, Alissa Negro, Anna Jarzab, Emily Ritter, Christina Pecorale and the rest of the Simon & Schuster sales team, Michelle Leo and her education and library team, Nicole Russo, and Samantha Benson. You make authoring a delight.
As always, I can’t say thank you enough to Kristen, Cameron, and Aliah, who waded through my first draft of this book (though I don’t think I ever gave them the end. It turns out okay, guys!). Thanks also go to the Wellies, Rebecca, Hillary, Marcella, and Elizabeth, who are so upbeat and awesome, but still manage to show me where things are wearing thin. I’d probably die without my Utah Valley writing family—I’m so glad to live in a place where there are so many lovely, smart people who know exactly what it means to write a book.
I’d die even more without my actual family. To my kids, you are so much more fun than anything I could dream up for a book. Thank you infinity to my husband, Allen, who is the enabler to all this madness. Without you, writing would be impossible.