This is the bit of the book where I get to thank all the people who helped me write it. By that, I don’t mean they sat next to me and pointed out my typos, although that might have been helpful …
Firstly, thank you to my wonderful husband, Steve (who thinks I should just say it was all down to him), and our gorgeous children, Georgia and Immie. Thank you for letting me shut myself away for days on end to actually write this story (and for not letting me chuck it all in the bin when it all got too much). Thank you to my mum for filling my childhood with books, and for providing endless support.
Publishing is a strange and confusing world and I have to thank my fabulous agent, Alice Williams, for holding my hand through the tricky bits. I want to thank the whole team at Macmillan for showing such support and enthusiasm for Whetstone and Lotta, especially Lucy Pearce, Rachel Petty, Sim Sandhu, and Sabina Maharjan. You are all wonderful people and this book would look very different without you!
A big thank you to Katie Kear for bringing the characters and worlds to life through her fabulous illustrations. I especially love all the facial expressions!
Thank you to my friends and family for supporting me. Especially Becky Sorapure for being the first person to read (and, she says, enjoy) this book, and Kelly Wilmer for her willingness to listen to me endlessly banging on about all the weird bits in Norse Mythology.
A final thank you goes to Mai Black and everyone at her Thursday evening Writing Group for reminding me about grammar and punctuation, which as a former English teacher I obviously already know all about, and more importantly for keeping me supplied in biscuits and enthusiasm.