Acknowledgments

A book never truly has one author, and though an idea can be hatched alone, it takes a team of incredible friends and colleagues to create a story. Thank you to my editor, John Scognamiglio, who had the wherewithal to send me a politely worded e-mail that boiled down to “seriously?” To Amberly Finarelli, who will always be my agent and friend, even as she’s tending to the cries of the Twinarellis rather than the cries of errant authors. To Vida, Justine, and Alex, the best Kensington cheerleaders a girl could have. To my parents who support and encourage, even though having an adult daughter obsessed with made-up creatures probably wasn’t what they expected. To my brother, Trevor, because when people ask, “what happened in your childhood to make you write such gruesome stuff?” I can quietly point to you and fifteen beheaded Barbies. As always, tremendous thanks to Shirley, Penne, Kristin, Gary, Nadine, Marilyn, and everyone else at Club One for giving me an outlet. To the Rogue Writers Group, thanks for the constant encouragement. To my readers and fans—ohmigosh! I have readers and fans! I’m going to bake each and every one of you cupcakes. To Joan, John, and Oscar for always being there with a cocktail, toilet paper, and Diet Coke—the writer’s triumvirate. To Vicki, Robert, Katherine, Katie, Anna, and everyone else who worked on the UDA production—thank you for bringing my story to life! And last but nowhere near least, to my fellow Moustachteer Authors, Marina Adair and Britt Bury—I can’t wait until we’re old and gray, when we’ve earned our glaucoma, RA, and shoulder pain, and we live in our cozy little cottage with jars of money buried out front, talking about the good ol’ days—which is everyday we’re together. Love you guys. And don’t call me Shirley.