Winning the Hackmatack award for the first book in a series you’re writing is a pretty awesome event, so I have to start by thanking all the fans who have read, and wrote in and supported Pickles and her fellowship of zombie-fighting animals.
My husband and daughter spent a whole pandemic lockdown listening to me talk about ValHamster, so I must thank them as always for their love, support, and patience.
Big thank you to my team at DCB: Barry Jowett, my editor, the fabulous Sarah(s) and Chantelle. You are wonderful and brilliant and I have so appreciated your support and ideas throughout this process, especially while we’ve been socially isolating.
Lauren at the Owl Research Institute, thank you for answering all my crazy questions about Pallas and burrowing owls in Canada. I promise, I will include more of your answers in book 4.
To the teachers and librarians who continue to bring Pickles and Portia into their classrooms and introduce them to generations of young readers, thank you, you’ve created lifelong readers and fans.
To the indie bookstores like BookCity on St. Clair W, Queen Books on Queen East, Another Story in Roncy and the Mysterious Bookshop in NYC, who continue to carry my books and speak of my characters to your readership, thank you!
Big thanks to Shelagh Rogers and Marc Côté for your faith and continued support.
Thank you to the Ontario Arts Council for supporting my work.
And finally, I must dedicate this book to Champlain, the latest cat to sidle his way into my heart (you might recognize some of his personality traits in Sonar), and my very own Pickles who is putting up with Champlain’s antics as best she can.