FIRST LOVE can be both tender and terrifying. With Theo and Chris, I wanted to capture that fledgling, hopeful feeling of falling in love and discovering your best friend is the person you’ve been looking for all along. I also wanted to be true to the awkwardness most new relationships endure, whether you’ve been friends for life or have only just met.
Thank you to Ashley Pope for helping me find a bittersweet ending for Theo that honors his struggle, and that of so many LGBTQIA youth in coming out to their loved ones. Sometimes we must create support networks outside our families to find the love and acceptance we need to grow and thrive.
Thank you to Anne Regan, Lynn West, and the astute editors at Dreamspinner Press for making the journey of publishing an enjoyable one and for helping to build my career and readership.
Thank you to AngstyG for her brilliant work on the cover. She’s able to translate an entire story and mood into just one illustration. No matter what I throw at her, she exceeds my expectations every time.
Thank you to Heather Whitaker and Angele McQuade for their unwavering support in this creative endeavor and Dr. J for generously providing her lake house for so many productive writerly retreats.
Thank you to the readers, the new-to-me ones and those who keep coming back for more. Your support means everything to me!
And lastly, thank you to my darling husband, brilliant daughter, and delightful son who make me laugh and bring me joy almost every day.