PATCHWORK WAS different. Writing the second book in a series, while easier in terms of world-building and character development, is much harder in maintaining the tension, both romantic and otherwise. An author worries about meeting and hopefully surpassing expectations. Will the second book live up to the first? Will readers continue to love the series? And then there is the deadline. When a series is contracted, the first book is usually written prior to signing that contract, over an unlimited amount of time. The second and third books are often not written yet. So the number of people an author can get to critique a book on deadline is sorely limited.
Thanks go first to my spouse—the only one who got to see this in manuscript form prior to being sent to my amazing editorial team: Rose, Yv, and Brian. Between the four of them, hopefully all the misplaced commas and hyphens, along with any plot holes were caught. Any that remain are my errors and mine alone.
Thanks to my writing group: Evergreen, Gary, Ann, and Amy, who did not get to see this but helped keep me sane. Thanks also to the fans who wrote beautiful reviews for the first book, THREADBARE, on Amazon, Goodreads, and elsewhere, or supported me in person with their encouragement and enthusiasm for the series: Bob, Elijah, Arielle, Rob, Jenni, Tim, Lily, the entire Tampa writing community, and if I’m forgetting anyone, please forgive me. Thanks also to my karaoke and teacher friends who cheered me on when I needed it most.
Thanks to my outstanding cover artist, Nathalie Gray, who once again managed to put on the cover what I see in my head. Vick glows because of you. Thanks to the rest of the art department at Dreamspinner Press. You are all awesome! Also thank you to Naomi Grant, social media guru, for your warmth and friendliness welcoming me to the Dreamspinner family and your patience with my online insecurities.
Finally, thank you to my amazing agent, Naomi Davis, and all the folks at Dreamspinner Publications who believed in me and the STORM FRONTS series. None of this would exist without you.