THIS WAS A HARD BOOK TO WRITE. AN EVEN HARDER ONE to edit. It had nothing to do with the book and everything to do with me. I would have lost myself and this book if it hadn’t been for the incredibly patient and incredibly wonderful people in my life.
I have to thank Sarah Fine for being all-around awesome, for being patient and kind and extremely generous with her time. This book would not have made it to book form without her!
As always (and forever and ever until the end of time), I have to thank Joanna Volpe for being a miracle worker, for being incredibly understanding and supportive, and most importantly, for being such a badass. I constantly ask myself how I got so lucky as to call her my agent.
Huge thanks and much gratitude to my editor, Pam Gruber, for her unwavering belief in me and this book when I had lost faith in both. This industry is made better with an editor like Pam, who not only uses her intelligence and intuition to make our books better, but who also has the kindness and patience required to deal with the craziness of a writer (or at least this writer)!
Thank you also to the teams at New Leaf Literary and Little, Brown, who work tirelessly behind the scenes. You guys need superhero capes!
Thank you to my friends and family who continued to support me, even through the rough patches.
Thank you to Lisa Cooper for letting me take long lunches to write and edit! But thank you also for lending an ear and a shoulder when I really needed it.
Lastly, and most importantly, thank you to the readers. Thank you for picking up this book, for giving it and me a chance. Thank you for all the love and support you’ve given the Altered Saga over the years! Those boys (and this writer) love you for it!