ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

So much of Feels Like Falling is about true friendship, about family, the ones we’re born with but, maybe even more so, the ones we choose. So I think, first, I have to thank my family. My husband and son, my two Wills, are the ones who make it possible for me to live my dream every single day—and, in all honesty, are my biggest one come true. My parents, Beth and Paul Woodson, are beside me every step of the way and always have been, helping me, encouraging me, and teaching me to never accept less than my very best. The older I get the more I learn what a rare gift that is. This is the first year I don’t get to thank my grandfather, Joe Rutledge, but I think my grandmother, Ola, gets an even bigger thanks this year for always, always being a living example of how we carry on. One of her favorite sayings is, “This too shall pass,” but I have a feeling losing my grandfather is the one thing that, for her, will never pass. And the lesson in that is an even greater one, one I am so grateful to have seen my entire life.

My author family, my Tall Poppy tribe, Mary Alice Monroe, Patti Callahan Henry, Kristina McMorris, Julie Cantrell, Heather Webb, Liz Fenton, Lisa Steinke, and Courtney Walsh: you teach me, you help me, you lift me up and you keep me going. Whoever said writing was a lonely profession has never met you!

Lauren McKenna, Elisabeth Weed, and Kathie Bennett, you are my triple pillars, and I simply cannot imagine my life, much less my work, without any of you. Lauren, thank you for being so convicted that Gray and Diana were the right next step and for working so hard to make sure that the story was the best it could be. Kathie, you exhaust me, and I love you for it. You have given me so much of what I had always imagined this life to be. And Elisabeth, your advice and guidance are invaluable. I couldn’t be luckier to have you in my corner.

Olivia Blaustein, what a great first year we’ve had together! I can’t wait to see what happens next.

Tamara Welch, I am convinced you can read my mind. And thank goodness. I couldn’t do any of this without you.

Jen Bergstrom, thank you for being a champion for my work and for the incredible opportunities that you have given me. Michelle Podberezniak, I think you’re a genius, the most organized human on earth, and you are so cool under pressure. Thank you for the millions of things you do that I know about and the millions more that I don’t know about! Same goes for you, Maggie Loughran. You’re amazing, and I’m so grateful for all you do.

To the BookSparks team, a big thank-you for taking a wish list and bringing it to life and for always thinking outside the box.

I absolutely would not be here without my fabulous, generous friends I have met through my blog, Design Chic, who have opened their homes, their shops, and their corners of the internet to my books and me. I am so grateful to each and every one of you. There are too many to name, but a special heaping helping of love to: Cynthia James Matrullo and Carolyn James McDonough from The Buzz and Diane James Home, Kathie Perdue from Good Life of Design, Tina Yaraghi from The Enchanted Home, Patty Day from Patty’s Epiphanies, Katie Clooney from Preppy Empty Nester, Lisa Mende of Lisa Mende Design, Danielle Driscoll from Finding Silver Pennies, Debra Phillips from Scentimental Gardens, Patricia van Essche from PVE Designs, Marty Oravetz from A Stroll Thru Life, Lucy Williams of Lucy Williams Interiors, Leslie Sinclair of Segreto Designs, Shelley Molineux from Calypso in the Country, Cindy Hattersley from Cindy Hattersley Design, Carrie Waller from Dream Green DIY, Kim Montero from Exquisitely Unremarkable, Lidy Baars from French Garden House, Lissy Parker from Lissy Parker, Cindy Barganier from Cindy Barganier Interiors, Celia Becker of After Orange County, Elizabeth Moles from Pinecones and Acorns, Nancy Powell from Powell Brower Home, Kelly Bernier from Kelly Bernier Designs, Rhoda Vickers Hendrix from Southern Hospitality, Teresa Hatfield from Splendid Sass, Karolyn Stephenson from Town and Country Home, Luciane from Home Bunch, Shelley Westerman from Crazy Wonderful, Laura Janning of Duke Manor Farm, Vel Baricuatro-Criste from Life and Home at 2102, René Zieg from Cottage and Vine, Shannon Aycock from Pop of Pippi, Addie Wemyss from A Daily Dose of Class, artist Kendall Boggs, Sandy Grodsky from You May Be Wandering, artist Jeanne McKay Hartmann, Michelle Black White of Black, White and Kuhl, Darrielle Tennenbaum from DD’s Cottage, Meredith Lewis, Rachel Sansing from Rachel Emily Blog, and Emily Lex from Jones Design Company.

I am so grateful for you, Stephanie Gray, and all your support both through The Book Lover Book Club and Porter Marketing Co. You’re so talented! Grace Atwood, thank you for supporting my books for years through the Stripe and now, thank-you to Grace and Becca Freeman for allowing me to be a part of the Bad on Paper Podcast Live. I loved getting to share a stage with you! Ashley Bellman from NBC New York, you are proof that reading brings people together in extraordinary ways. Thank you for your kindness and generosity.

I am eternally grateful to the bloggers, reporters, reviewers, and book angels in my life. Andrea Katz, thanks for being a listening ear and fantastic support system since the very beginning. Susan Peterson and everyone in Sue’s Reading Neighborhood, thanks for all you do and have done from day one! Kristy Barrett, Tonni Callan, and everyone at A Novel Bee, I love y’all and am so grateful for your book buzz. Bloom, our fantastic Tall Poppy Writer Facebook Group, is the best, smartest group of cheerleaders and book fans I know. Deirdre Parker Smith, Susan Roberts, Linda Brinson, Linda Zagon, Nicole McManus, Susan Schleicher, Megan Wessell, Monica Ramirez, Kristin Thorvaldsen, Bethany Clark, Meagan Briggs, Melody Hawkins, Kate Vocke, Heather Finley, Marlene Engel, Charlotte Lynn, Jessica Porter, Jaymi Couch, Erin Bass, Kinah Lindsay, Beth Ann Chiles, Amy Sullivan, Mary Ann Miller, Jessica Padula, Judith Collins, Reeca Elliott, Donna Cimorelli, Amber Shemanski, Kaylie Orlan, Amy Jones, Sarah Slusher, Kate Tilton, Jennifer Clayton, Kristin Jones, Jennifer Vida, Margie Durham, Anne Mendez, Mary Hundley, Jamie Rosenblit, Stephanie Burns, and Katie Taylor: I can’t thank you enough for taking the time to review my books and share them with your readers.

And to my real life best friends: Kate McDermott, Drew Beall, Kate Denierio, Millie Warren, Lee Taylor, Leeanne Walker, Jennifer Amundsen, Haley Hall, Jessica Wilder, and Margaret Scott, thanks for teaching me the power of friendship, of how long it can last, of how real it can be, and of how it feels to have people in your life who have your back no matter what. Y’all are my family, and I couldn’t love you more.

All the love to the booksellers out there who hand readers copies of my books, the librarians who recommend them, and the bookstore owners who have the passion to create havens for authors and readers alike.

Speaking of readers, thank you to mine. Someone asked me recently what I value most in a friend. My answer was that they show up when it counts. (And even when it doesn’t!) Thank you for showing up for this, my sixth novel, and the ones that came before. People who read really are the best people.