It turns out that the hardest part of writing is not the book at all but the acknowledgments. Now that I’ve sat down to it, I’ve realized just how many people I need to thank for this book.
Mom and Steve, and Susan, thank you for your support. Not just the encouraging words that mean so very much to me but the time you help me to carve out to dedicate to my writing. I couldn’t do this without you.
Jessie, you’ve believed in me before I ever believed in myself. I am so lucky to have you in my life.
Meaghan, not all soul mates are the main characters of a romance story. You are mine. If I wrote a best friend like you, they’d tell me to edit her out because she couldn’t possibly be believable. I know we don’t say this to each other but I love you. I write better stories because of you.
France, Megan, and Laurie, you read early versions of this story and gave me the confidence to keep going when I wasn’t sure I could or should. Thank you for your work but also your love and support. This book wouldn’t exist without you.
Helen, thank you for seeing something in Wes, in Corrine and in me. Your mentorship has given me invaluable guidance but your friendship is priceless. Thank you to Pitch Wars and Brenda Drake for bringing Helen and me together. Your organization does so much for the writing community.
Kiki, I’m not sure I can truly express what our partnership means to me. Receiving your email to set up a call was and remains one of the top two best moments of my professional life (beaten only by your call to let me know about our offer). From day one, you’ve gotten Wesley and Corrine, you’ve understood the books I want to write. You’ve understood me. Your partnership makes me a better writer and person. I can’t wait to make more beautiful stories together.
Stephanie, Hot Copy could not have ended up in better hands. You’ve had such a clear vision of this story and these characters since the very first moment. Thank you for your incredible guidance, for your excitement for this story and these characters. I could not have trusted Wesley and Corrine to anyone else.
Slackers, I would do murders for you. Thank you for countless days and nights of laughter and love, of sprinting and cheering, and gifs, so, so many gifs. Thank you for your indomitable spirits, your ferocity, but mostly your friendship. I am truly blessed to have been allowed into your fold. Each and every one of you is a gift I can only hope to be deserving of.
Meryl and Rosie. I’m not sure it’s possible to write to you about what you mean to me. At the very least it’s not possible to do so without crying. So I will have to do this through tears. Your love is a wellspring. Your hearts are armor. Your unwavering and endless faith in me has scraped me off the very bottom of the deepest hole more times than I can count. Your friendship has saved my life in the smallest ways, ways that are so inconsequential and so frequent that none of us would even know they’re happening, those are the most important ways of all. In a thousand different universes, my loves, my heart will always have the capacity for loving yours.
Karou, I don’t know if you’ll ever read this book. I won’t be upset if you don’t but I do hope that one day you read these acknowledgments because nothing I could ever pull from inside my own head will be as funny, as sweet, as smart, as loving as you. You are miraculous. You are my hope. You are a Queen. Thank you for choosing me to be your Momma.
What can I say to you, Michael, that hasn’t already been said during declarations and engagements, in wedding vows and on anniversaries, or whispered between pillows at night?
What can I say to the man who has loved me when I thought I was undeserving, who is understanding when I am cruel? Who is patient when I am distracted and my most undying supporter when my dreams are out of this world? You have filled my life with laughter and joy. For me, you are better than any romance novel. You are my happily ever after. Thank you for these two most precious gifts: our daughter and your love. I am so in love with you.