I’d like to thank my agent, Carrie Pestritto, for taking a chance on a new author with a very weird idea. I’d also like to thank my excellent editor, Madeleine Colavita, for frustrating the hell out of me by pointing out areas where my manuscript needed work that I was sure were already perfect, then proving me wrong when the final product turned out to be a hundred times better than the original.
I’d like to give a shout-out to my writing group partners in Dayton Write Now who had to suffer through the crappy first drafts of my story: Karen Brandin, Amy Jomantas, and Daphne Burgard. Another big thanks goes to my other awesome writing group, Western Ohio Writers Association, including their fearless leader Gery Deer and his beautiful wife Barbara, and the three sexy amigos: Bill Bicknell, Michael Martin, and Philip A. Lee. Without their #RealTalk and much better grasp of the English language than me, I never would have made it as a serious author, or known the difference between a participle and a gerund (…I still don’t, but they remind me!).
Thanks to the men and women of the US Armed Forces for giving me the opportunity to serve and protect my country, as well as a steady paycheck that allowed me to write for the love of it. Specific thanks to my military friends and coworkers who managed to stifle their shock and express support when I told them I wrote romance rather than military sci-fi.
Finally, I’d like to express my extreme gratitude to my family: my mom for encouraging me to follow my dreams; my sister for giving me her love and support; my pugs for being my writing buddies and arm rests; my daughters for tipping the scales of my lifelong memories from mostly bad to mostly good; and my husband for keeping the home fires burning and giving me his unwavering support when each day I went to work, then came home and sat in a corner and plinked away on my laptop.
Much like an Oscar speech, there are dozens of other people who contributed to my success and deserve to be recognized, but at this point I’m being figuratively played off the stage. So if you’re one of those people, please accept my apologies, and my thanks!