Thank you to everyone who helped make this book better. Authors Merrie Haskell, Patrick Samphire, and Stephanie Burgis all critiqued early drafts of Tamora Carter’s adventures. My agent Eddie Schneider provided wonderful feedback as well. And my son Jamie listened to me read the entire story—twice!—and shared what he did and didn’t like.
Big props to artist Leanna Crossan, who did an incredible job bringing Tamora and company to life on the cover and the interior artwork. And speaking of artists, thanks also to Jenn Reese for the oh-so-cute fire-spider stickers she created as one of the bonus Kickstarter rewards.
And that brings me to everyone who supported this project on Kickstarter, helping to transform that finished manuscript into a published book. I am both humbled and grateful to you all, and I’ll be saying more on that in the Afterword. But I want to give an extra-special shout-out to John Senn and Steph DuFresne, whose generosity made the goblins cry happy tears.
Finally, I need to tell you about Megan Ruth Cunningham, her mother Kelly Naylor, and a librarian named Ms. Pookie. (You’ll meet Ms. Pookie in chapter four.)
Several years ago, I helped out with a fundraiser for a group working to end violence against women and girls. Kelly made a very generous donation to the organization. In return, she got to help create a minor character in one of my books.
Ms. Pookie is based on her daughter Megan, who passed away far too young. Megan was kind and compassionate, stubborn and independent, and a great lover of books.
Kelly—thank you for sharing your daughter’s story with me, and letting me share Ms. Pookie with the world. I hope I’ve done justice to Megan’s memory.