Shadowlark

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Second books are hard. If there are any writers reading this, right now they’re snickering and thinking, “Yeah, understatement of the century.” The pressure is high, the glamour is low, and the novelty’s worn off. (Well, for everyone else, that is. To me it’s still pretty crazy that I get to do this!) But that just makes me even more grateful to the people around me who’ve cheered me on and supported me just as much, if not more, as on the first exciting day when I got to tell everyone I’d sold my trilogy. For those people who kept listening, even when I was in the depths of writerly despair, and considering changing my name and fleeing the country.

I’m so glad to have my family, my mom and dad and my big sister, all cheering for me—and commiserating with me when things aren’t all sunshine and roses. And I couldn’t do without my extended family of friends and relatives: the Miskes, Harry, Natalie and Rod; the aunts and uncles and cousins who ran out to buy the book as soon as they could; my strong Nana and my fearless Grandma—I feel so lucky to have all of you.

Thank you to my agent, Josh, and to Tracey as well, for being such awesome warriors. You make me glad you’re on my team. And special thanks to Abby and Jessie too, for making me feel like part of the family!

I also want to thank my editor, Andrew Karre, for never flagging in his faith in me and my writing. To the rest of the team at Carolrhoda Lab, thank you for believing in my books!

To the other authors I’ve met and gotten to know over the past few years: I never would’ve gotten through this without you. Veronica, Beth, Kimberley, Megan, Kat, Sarah, Susan, Lindsay, Stephanie, Diana—having people to talk to who know what it’s like on the other side of the manuscript has made all the difference.

All my friends are forever in my debt for being so understanding of my occasional crazy, especially my roommate, Caitlin, who’s heard me run the gamut from shrieking about awesome news to throwing tantrums about feeling stuck and blocked. Also Kim and Frazier, for going out of their way to see me when otherwise, left to my own devices, I’d become a complete hermit and lock myself in my writer-cave for months on end. My Australian friends and family have been extra awesome—the day science invents a long-distance teleporter, I will be visiting you every day.

And finally, there’s no one who deserves my gratitude more than Amie Kaufman, my critique partner, co-author, and all-around pillar of sanity. This book very simply wouldn’t exist without her.