The Iron Queen

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

It occurred to me, as I sat down to write this page, that I have come to the end of book three. Book three, and a few years back, I didn’t even know if I would publish a single novel. Of course, I couldn’t get here without the help of many awesome, wonderful people. Without them, I never could’ve written The End on the final page of the final chapter. I have so many people to be grateful for.

Thanks to my parents, who put up with a daughter who daydreamed her way through school, hid novels behind her math textbooks during class, wrote stories when she was supposed to be taking notes, and generally drove her poor teachers insane. Though you lamented my complete and utter disinterest in math and social studies, you still encouraged me to dream.

Thanks to the people on the inside: my awesome agent, Laurie McLean, who knows the business far better than I, for which I am very grateful. To my wonderful editor, Natashya Wilson, who is probably the strongest and most dedicated person I know. To the entire Harlequin Teen staff, for awesome support, beautiful covers, and making this whole experience completely and utterly amazing.

A huge shout-out to the awesome YA book bloggers of the blogosphere, for taking the time to read, post your thoughts online, and spread the word. You are truly a dedicated, passionate group. To the awesome Tenners, whom I’m pleased to be a part of: thanks for being there to share triumphs and frustrations, to talk about things only other authors can sympathize with. It was nice to be able to vent without people edging away from the “crazy writer lady.”

Thanks to all my readers, for Team Ash and Team Puck, for those crazy fights on Twitter that amuse me far more than they should. Thank you for making it fun.

And, as always, my deepest gratitude goes to my husband, Nick, who continues to be my best support and inspiration. Still couldn’t have done it without him.