I let out a sigh. “You’re going to regret it in thirty years. Your joints will be shot, and you’ll have to buy special, ugly orthopedic sandals because your feet are all gnarled, and if it gets really bad—”
“If it gets really bad, I can borrow your snake cane,” she interrupts. “It’ll be my turn to be the cranky cripple.”
I lift her up off her feet. “And I’ll be there for you. Always.”
For Nic. For knowing I should write this book.
Acknowledgments
I’ve always been a bit of a lone wolf when it comes to writing my books. I write and write and write in a vacuum, with no beta readers and no critique partners. The result? When I come out of the writing cave three days before deadline, I’ve barely showered and the book is something akin to a hot mess.
Here’s the part where I thank the people who help me get it from a jumble of words into a story. My amazing agent, Nicole, stopped everything she was doing to read this book in a day. Yes, a day. She cleaned up the uglies, pointed out the plot gnarlies, and basically single-handedly got this book into submission shape. From there it went to Sue Grimshaw, who whipped the book into shape in record time and with a crazy amount of skill perfectly identified every single plot hole. Nic and Sue, you don’t have to work with my crazy methods, but you always, always do…and I’m so appreciative.
And to the rest of the all-stars at Random House (you know who you are), thank you. Thank you so much for doing the gritty, behind-the-scenes stuff that doesn’t often enough get recognized. You take a document and make it a book, and we authors should thank you every day.