Turnpike Troubadours: “Diamonds & Gasoline”
The Dirty River Boys: “Looking for the Heart You Took from Me”
The Head and the Heart: “Shake”
Lincoln Durham: “Beautifully Sewn, Violently Torn”
Cory Branan: “All the Rivers in Colorado”
Folk Soul Revival: “Bent”
Chris Knight: “The Hammer Going Down”
Delta Rae: “Scared”/“If I Loved You”
The Lone Bellow: “Green Eyes and a Heart of Gold”/“Cold As It Is”
Jason Isbell: “24 Frames”/“I Follow Rivers”
Amanda Shires: “Hearts Are Breaking”
Def Leppard: “Pour Some Sugar on Me”
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I want to extend a special thank-you to Carla Dragon and Jessica Schwartz. They are both members of my private group on Facebook and they won the chance to have their names in Built. Carla popped up as Sayer’s paralegal and Jessica got to name Auntie Echo . . . whom I liked a lot more than I thought I was going to, so maybe we’ll see more of her around. Be quiet, brain, you already have enough stories filling you up! 0_o Anyway, thanks for being part of the Crowd, ladies, and I hope it was fun seeing your names in print.
I adore my readers, and being able to make them a part of my process in even this little way is pretty cool. If you are interested in joining the group, feel free to go to: https://www.facebook.com/groups/crownoverscrowd/
I do a lot of giveaways and we have a pretty good time. It’s really a place where I can connect one-on-one with readers and it is always all about the love. Believe it or not, there are safe places on the Internet. ?
I usually wax on endlessly in my acknowledgments because I really do have a lot of love to give and a lot of people who push me and force me to be better, but I’m gonna attempt to keep things short and sweet this go-round. I have SO MANY books to write. A good problem to have, am I right?!
All my readers: Thank you for being you. Thank you for being honest and willing to take a risk. Thank you for letting me do my thing even if you wish my thing was something else. You are the best in the land and I really do owe you everything.
To the blogger nation: Thank you for being badass. Thank you for loving books. Thanks for keeping shit real. Thanks for working so hard often with little reward. Thank you for being invested and interested. Thank you for being on the front lines; sometimes it gets bloody and brutal there, but you never give up the fight . . . neither will I.
My professional team. Amanda, Jessie, Elle, Molly (the whole Harper crew) . . . all you kick-ass chicks in NYC who do what you do like no other, thanks. Thanks for putting up with me and believing in what I do . . . even if it never is quite the status quo. Your support and faith is humbling in a business that often feels like it can eat you up and spit you out. At the end of the day I never doubt really amazing things will happen when we put our heads together. Kelly Simmon, thanks for answering the Bat Signal whenever it lights up and being all the kinds of awesome you are. Thanks for being clever and quick and thanks for being my friend. Stacey Donaghy, thanks for being you . . . which is an awful lot like being me! Seriously, thank you for just getting it . . . whatever it may be at the time.
My inner circle, what would I do without you guys? Melissa Shank . . . you are everything and then some more things . . . you always have been amazing and I feel so lucky I get to walk this road with you every single day (yes, I named Zeb’s mom after you), Ali, Debbie, Denise, Heather, Megan, Vilma, Jen Mc and Stacey (are you ready for my sweet dance moves?), thanks for simply getting me and getting what I do. Thanks for your honesty and time . . . I know how valuable it is. It may have all started out business but it feels so far removed from that now and I can honestly say you ladies are some of the real, true rewards that have ended up crossing my path along this journey. I love all your faces and want to smother you in so much love. You make me better and there aren’t enough words to thank you for that.