“Look at me, Mama! I am the queen!” Her black eyes glittered in the filtered light of the Twisted Wood. “I am the queen!”
When she looked at her daughter’s face, Dinah could feel the love for her child snaking its way around the black fury inside her. The fury would always remain, alive and hungry. But for her daughter’s sake, Dinah prayed that this time, love would be enough to quench the flame.
“Begin at the beginning,” the King said gravely,
“and go on till you come to the end: then stop.”
—Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll
Acknowledgments
First and foremost, thank you to those who have stuck with Dinah until the very end of the series. Queen of Hearts was unique in that it had two lives—two births, two second novels, and then one bloody ending. If you were one of the first readers of the series, thank you for waiting a very long time for the last book. If you were a new reader, thank you for taking a chance on a very different sort of read. I hope that Dinah broke your heart and restored it.
I’m happy to get to thank those who have personally stood by me as the queen takes her final bow. Being surrounded by encouragement made it easy to pursue this career and this story.
Thank you to Emilia Rhodes and the team at HarperCollins for all their dedication in getting Dinah into the hands of so many YA readers. Emilia, thank you for believing in this story and not insisting I change the ending. You understand Dinah so well, and by extension, myself as well. Taking Queen on was a risk, and it is a reflection of your brave nature that you believed in this story enough to give it a second life. Thank you also to the talented Alice Jerman and the editors at HarperCollins who have helped me plow through three novels now. A special thanks must go out to Gina Rizzo and Elizabeth Ward at Harper for crafting such a unique PR story for Queen. All the love in the world goes out to Jenna Stempel, who has designed the most beautiful covers that I’ve ever seen. Every time I see the Queen of Hearts covers, I marvel at how they are truly works of art.
Thank you to my agent, Jen Unter, who has helped the Queen of Hearts series along in a million small ways and is always encouraging. I’m glad I had you fighting for this. Thank you to Crystal Patriarche and the entire marvelous team at SparkPress in Arizona who have supported this book from the very beginning. You guys believed in Queen before there was a Queen.
To my writing partners and dear friends Emily Kiebel, Brianna Shrum, and Mason Torall, thanks for your weird brilliance. Each of you has a creepy Cheshire-like hand meddling in my work in the best of ways.
To my superb group of friends who have never stopped encouraging me and never complain about attending so many damn book signings: Nicole London, who inspires me to live creatively; Elizabeth Wagner, whose mind is a magical, hysterical place; Katie Hall, who fights so much for those she loves; Kim Stein, the sister of my heart and soul; Karen Groves, who turns my fury into mercy and my tears into laughter; Erin Chan, whose art rises above; Cassandra Splittgerber, who reminds me what is important; Katie Blumhorst, who is the best kind of sister-in-law; Emily Kiebel, who listened to me rattle off this plot in a manic pizza session; and to Amanda Sanders and Erin Burt, coven ladies who make me believe I can do anything.
To my beta readers who took the first crack at Queen, who loved fierce Dinah for the way she was: Erika, Michelle, Jeni, Jen, Patty, Sarah, Angela, Holly, Erin, and Stephanie—thank you for your words of advice and your belief in the story.
Finally, to my family, who continues to astonish me daily with the love they give. To Ryan Oakes, there aren’t enough words to thank you. You believe in me, you encourage me, you stood for me when others doubted this story. You always have my back. I love you. Wardley’s good heart is your own. To Maine—this dark heart broke wide open for you. Thank god it will never be the same. For Cindy, I love you. Best sister ever. Sorry you have to hang out with authors all the time now. To my parents, Ron and Tricia McCulley, who believed my fourth-grade teacher when she said they had a writer on their hands. To Denise McCulley and Butch and Lynette Oakes, I’m so glad I get to be part of your family.
To readers: may your broken hearts beat strong.