And I didn’t see an end in sight.
With every book, this parts gets more and more difficult to write. It’s almost impossible to thank all the hearts, minds, souls, and hands that go into making a book come to life. So, just in case you want to save yourself from reading the short story I’m about to write in order to attempt to thank everyone I need to, let me start by thanking you—the reader.
I know you have many choices when it comes to which book to read next. From the very bottom of my heart, thank you for picking mine. This story was important for me to tell for so many reasons, but the biggest one is that I truly believe there are many paths for love and not one of them is “right,” nor are any of them “wrong.” I hope you found love and acceptance within these pages, and I truly hope you will continue reading my work for many years to come. I also love to hang out with my readers online, so come find me! You can start by joining my reader group on Facebook here: Kandiland.
Staci BRILLZhart, you knew you’d be first on this, right? Thank you is literally the worst expression to accurately convey what I really want and need to say to you. This book nearly tore me to shreds multiple times, and you were always there to tape me back together, slap me on the ass, and tell me to keep going. You didn’t just help me elevate my writing in the editing stages, you also helped me survive one of the most difficult things I’ve ever had to go through as a human. You are honestly one of the very best friends I have ever had and I am forever thankful for your love and friendship. Please don’t ever leave me. #MoreThanTacos
To my beautiful daily source of inspiration, Brittainy C. Cherry—you are such a light in my life. No one hustles harder than you and does it with as pure of a heart. I love our voice messages, our memes, our conversations where we recognize time and time again that we literally have the same soul. I don’t know how I did this without you before, but I hope I never have to remember. I love you.
Sasha Whittington, my best friend and sister in everything but blood, thank you for always supporting my writing dreams and cheering me on—even when it meant I had to sacrifice Chinese food dates and nights out on the town. I can’t tell you how much it means to me that you stand behind me and believe in me even when I don’t. Thank you. Now, let’s party.
And, while we’re thanking the Whittingtons, HUGE shout out to Dale and Debbie Whittington for letting me stay in the cabin in Gold Bar to tap into my source of inspiration and for answering all my questions. This story’s setting wouldn’t be half of what it is without your support. I appreciate you both, and owe you lots and lots of wine!
Sydney Grey, my forever #WCW and fellow lover of Instagram memes—thank you for your constant stream of motivation and love. You were a cheerleader even on my darkest days, and I can’t tell you in words how much your listening ear means to me. I cherish our friendship so much.
Momma, AKA the original Momma Von, thank you for loving me and raising me with a writer’s heart and a dreamer’s soul. You’ve always told me I can do whatever it is that I set my mind to, and you’ve also reminded me time and time again that life is a journey and to take every day one step at a time. There is much of you not only in this book, but in me, and I love you for giving me that light.
To my writing partner and toughtes critic, Kathryn Andrews, thank you for reading and helping me shape Revelry when you had plenty going on in your own life. I love our writing dates and conversations so much, and I hope we have many more years of sprinting together.
Kellee Fabre, there aren’t enough words in the English language to tell you how much I appreciated your thoughts as you read Revelry while I wrote it. You were often the first eyes to see the words on these pages, and you gave me clean and critical feedback that helped more than you know. From Tag Chaser to Revelry, you have always been there, and I hope I never have to do this without you.
I have to give a special shout out to Monique Boone, who helped me sift through a lot of the muck in this manuscript to pull out the true messages I was trying to portray. Sometimes my heart gets lost in a lot of words, and you always help me scrape them away until everything makes sense. Thank you!
To the rest of my fabulous beta team: Danielle Lagasse, Becca Mysoor, Ashlei Davison, Tina Lynne, Trish Mintness, and Sahar Bagheri—thank you for not only reading my fresh brain dump, but loving it, too. Your feedback is so important and every single one of you had an effect on this story. I can’t thank you enough for dropping things in your life to make time for my words. It means so much to me, as do all of you.
Elaine York, thank you for whipping my manuscript into shape and then making it pretty with your amazing formatting skills. I always appreciate your kind editor notes in-between the lashings (lol) and I value our relationship so much.
Most of you probably one-clicked this book because of the stunning cover, and for that I have to thank Lauren Perry of Perrywinkle Photography. Your photography literally makes my job as the designer easy as pie. Your talent is absolutely astounding and I love how you bring every single vision I have to life in a way that’s even more incredible than I could ever imagine. Thank you!
Angie McKeon, my sweet little bumblebee, thank you for reading Revelry early and for all your sweet voice messages as I wrote. You are such an amazing friend and you put such heart and passion into everything you do, whether it’s writing, blogging, momming, or friending. I am so happy we found each other in this world.
Erin Spencer and Nina Ginstead, thank you both for promoting Revelry as if it was your own baby. I couldn’t reach half the readers I try to without your help, and I appreciate your time and effort on this project more than I can say. Thank you for everything!
Last but certainly not least, thank you to the two groups who keep me going when I feel like giving up: Tribe and Kandiland. I’ve always believed we should surround ourselves with people who lift us up and cheer us on, and y’all are those people for me. Let’s cuddle up in our corner of the interwebs forever.
Oh, and to Macallan 12. Couldn’t have done this one without ya. ;)