“I did not!” Wyatt said, running in after him. “He lost it.”
Ashley appeared then. “Can I come in my own bedroom yet?”
I smiled at Cade in the chaos.
“Will you enter the contest?” he mouthed at me through the noise.
I nodded. I would. I couldn’t wait. It didn’t even matter if my song won, just knowing that I could, I would, was a huge step for me.
And then I mouthed, “I think I love you too.”
You’d think this would get easier the more books you have out, but in my opinion, it actually gets harder. Maybe because now I recognize more fully just how many people have helped me along this journey. Maybe because the further I get the more and more people there are involved in this process. I don’t know, maybe it’s because I feel very lucky to still be writing and to still have people reading what I write. Whatever the reason, I’m feeling very sentimental and thankful and terrified that I’m not feeling either of those things nearly as much as I should. Regardless, I will try to express the appropriate amount of gratitude in the couple pages that I have to do that.
First, I want to thank my family. You’d think they’d get tired of my deadlines and crazy late nights and sometimes weeks of shutting myself away from life to finish a draft. But they don’t. They are very understanding and supportive and help me make the most of the times I’m not on deadline and don’t have to shut myself away. So to my husband, Jared, and my kids, Hannah, Autumn, Abby, and Donavan, I love you dearly. You are my everything.
Next, I’d like to thank my agent, Michelle Wolfson. She is truly a rock star. She reads my drafts at the speed of light and as many times as I need her to, she has excellent advice, and she keeps me sane. Thanks, Michelle, you are the best.
I got to work with Aimee Friedman for this book and she is an amazing editor. It was like she had direct access to my brain. We had the same vision. That makes for a fun and easy working relationship. I’m so happy to have her. Thanks, Aimee, for making this book better than it would’ve been without you. You are amazing. And thanks to the rest of the Scholastic team—David Levithan, Emily Rader, Yaffa Jaskoll, Ingrid Ostby, Janelle DeLuise, Anna Swenson, Ann Marie Wong, Tracy van Straaten, Monica Palenzuela, Bess Braswell, Lauren Festa, and so many others—for all you did: a fun cover, a great copy edit, marketing, and on and on.
I got lucky in life to have some of the best friends. It helps to have friends both in and out of the writing industry. As a writer, it’s nice to be able to unload some stresses on people who understand. Also, it’s nice to have friends who help with reading and editing and all that other stuff that sometimes comes up at the last minute. Knowing I can count on people I love and trust to help me with these things is invaluable. Those people in my life are Candi Kennington, Jenn Johansson, Renee Collins, Natalie Whipple, Michelle Argyle, Bree Despain, and Julie Nelson. Love you ladies, so much. On the other side, having nonwriter friends keeps me balanced. My lovely ladies who get me outside my own head are Stephanie Ryan, Rachel Whiting, Elizabeth Minnick, Brittney Swift, Mandy Hillman, Jamie Lawrence, Emily Freeman, Misti Hamel, and Claudia Wadsworth.
I also want to thank you, my readers. It means so much to me to have people from all around the world interested in reading what I write. It still feels very surreal. I make things up and people want to read them. How awesome is that? It’s the coolest job in the universe (aside from colonizing Mars) and it’s mine. I love it. And I love you for making it possible for me. Thank you!
And last but not least (mostly because there are too many of them for them to be “least” in anything), my huge family. People often ask me how (and why) I can write such big, crazy families in my books. It’s because I have a big, crazy family. So here goes, a long list of the names that make up my family (people I see often, by the way; they aren’t just family in name): Chris DeWoody, Heather Garza, Jared DeWoody, Spencer DeWoody, Stephanie Ryan, Dave Garza, Rachel DeWoody, Zita Konik, Kevin Ryan, Vance West, Karen West, Eric West, Michelle West, Sharlynn West, Rachel Braithwaite, Brian Braithwaite, Angie Stettler, Jim Stettler, Emily Hill, Rick Hill, and the twenty-five children who exist between all these people. Love you all, so much.