Heart in Wire: A by a Thread Companion Novel (42 page)

Emery coughed and spit, trying to shake away the emotions; she couldn’t afford to be emotional. She needed to have all her wits about her.

Rachel grabbed her hand again, one tear sliding down Rachel’s freckled cheek. “Come on.” Rachel stood up and pulled Emery with her.

Emery looked into the grave that held her 13-year-old sister, who would never have a first date, never go to prom, and never know that Emery was going make it up to her. This loss would be her undoing, she knew it. The utter devastation Ashley must’ve felt was fuel to a fire that was started when Emery was 13 and she’d been tossing buckets on it for ten years.

She pulled out a friendship bracelet Ashley made for her the night before she left Atlanta. It was pink and green, Ashley’s favorite colors.
I wonder if those are still her favorite colors.
Were, she corrected herself.
Emery dropped the bracelet in the hole and began taking one step at a time away from the grave. She walked backwards, staring at it until the men resumed their jobs of filling the grave. She flinched every time she heard the dirt hit the casket.

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I have to say that this was probably my easiest book to write, which caused me much consternation because easy is not my process. Patrick has a special place in my heart and he just poured out of me. Again, like with every book I write I couldn’t get this thing done without an awesome come togetherness of my team. My kid and husband are so supportive and it would be impossible to get these books out without that support. My son asked if
Heart in Wire
could be released on his birthday. Isn’t that the sweetest thing you’ve ever read? I’m seriously living the dream.

Next, my mom actually loved this book, which scared me. She usually peppers me with tons of questions and wants to change many things, but she loves Patrick so I think she just wanted his story to get out there and allow him to be happy. My mom and dad both love to read and I have said it over and over, but I wouldn’t been able to follow my dreams without them raising me thinking I could do whatever I wanted in this life.

Emma and Michelle are also in my first round of “is this shit or not?” read through. They are so key to getting these books out and doing promo, I can’t even begin to thank them. Michelle makes the most beautiful teasers and videos; I think it’s her goal to make me cry to get me back for my books making her cry. I have added a new author to this group of first-rounders, K. Larsen is my go to for all things that I have no idea about. I love her books and I we read each other’s “no one look at this” drafts when we’re feeling a little bad about our writing. It’s good to have an honest sounding board and she knows the biz much better than me.

Stephanie gets her own paragraph of awesomeness. She and I are so similar sometimes we just vox to chat about life instead of books. She helps me manage my shit, all my shit. She does a good spreadsheet and made my website current. She also reads and goes through all my POVs and creates the newsletter. I honestly don’t know what I would do without her, I hope I don’t have to find out.

Second round of reads go to my sister, Kelei, who is my best friend and the most amazing sister. I’m glad we’ve gotten closer in the last few years; she makes me better (most of the time). I’m surly and grumpy and she’s always there pushing me through things. I appreciate her very much. We’re opposites in personality and she evens me out. I like her to read my books because she says things like “can you put some normal in this book?” and “you have issues.”

Lindsay, thank you for play dates and brain storming, I really appreciate it. Dympna, you are the best pimp a girl could have and I can’t wait to see you in July. I listen to your vox of the entire song of “A Grain of Sand” by Ron Pope all the time. Donna, thank you getting on the crazy train with me and loving all these characters; your crying voxes still have me laughing on bad days. Jill, you are exactly what an author needs in a beta reader and I really appreciate your eye for detail. Also, you know me so well, I trust you with my book babies.

The cover…oh, the cover. First of all, Georgina Brooks is amazing and did the covers for
By a Thread, Tension, Seamless,
and now this masterpiece. I love this cover. However, Georgina and I didn’t do it alone this time. The awesome Ellie…you know…from Lovenbooks, hooked me up with the gorgeous Assad Shalhoub. Also, the picture was taken by Lorie from Lorie Rebecca Photography. I have to say it was the most amazing Facetiming I’ve done. This cover turned out exactly the way I wanted. Assad was able to show the emotion I wanted for this cover and Lorie captured it perfectly.

I have met so many great people in this journey over the past year or so, but not one of them is more important than my rock star editor, Erin Roth. She puts up with loads of shit from me. She makes me laugh with her snarky comments and she tolerates me sending her documents that I haven’t even spellchecked. I love her, utterly and completely. Love. Also, without Lisa Despain formatting and uploading everything I’d still be trying to figure it out. Thank you so much for all that you do, Lisa.

I want to make sure I mention all those ladies that have taken hours out their time to read and review my books for their blogs. Much props to Jenn from the Geekery Book Review, Tiffany from Tiffany Talks Books, Grace, Yahaira, and Mags from SMIbookclub, Jennelyn from Naughty and Nice Book Blog, Amber from Up All Night Book Addict, Desiree and all the lovelies at A Love Affair with Books, Amanda from Globug and Hootie Need a Book, Ria from a Bookish Escape, Sandie and Dee from Book Boyfriend Reviews, and Shamika from Sticky Reads. These blogs have made me smile with their reviews, rants, and comments about all my characters.

Thank you to each and every person reading this and for giving my books a chance and letting others know what you thought about them and my writing. I’m eternally grateful, really. Y’all are so amazing.