King of the Mutants (19 page)
Read King of the Mutants Online
Authors: Samantha Verant
Tags: #middle grade, #fantasy, #action and adventure, #science fiction, #mutants
Every book starts with an idea. Sometimes these ideas are crazy, and, as everybody knows, you can’t run from crazy; you have to run
with
it. But what started out as a crazy idea turned into a book I’m really proud of. One of the sanest decisions I’ve ever made was approaching Month9Books/Tantrum Books.
First off, I’d like to thank the awesome Georgia McBride, my publisher, for taking Maverick’s story from a crazy dream into a not-so-crazy reality. I am absolutely thrilled to be a part of the Month9Books/Tantrum Books family, where there is no dysfunction, just fun (and a whole lot of support)! I’d like to thank my editor, Ashlyn Yuhas, who helped polish this story up one page at a time, and whose enthusiasm for Maverick’s story was contagious. Likewise, I’d like to thank the Month9Books team, with a special shout out to Jennifer Million, Candace Y., Jamie Arnold, Brooke Hamilton, and the amazingly talented illustrator that is Zachary Schoenbaum. (Seriously, what a cool cover!)
A heartfelt thanks goes to two amazing writers who believed in Maverick from the get-go and were with me on this entire publication journey. Angela Cerrito and Stephen Eastman, thank you for your critiques and for pushing me (and the story) onwards. It’s been a crazy ride!
Thank you to my beta readers Lisa Kelly Eason, Becky Wojahn, and Michael Morrel, who embraced the madness and delivered thoughtful critiques. A big hug goes to Kelly Polark and Carrie Harris, who cheered Mav on and urged me to bring back the tail! Well, thanks to everybody mentioned above, I did it. The tail? It’s back.
Finally, I’d like to thank you, awesome reader. Just like Maverick, you rock! Now put this book down and go embrace your inner crazy...because it’s good to be weird. Being normal is boring.
A classically trained mezzo-soprano, at the age of fifteen I auditioned at The Chicago Academy for the Performing and Visual Arts for voice, got in, but ended up choosing theater as my major. When my family moved to Boston the following year, I stayed involved in the acting community, but thanks to an awesome teacher, art became a big part of my life. A triple threat, I could sing, act (like a clown), and draw. But I couldn’t do all three things at once, or so I thought. Alas, once high school came to an end, it was on to Syracuse University, where I traded in arias and monologues for advertising design. After graduating from Syracuse with honors, I’ve worked at some of the biggest agencies in Chicago.
Over the years, I’ve traveled the world, lived in many places, and worked many jobs. I’ve had many successes, and a couple of failures — always on the search for the one thing that truly excited me. Then, one day, I finally found everything I’d been looking for: a passion for the written word. Thanks to writing, I can sing on the page, act out scenes, and design new worlds.
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