Velvet (44 page)

And that meant I had hope.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Alexis

It’s pretty obvious that
Velvet
would not have been written without you. Not only did you come home from class every day asking to read the next chapter I’d managed to crank out, you were the only person able to coax me out of my hermit cave / bunk fortress to go outside and interact with the rest of the world. We went to the
Twilight
midnight premieres together, even when you moved three hours away, you gave me notes on
Velvet
five years after I first wrote it in our dorm room, and you are an incredible and dear friend.

Beta Readers

Kim Wilcox, Tony Sands, Greg Dember, Nicholas Limon, Audrey Ney, Kristen Rea, Alexa Riddle, Mel Case, Shelby Etcheson, Ashley Oczkewicz, Elizabeth Stoker, Jeffrey Holmes, Rosalie M. Town, Dan Marchant, and everyone else I guilted into reading
Velvet
. Your criticism, enthusiasm, and time were critical in getting
Velvet
to where it is today.

Mr. Bratt

I still can’t call you by your first name, even though it’s been six years since I was your student. Your classes were spectacular. Doing homework for you was a privilege (which sounds insincere and brown-nosey, but I’m completely serious). You treat your students like intelligent, thoughtful adults, which made such an incredible difference in my reception of my own education. In your classroom, I realized that my decisions were my own, and I had within me the power to think critically about the world, to observe it and decipher it and understand it, rather than accept it at face value. The way you presented literature to a bunch of fidgety teenagers was nothing short of remarkable. I blame you for my love of archetypes.

Dad

In addition to sneaking me food and gas money over much of the last five years, you also instilled in me a love of fantasy literature. Reading
The Chronicles of Narnia
every night before I fell asleep allowed for the story to percolate in my dreaming brain. You never minded when I wandered off on literal bunny trails when we went hiking and camping, when I borrowed your longbow for target practice, or when I appropriated your scrap supplies and tools to make failed Rube Goldberg projects. Whatever independent spirit I have, I learned from your love of wilderness, beauty, and elbow grease. You’re an incredible dad, and I love you more than I can properly express.

Deborah Halverson

When I was 19, I sent
Velvet
out to dozens of literary agents, and one of them passed me along to you. You took it upon yourself to give me 13 pages of notes on my (at that point) 150,000-word manuscript. All you asked for in return was that when I published my novel (which you knew I would), I pass it forward by advising another young author. I have no idea if you remember this encounter, but I do, and I wanted to let you know that I intend to fulfill my promise.

Lonnie & Jess

I commonly refer to you two as either my mentors or my second set of parents, and both are apt descriptions. Whether it was a novel, a screenplay, or a pilot, you never failed to be both excited and supportive of my project, and wholly convinced of my potential, often when I was in extreme doubt. You’ve invested so much time and love into my life, and have been a steadying hand in the years when I felt lost and alone. Thank you for remaining a constant source of wisdom even when I moved a thousand miles away.

Michael

If Lonnie and Jess are my second parents, you are my Obi-Wan Kenobi. For the past six years, any time a career decision came up, any time I wasn’t certain what to do or where to go creatively or professionally, you were the first person I consulted. You are one of the most intelligent people I have ever met, and I owe so much of my development as an artist and a writer to you. I could not have asked for a better mentor, and I am proud to call you my friend.

Mrs. Madison

I only had you as a teacher for seventh grade, but over a decade later, I still remember what you did for me. Besides being a generally fantastic educator—funny, intelligent, and just a little bit sarcastic—you unknowingly confirmed my decision to become a writer. We had to submit a short story for your class and I was in such a rush of excitement that I turned one in on ripped-out notebook paper, scrawled in my completely unintelligible handwriting. You enjoyed it so much, you gave it 21 out of 20 possible points. Getting extra credit from you, simply for telling a good story, was the moment I knew for certain what I was going to do with my life. So, y’know, thanks for the being the catalyst for that semi-pivotal moment.

Mom

As my English teacher in both junior high and high school, you held me to a higher standard than your other students because you believed, well before I did, that I was going to be an author. You gave me your life savings so I could go to college, you sat across the table from me during the edits for this book and pointed out comma splices and laughed out loud at lines you thought were funny, and you inspired me to try the path less taken by living your own life outside the boxes others might have been expected you to stay put in. You are an incredible, brilliant woman, and I am proud to call you my mother.

Nathan

I can’t imagine how annoying I must have been as a kid, following you around all the time. But you never seemed to mind as I perched on the back of the couch and watched you and your friends play video games for hours (
Final Fantasy VII
still holds a key place in my heart). My interest in sci-fi and fantasy grew in direct proportion to yours, as I would often steal the books off the shelf in your room after you’d finished them. Without you, I would never have discovered Robert Jordan, Terry Brooks, or Brandon Sanderson (although I claim credit for introducing you to Scott Lynch). It is one of my greater joys to Skype you and geek out over
Doctor Who
, brainstorm plot options for our various novels, and discuss our mutual love of bacon. I respect and admire you greatly, and miss you like crazy.

Rachel

My entire life, I’ve looked up to you in the best possible way. I took my fashion cues from you (and your hand-me-downs), my love of all things vintage and antique, and my appreciation of beauty even in the midst of disappointment and pain. When I was in high school, you convinced your editor to let me write a guest article for the newspaper, and it was the first time I saw my name in print on a professional publication. This past year, you let me stay in your guest room so that I would have the financial freedom and mental focus to see
Velvet
through to completion and publication. You are the best big sister I could have asked for: beautiful, intelligent, inspiring, and kind.

Red Twig Cafe Baristas

For keeping me well-supplied in vanilla lattes while I took over the corner of your cafe every week while editing
Velvet
. For asking me how the book was coming along every time I came in. For sneaking me free coffee. And for having awesome beards. I mean truly, they are fantastic (especially yours, Steven).

Holly West

My dear Holly, I must thank you for a lot of things, beginning with your patience. I had a bizarre list of questions (What are pass pages? What is this squiggle mark on the copyedit? What should I be doing to promote the book?), which you answered promptly, and a bizarre list of fears (What if someone points out something I forgot to answer in the book? WHAT IF EVERYONE HATES IT AND I SUCK AT WRITING?), which you assuaged many, many times. More importantly, thank you not only for helping me craft
Velvet
into its best form, but for being so darn
excited
about it. Your enthusiasm was infectious, and it made me believe that perhaps I had a story worth telling after all.

Swoon Reads

When I wrote
Velvet
, I mostly wrote it on a whim. While I, of course, dreamed about publication, I thought about it in the same way one thinks about what one would do if one won the lottery (say that five times fast). In short, I never really believed it would see the light of day. Thank you for providing a platform where my work could be seen, and thank you for believing in
Velvet
.

Swoon Reads Readers

I owe a huge debt to everyone who read, reviewed, and rated
Velvet
while it was a baby manuscript on the Swoon Reads site. Thank you for investing your time in a no-name book from a no-name author, and for providing such great feedback.

Read on for some

Swoonworthy Extras …

A Coffee Date

with author Temple West and her editor, Holly West

“About the Author”

Holly West (HW): Let’s start with my favorite question. You can take a second to think about it. If you were a superhero, what would your superpower be?

Temple West (TW): Oh, I already know that. Flight. I have always wanted to be able to fly. Just Superman-esque. Anywhere. No wings or anything. I don’t want extra appendages, I just want to be able to fly.

HW: You’re stranded on a desert island. Who would you bring for company?

TW: I feel that Johnny Depp would be a really good person to take just because, I mean, after that many
Pirates of the Caribbean
movies, he’s got to know how to get off an island.

HW: That is very true.

TW: Plus, it’s Johnny Depp. So, the company would not be bad.

HW: Also, very true. Other than writing, do you have any hobbies? Since writing can’t really be considered a hobby for you anymore, what with you being a published author.

TW: I do. I have so many hobbies, it’s a little overwhelming. I love sewing. That’s part of why I wrote
Velvet
, because my mom was a decorator sewer for about ten years when I was growing up, so that was a part of our lives. That’s how she made an income for a while. I can’t sew half as well as she can, but I really enjoy doing it. But I hate patterns, so I just make things up, and they don’t always work, but I really enjoy it. So, there’s that. And I like, tangentially, knitting. My art teacher in high school taught me how to knit. And weaving. I built a loom a couple of weeks ago because I was bored. I’m weaving a rag rug. I also like book art, which is where you actually carve images into the pages of a book, so it becomes a three-dimensional piece of art. It’s super cool. It takes forever, like 14 hours per thing for a simple design. So, there’s that. And leatherworking. My grandfather was into leatherworking and I discovered a box of his tools in the garage when I was a kid. I love being able to carve designs into belts and stuff. What else? Carving things. Swords and stuff out of spare wood. That was a weird hobby of mine as a child. And painting, I like painting. I like singing, but I’m not very good at it, so I don’t do it in front of people. And just crafty stuff. I love crafty stuff. Making something that wasn’t there before, or taking supplies and making something beautiful out of it. That is my happiest time, just making something.

HW: That is an impressive list. I thought I was vaguely crafty because I knit and crochet and occasionally costume and I’ve done some embroidery, but your list is a little bit more extensive.

TW: I have to admit, I’m not very good at any of these things. I just dabble very lightly across a wide spectrum of activities.

“The Swoon Reads Experience”

HW: How did you first learn about Swoon Reads?

TW: From my mother. She saw an ad for it. I still don’t know where (I think it might have been on Facebook or maybe one of her friends had posted a link to it or something). I was actually at her condo sewing. I had totally taken over her living room with all her supplies out and was making costumes for something, and she said, “Hey, there’s this thing called Swoon Reads and it sounds like it’s right up your alley. It’s a competition-based, young adult, romance novel division of a company.” I said, “Yeah, that sounds great, but it’s probably a scam.” I didn’t even look at the link until a couple of days later. I read the terms of service and all the finer points and I thought, “Oh, no, this sounds fantastic! I should submit to this because I have a novel,” and then I did.

HW: Before you were chosen, what was your experience like on the site?

TW: Really good. It was really fun to be able to see the other community members, not only what they were writing, but what they were doing. Like what their backgrounds were. Were they a stay-at-home mom, were they a college student, were they in high school? Just to see the different people who were attracted to Swoon Reads and to these types of stories.

HW: Are you going to have a big celebration when the books actually end up in your hands?

TW: My plan is to go to the nearest Barnes & Noble or bookstore and grab every copy that I can and just kind of roll with them on the floor and giggle uncontrollably.

HW: That sounds great. No, really, we need video of this!

“About the Book”

HW: Where did you first get the idea for
Velvet
?

TW: After reading
Twilight
. I had kind of been into vampires before. I thought that they were really cool creatures. A lot of creatures in mythology are part animal or so inhuman, they’re a little bit hard to connect to, but vampires are basically humans with some teeth and some undead-ness, depending on which book you read. So, they seemed a lot more relatable. Then
Twilight
came out and it was this huge thing. The movies were just coming out as I was reading the books and my roommate was super into it, and that’s kind of what sparked my idea of, “Okay, I want to do my take on this now. All the frustrations that I have with previous versions of vampire stories, I want to address those and make my perfect vampire, if you will, or my perfect vampire story.” So, that’s what I attempted to do with
Velvet
.