There are so many people that I need to thank and surely, I am going to forget someone. That’s me. All those pretty planners and none around when you need one.
First to my dearest husband, Tony. My best friend on this journey through life… thank you for your encouragement, your understanding of early days and late nights, for talking me down when I wanted to run from this project. In twenty eight years you’ve never stopped me from pursuing a hope or dream. I couldn’t be more grateful for all that you do for me and for our family. I love you, Vlad.
To my two sweet miracles, Warren and Harrison. You are everything. Absolutely everything in this life to me. We have our great days and we have our horrible days. Nothing can change the magic of you two boys. Loving you for an eternity will never be enough.
To Adriana Locke… there are no words to fully express what you have given a girl whose dream was to write the words on her heart. You did that for me. You held my hand, taught me the lessons, gave me the tools. You believed even when doubts made me want to give up. Thank you seems so inadequate but I am so grateful for your guidance, your love for seven girls trying to make it in this industry and your faith that we could accomplish anything as long as we just believed that we could. Tiffany Remy, you are a doll and an absolute godsend. You kept us in line, answered the crazy questions and were simply there. Mandi Beck, you are just amazing. I am so glad that you joined us on this little adventure!
To the fabulous ladies that make up the Sensational Seven… Emma L., Emma N., Jenna, Jeanmarie, Kristi and Lucy. Oh, my sweets. Thank you so much for taking this crazy roller coaster ride with me. Laughter, tears, dirty jokes, a new nickname (Cookie seems so me now!) and seven books later, look at what we have done. I am so proud of all of you, so excited to see what is around the bend. So much talent, fierce determination and grace! You girls are amazing and how lucky am I to have you.
To my my blog family, the amazing ladies of Bookalicious Babes Blog. How do I thank you? You are more than friends to me. You are my sisters, my partners in crime, and my loudest cheerleaders. I’m so blessed to be a part of this amazing team! I love you all so much!
To Jenn Wood from All About The Edits, Hilary Suppes from Social Butterfly PR, Melissa Pascoe from Forever Valentine (other half of my brain), Vicki Fryer (I typed, you read and corrected), Dylan Allen, Emily Goodwin, Carrie Aarons and Lily Johnson. Thank you so much for helping me to make Bethany and Gideon’s story come to life. You were the best alphas and betas, gave the best advice and held my hand when I was a mess. I hope I have made you proud. Kari Nappi, thank you for making my words so gorgeous. Thank you, Silla Webb for making my book gorgeous!
To my wonderfully awesome friend, Mississippi School for Math and Science classmate and outstanding OB/GYN nurse, Regina Tyler Jefferson. Thank you for all the medical knowledge and for helping me to make sure that I had it right because I know if it was wrong, you would have me read the medical books, rewrite the scenes and send it to you for accuracy. I absolutely adore you.
To LHS and PE, talking to you two everyday is like talking to your sisters and getting the best advice, laughing at the funniest jokes, crying the ugly tears when times are bad and knowing at the end of the day you will always have a soft place to fall. Thank you, LHS, for inspiring Bethany in so many ways, listening to me whine and complain about this book and loving me anyway. PE, thank you for your absolute love of all things books, keeping me in the know and smiling along when the oldest boy Burnette mentions that “she’s so pretty, Mommy!” I love you both so much.
To Linda Russell, Jenn Watson and Kylie McDermott… your warmth, your advice and guidance and your love of this industry, this community and everyone you serve is an inspiration. Thank you for all you’ve done for me.
If I stopped to thank every single author in my life that has influenced and inspired me, the thanks would go on for another hundred pages. I have been blessed by some truly brilliant ladies and gentlemen in this community, but I really must thank two of them. When I was at a low and wanted to give up on my writing, Sierra Simone seemed to message me out of the blue. I told her everything I was thinking and everything I was feeling. She told me in her firm Rev. Sierra voice, “NO. You cannot give up. You will not give up. You deserve nice things for you. You have to keep going. Besides, you can’t quit until I say you can.” She hasn’t accepted my letter of resignation as of this date. Thank you, Sierra. Last, Shari Ryan. You pushed and pulled until I said yes to #MomFail. You made me a published author with one short story. But more than that, you are one of the best people in my life and I cherish you so much.
To all the bloggers and readers that took a chance on me and on Simmer, thank you all so much. I am so honored, so humbled and so grateful. As a blogger I understand the time you take away from your life to indulge in book and put your thoughts and feelings into reviews. You are a volunteer army of the very best kind. I wouldn’t give up my blogging gig for anything. Readers, you are the listening board, the dream carriers, the spirit of this community. Thank you for taking this journey with me and I cannot wait to share more stories with all of you!