Sona Babani, my best friend for fifteen years, if you haven’t figured it out yet, I based a lot of Parker on you. You wanted to be Mira, the bad ass, and you are. But you’re also Parker. Kind, observant, thinks-she’s-cold-hearted Parker. Parker whose soul is beautiful, like yours. Remember what I told you, when couldn’t decide between the sunflower seeds that had shells and the ones without. You’ve wasted a lot of your life on people who don’t deserve you. Fuck those shells. They don’t deserve your effort. Eat the seeds, straight up. You deserve them.
It wouldn’t be my acknowledgements if I didn’t thank my husband for being awesome. Also, thanks for disappearing for three weeks so I could channel all the missing you I did into this book. Two my beautiful sons, I love you so much. Please sleep more than four hours a night so I can write my next book much faster.
Thank you to my family for your support. You all know who you are. There’s too many of you, and too many miles separating us. I can’t wait to hug you all.
To Wilma and Jessie Bristol, and Tracie Ingram, for all your support. You three are like family to me. I am so thankful to have you in my life.
To Angie VanLeuven, Rebekka Sampson, Ashlee Grimmett, Candi Rash, Kelly Hoover, Hilda, Salgado – my fellow Army wives and soldiers. I love you all so much. Thank you for your support, for reading my drafts, for sharing the crap out of my books, for your votes on my cover options, and for being excited with me. You humble me with your love. Thank you.
To Debbie, another fellow Army wife and one of my closest friends. Thank you for pimping out He Found Me so much. Thank you for all your support during AT, when I was going out of mind trying to finish this book and also get sleep. I love you!
Christine Janes! I miss buddy reading with you. Thank you for telling me over and over how much you loved this story, and how you thought this novel would do so well. Everything you said propelled me to finish this novel in thirty-four days. I wouldn’t have done that without you.
Karla Sorensen, you are an angel. I feel like I’ve know you much longer than I actually have. Thank you so much for your chapter by chapter feedback of Ten Below Zero, and your guidance and tips. I would have missed out on a lot of good stuff if it were not for your ‘grain of salt’ advice. You, my dear, are BASEBALLS.
To all my friends, I so appreciate every share, every email, every word you’ve spread about my novel. Cindy, Megan, Joni, Samantha, Jennifer, Karen, Hailey, Ashley, Ashley, Cecilia, Mila, Jessica, Heather, and Jamie. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.
To my NAAU group – you all kick so much ass. Seriously. I’ve made some amazing friendships in that group. And I’ve learned so much. Thanks for listening to me and giving me feedback or support or telling me I’m wrong. Sometimes I need to hear that. Ha!
Thank you to Jade Eby, for humbling me. You are so sweet and kind. I wish nothing but good things for you in your success as an author. You’ve already excelled as a human.
Thank you to Lex Martin. You have no idea how far-reaching your post was, the one you shared about my novel. Thanks to you, I found a beta reader who sent me the most amazing email after reading the copy of my novel you advertised. Thank you for being so supportive and offering to share about He Found Me in your group. I’ve made some really great friendships already thanks to you.
To Najla for another amazing cover. I would never go to anyone else. You are a beautiful human being.
To Jovana for another spectacular formatting job. Thank you for making my boring-looking manuscript look like a legitimate novel!
Thank you to the reader reading this. Ten Below Zero is an emotional read, but there’s a reason for that. If this book moved you, I’m happy. I don’t rejoice in other’s tears for the reasons you may think. Everett wanted Parker to feel. I firmly believe in reading books that make you feel. You should never read books that are easy to put down, mine included. Read books that make you think, that make you feel. Read books that impassion you, that enlighten you. Don’t be afraid to hurt. You’ll be stronger for it. Loving and healing are entwined, and with both comes pain. You can’t love without pain. You can’t heal without pain. Don’t be afraid to love, to hurt, to heal. Embrace it. Be stronger for it. Be a compassionate human because you’ve hurt before.
The whole entire point of Ten Below Zero is to allow yourself to feel. In feeling, there’s healing. There’s love. And that love is within you.
THAT IS WHY, FOR CHRIST’S SAKE, I DELIGHT IN WEAKNESSES, IN INSULTS, IN HARDSHIPS, IN PERSECUTIONS, IN DIFFICULTIES. FOR WHEN I AM WEAK, THEN I AM STRONG.
~2 CORINTHIANS 12:10
Thank you all for reading. I love email. Please message me your thoughts. xx