ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
LIKE REVOLUTIONS, PUBLISHING a book is a team effort. Many thanks to the people (more than I could ever name!) who helped get The Orphan Queen out into the world.
My dear ladies in the palace of publishing:
Lauren MacLeod, my agent with an arsenal of highlighters and soothing words. I could never have stormed this castle without you.
Sarah Shumway and Laurel Symonds, my editors who wield red pens like swords. Ladies, songs will be sung in your honor. They will tell tales far and wide of your editorial wisdom.
Katherine Tegen, the queen of KTB. I am ever honored that my books are worthy of holding your logo on their spines.
Alana Whitman, Lauren Flower, Onalee Smith, Rosanne Romanello, Aubry Parks-Fried, and Margot Wood: an extraordinary and supportive team of ladies who can talk books like no one’s business.
Amy Ryan, Erin Fitzsimmons, and Colin Anderson: costumers extraordinaire who understand that authenticity is key to any disguise.
Lots of love to the Ospreys in my life:
Adam Heine, who understood immediately where I was aiming with this story.
Christine Nguyen, who code-named this story Batprince. How you read entire first drafts in little chat boxes, I will never understand.
C. J. Redwine, a terrific writer, critique partner, and friend. Sorry I’m not sorry that your street smells like pee. It’s out of love.
Gabrielle Harvey, who didn’t disown me for what happened to that violin bow. I probably don’t deserve you, but I’m glad you stick around anyway.
Jaime Lee Moyer, one of the strongest people I will ever know.
Joy Hensley, my friend, fellow writer, and surprise fifth cousin by marriage (totally a legitimate relationship). Remember that time I trapped you in the car for two hours and made you listen to my mad plot ramblings?
Jill Roberts, my mom, who gasped, “That’s a terrible ending!” when I explained my plan for revising the first draft. Thanks, Mom. Your horror let me know I was heading in the right direction. Sorry to make you sad, though.
Jillian Boehme, a wise and generous friend who will one day come around to properly appreciating Batman. (I’ll keep loving you even if you don’t.) Thanks for reading all my stories. And for the Batman T-shirt. I wear it all the time.
Kathleen Peacock, who reminds me of magic.
Myra McEntire, who patiently listened to early mad ramblings about world building, plot, and “Oh my commas, I don’t know if I can do this!” (Thanks for saying I could.)
Sarah Schaffner, my sister. We could totally infiltrate a palace together. What are you doing next week?
Stacey Lee, who challenged me to dig deeper into motivations and also fed me yummy Thai food. (Wil would have been all over that meal. Mmm.)
Valerie Cole, a darling friend who needs to know, “But how does Wil’s hair look after that fight?” It looks amazing, Valerie. Of course her hair looks amazing.
Wendy Beer, who plied me with castle and architecture research and always asked how many characters had died at the end of each day.
I salute you. Snap-thump
My husband, Jeff, who never once complained about the whole “My character does calligraphy and so must I!” thing. Thanks for not questioning my sanity during my (ongoing) pen and notebook addiction. And for being awesome all around.
God, who did indeed have a plan. Always love. Always gratitude.
And, of course, you: the reader. Whether you’re a librarian, teacher, bookseller, blogger, or someone who picked up this book because it has a cool cover (I mean, doesn’t it??), I hope you enjoy reading this book as much as I enjoyed writing it. Thanks for reading and sharing your love of books.