I’m so lucky for the game-changers, who created opportunities for me I might not otherwise have. But I’m equally thankful for and humbled by how many people have influenced me and my story along the way. Thank you to the very talented author Kurt Dinan for his unwavering support, his smart critical feedback, and his ability to find humor in any setback. Every writer needs a quick-witted friend like Kurt to keep them sane. Thank you to the lovely and talented Tamara Girardi for her friendship and her ah-ha commentary several times throughout this process. Thank you to all my early and late readers—Susan Meyer, Deb Bailey, Kara McDowell, Jennifer Camiccia, Tara Creel, Keena Roberts, and Sam Taylor—for their encouragement and feedback. A huge thank you to the entire Pitch Wars community. When I first started writing, I underestimated the importance of the writing community, and now I’m not sure where I would be without it. Thank you, thank you, thank you to Brenda Drake for her unselfish comradery and support of all writers, and for creating and facilitating the Pitch Wars community and contest.

In writing this book, I had to lean on experts in technology, realty, law, asthma, and psychology. Thank you to Randy Saeks, Walter Pituc, Mario Greco, Amy Gabriel, Randy Orr, and Amy Lewis for graciously answering my questions.

Thank you to every student I’ve ever had who has complimented something I’ve written. I still remember writing a short piece for a class activity during my first year of teaching and putting it on the overhead projector (yes, that long ago). After reading it out loud, I prompted my students with a question about voice, and a seventh grader named Morrison answered by telling me I should be an author one day. I’m grateful for that indelible moment, and every lovely, indelible moment since. I’ve shared my writing in one way or another with my students since I started teaching. The kind words and enthusiasm they’ve shown has encouraged me and given me the confidence to persevere through a very long and hard process.

Thank you to my mom, who has been proud of everything I’ve ever written, no matter how terrible it was. In fourth grade she helped me bind my poems with those plastic, sliding bar report covers that were really big in the eighties. That year, she encouraged me to give my “published” mini anthologies as gifts to everyone I knew. In doing so, she ignited this dream of publication. Love you, Mom. Thank you to my dad, who read an early draft of this book and compared me to his favorite writer, James Patterson. Regardless of how far-fetched the compliment, it meant the world to me. Thank you both for telling every single person you’ve ever known that they need to buy my book. I promise you are so much better parents than the parents in this story.