I Liked My Life(90)

When I lean down to hug Rory I whisper, “Sometimes I feel like you were sent by my mother.”





SHOUT-OUTS

Okay, raise your glasses! A toast:

To my husband, Kevin Wittnebert, for absolutely everything.

To my sister, Sarah Byrnes, for being my first reader and pro bono therapist, and to her husband, Matty, for his complimentary legal advice on the ending.

To agent Elizabeth Winick Rubinstein—it’s not just her name that’s badass.

To the entire team at St. Martin’s Press—Jennifer Weis, Sylvan Creekmore, Katie Bassel, Karen Masnica, Brant Janeway, and everyone in editing and subrights that I don’t interact with directly—for taking a risk on an unknown.

To author Lisa Daily for her Friday dose of hope accompanied by a slice of cheesecake.

To Emily Anderson for sharing the wisdom that family is made of the people who show up, and then showing up for me.

To Vala Afshar for reminding me what charisma looks like.

To Crystal Walker for teaching me the art of +1.

To Gabriela Lessa, whom I’ve never met, for her candid feedback. It made me cry a little, but saved this manuscript from the rejection pile.

To Richard Sachse, a.k.a. Mr. Wonderful, for his honesty, and his wife, Lynne, for encouraging me to practice love, compassion, and forgiveness.

To my cuz, Ezra Ace Caraeff, for his twelve-year-old wisdom on raging hormones, and the insight that people think of you what you think of them.

To Stephen King for offering On Writing to the world, and Professor Carolyn Megan for making me read it.

To Sara Bareilles: Brave cures my writer’s block.

To Rachel Platten: Fight Song brought me back to life after I got sick.

To the writing community: I’m in awe of how you band together to support newbies.

To the dozens of readers who marked up drafts over the years I puttered on this while working full-time … y’all kept me going.