Two Weeks (The Baxter Family #5)(87)

On that note, I can’t leave Two Weeks and the tearful, beautiful experience it has been for me without thanking the people who made it possible.

First, a special thanks to my amazing publisher, Beth Adams, Becky Nesbitt, and the team at Howard Books. Also to the team at Simon & Schuster—Carolyn Reidy and the rest of her gifted team who bring my books to you! I think often of our times together in New York and the way your collective creative brilliance always becomes a game changer. You clearly desire to raise the bar at every turn. Thank you for that. It’s an honor to work with you!

This book is one of my favorites ever because of the talent and passion of my editor, Becky Nesbitt. Becky, you have known me since our kids were little. Since the Baxters began. How many authors actually look forward to the editing process? With you, it’s a dream. And always you find ways to make my book better. Over and over and over again. Thank you for that! I am the most blessed author for the privilege of working with you.

Also, thanks to my design team—Kyle and Kelsey Kupecky—whose unmatched talent in the industry is recognized from Los Angeles to New York. Very simply you are the best in the business! My website, social media, video trailers, and newsletter along with so many other aspects of my touring and writing are top of the book business because of you two. Thank you for working your own dreams around mine. I love you and I thank God for you every single day.

A huge thanks to my sisters, Tricia and Susan, along with my mom, who give their whole hearts to helping me love my readers. Tricia as my executive assistant for the past decade, and Susan, for many years, as the president of my Facebook Online Book Club and Team KK. And, Mom, thank you for being Queen of the Readers. Anyone who has ever sent me an email and received a response from you is blessed indeed. All three of you are making a tremendous impact in changing this world for the better. I love you and I thank God for each of you!

Thanks also to Tyler for joining with me to write screenplays and books like Best Family Ever, a Baxter Family Children Story. You are a gifted writer, Ty. I can’t wait to see your work on the shelves and on the big screen. Maybe one day soon! Love you so much!

Also, thank you to my office assistant, Aurora Galvin. You create space for me to write! This storytelling wouldn’t be possible without you.

I’m grateful to my Team KK members, who use social media to tell the world about my upcoming releases and who hang out on my Facebook page answering reader questions. I appreciate each of you so much. May God bless you for your service to the work of Life-Changing Fiction?.

There is a final stage in writing a book. The galley pages come to me, and I send them to a team of my most dedicated reader friends. This team volunteers to read my books first and fast, catching typos or other glitches that still remain. A big thank-you to the test team—Hope, Donna, Renette, Zac, Sheila, my sister Sue, and my nieces Shannon, Melissa and Kristen. Thank you for loving my work, and thanks for your availability to help out down the stretch!

Also, my books only happen with the help of my family, especially my amazing husband, Donald. Honey, thank you for your spiritual wisdom and leadership in our home, and thanks for talking through books like this one from the outline to the editing. The countless ways you help me when I’m on deadline make all the difference. I love you!

And over all this, thanks to a man who has believed in my career for two decades, my amazing agent, Rick Christian of Alive Literary Agency. From the beginning, Rick, you’ve told me to dream big, set my sights high. Movies, TV series, worldwide reach. All for God and through Him. You imagined it all, believed it, and prayed for it alongside me and my family. You believed. While I write, you work behind the scenes on film projects and my work with Liberty University, the Baxter family TV series, and details regarding every book I’ve ever written. You are brilliant and driven, compassionate and dedicated. I used to dream of having you as my agent. Now I’m the only author who does. God is amazing. Thank you, Rick, and thank you for praying for me and my family. That most of all.

Finally, my greatest thanks to God Almighty, who is First and Last and all things in between. I write for You, through You, and because of You. Thank You with my whole being.





Dear Reader Friend,

I dreamed up the idea of Two Weeks when my youngest son, Austin, was heading off to Liberty University. When we were on the verge of being empty nesters. It occurred to me—what if Cole met a beautiful, deeply troubled girl, a girl in a situation similar to the one Cole’s mom was in before she had him?

Not long after, I was on the road at a book signing, and a reader friend stepped up and told me that we had helped inspire her family to adopt an infant. “But,” she told me, “it was a struggle because we couldn’t bring him home for two weeks. In my state, that’s how long the birth mother has to change her mind.”

Suddenly all I could do was think of those words: two weeks.

My heart raced at the emotions of those fourteen days and the lives that hung in the balance on a single teenager’s decision. It was from that place that the story took root and grew. Before long it simply had to be told. And what a perfect way to show Cole as the guy giving Elise support during that time.

A wonderful way to share in Cole’s final semester of high school before moving to college. I tell you, I cried when I wrote this book and through every stage of editing. It’s deep. It holds pieces of my soul.

You may wonder about the poem Ashley read to Cole as he left for college. The poem is actually a picture book I wrote years ago called Let Me Hold You Longer. It’s available online and in bookstores. Tyndale Publishers brought it to life when it was only a poem I had written for my kids. And they graciously allowed me to use it here, for Ashley and Cole.