Love Songs & Other Lies(83)

To my amazing agent, Michelle Wolfson, thank you for believing in me and wanting this book in the world as much as I did. You deserve ALL the chocolate, and our first phone call will forever be one of my favorites.

To editor extraordinaire Amy Stapp, I am so thankful for you, your love for this book, and our twin-like brains. You took this story to all of the best places, and I adore you for loving these characters as much as I do.

To my fantastic publisher and the whole Tor Teen team—thank you for making this experience better than I could have ever hoped for.

To my beloved NIAY group: Emily, for planting the seed of confidence I didn’t know I needed and reigniting a very old dream; to Angie and Jaclyn, for being my two very first (and very enthusiastic) readers; and to Ellen, Mary, Sarah, and Lisa for your year of cheers and edits. Love Songs would never have happened without the keen eyes, cheerleading, and side-by-side determination each of you offered.

Big thanks to my “first” editor, and friend, Lara Willard, for helping me get my baby ready for querying and always being a helpful pair of eyes on everything from my query letter to my book title.

Thank you to everyone who helped guide me through the publishing process: my lovely critique partner, Jenn P. Nguyen, my rambling-in-an-awesome-way mentor, Harriet Reuter Hapgood, and my fantastic Swank-Electrics. Your cheerleading, insight, and commiseration were sanity-saving!

Heartfelt thanks to Maggie (you’ll always be Mrs. Mendus to me) and all of the teachers who plant and nurture that very first love of words. You are so very important, and so very special.

And a bigger-than-the-sky Thank You to every reader who picks up Love Songs; having this book in your hands makes me happier than I could ever describe.