Wintersong (Wintersong #1)(113)

To Katelyn Detweiler, my agent and partner-in-arms, my tireless advocate and adviser, a super-talented writer in her own right. You were the absolute first person to take a chance on me, and you never flinched or let your belief in Wintersong flag, even when the industry didn’t know what to do with us. Here’s to many more books in our future! Also to Jill Grinberg, Cheryl Pientka, Denise St. Pierre, and everyone at Jill Grinberg Literary Management, thank you so much for all your support.

To my writer friends Marie Lu, Renee Ahdieh, and Roshani Chokshi, thank you so much for the advice, the cocktails, and the commiseration, for letting me kvetch and pull my hair out over email and in person, and for being my emotional bedrock throughout this entire journey. Thanks also to Kate Elliott and Charlie N. Holmberg for your kind words about Wintersong; yours were the first words of praise outside my friends, family, and paid sycophants (I kid, I kid), and I am extremely grateful for them.

Every writer needs a support network to keep them sane, so shout-out to Sarah Lemon, Beth Revis, Carrie Ryan, all my co-contributors at Pub(lishing) Crawl, and my fellow Swankys—but especial kudos to Kelly Van Sant and Vicki Lame for being there for me every day on Google Hangouts and talking me off whatever ledge I’ve wandered close to. My friends in New York, LA, and North Carolina, all the places I’ve called home, thank you, thank you, thank you.

Last but not least, my eternal love and gratitude to my family. To Sue Mi, Michael, and Taylor Jones for supporting and believing in the black sheep of the SoCal Jones clan; to my Halmeoni for her unconditional love and prayers; and of course, to Bear. Who knows, maybe one day you’ll be able to make good on your promise to your colleagues to quit and become a poker-playing kept man should Wintersong become successful. Let’s keep dreaming.