Ensnared (48 page)

First and foremost, gratitude to my family for turning a blind eye to dusty furniture, mountains of laundry, and TV dinners when deadlines loom.

Hugs and a hat tip to my Agent Goddess, Jenny Bent, whose business savvy, diplomacy, and faith in her clients know no bounds.

Thank you to the prestigious Abrams family: Maggie Lehrman, Tamar Brazis, Nicole Sclama, and countless copyeditors and proofreaders for helping me polish each diamond in the rough until they sparkle and shine. Also, gratitude to Laura Mihalick and Morgan Dubin, my in-house publicists; printing press specialists who oversee
the pages and special effects; marketing advisors; and everyone who plays a part behind the scenes in the making of the books.

A deep bow to Maria Middleton, designer extraordinaire, who always finds the perfect symbolism for each cover, and to Nathália Suellen, one of the most talented artists I’ve ever encountered. You made me believe in magic by breathing life into my characters via your enchanted artistry.

A standing ovation to my local crit group, the Divas: Linda Castillo, Jennifer Archer, Marcy McKay, and April Redmon. You read everything I pen, yet still consider me talented.

High fives and hugs to my online critters and beta readers: Rookie (aka Bethany Crandell), the White Chocolate to my Godiva; POM (aka Jessica Nelson), who loves coffee and brownie mix almost as much as I do; Stacee (aka @book_junkee), for cheering me on (if anyone could convince me to trade my parasol for an orange jumpsuit, it would be you); Owly (aka Ashlee Supringer), for knowing my characters almost better than I do; Marlene Ruggles, whose keen eye is always on the lookout for unseen typos; and Chris Lapel, my number one fan.

Head butts to my #Goatposse, who are wiser and funnier than the average domesticated ruminant animal. Also, a hollah to the WrAHM girls and to all the Splintered series fans online via Goodreads, Facebook, Tumblr, Pinterest, and Twitter.

A hearty shout-out to the Twitter Splintered RP players who made the wait for Ensnared bearable and fun for the fans: @Splintered-Crew, @LongLiveTheMuse, @AlyssaPaints, @PunkPrincessJen, @seductive_fae, @MorphTheMoth, @NetherlingQueen, @splinteredivory, @tyedribbions, @RabbitNotBeMe, @taelor_tremont, @ ChevyLovingJock, and @ChessieBlud.

Thank you to Nikki Wang at Fiction Freak, my very first mothling, who lent me her name for a sprite both sweet and fierce, much like her namesake. Also, thanks to Sarah Kate for bringing my characters to life via adorable plushie counterparts.

My respect and awe to all of the talented fans who send artwork for my Pinterest board and write incredible fan fiction, thus allowing my characters to breathe outside of the books’ pages.

Thanks to Jaime and Rachel at RockStar Book Tours for mastering the blog tour ropes and being so supportive and generous with their time.

A debt of gratitude to Lewis Carroll and Tim Burton for inspiring me to dive headfirst into this weird and twisted Wonderland world.

And last but not least, gratefulness to the One who gives me the ability to write and continues to fill my creative well with characters and stories, each waiting for their turn to be told.

A. G. Howard wrote
Splintered
while working at a school library. She always wondered what would’ve happened if Alice had grown up and the subtle creepiness of
Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
had taken center stage in her story, and she hopes her darker and funkier tribute to Carroll will inspire readers to seek out the stories that won her heart as a child. She lives in Amarillo, Texas.

This book was designed by Maria T. Middleton.

Its production was overseen by Elizabeth Peskin.