First There Was Forever (29 page)

acknowledgments

T
his book would not exist without my agent, Logan Garrison, and my editor, Stacey Friedberg. It’s amazing to work with people who always see the ways in which a story could get realer and more honest, and who love reading as much as you do. This book owes more to you two than I can explain in this small space.

Logan, none of this would have happened without you. Thank you for believing in this story from the very beginning and for seeing the potential in it, even way back when. Your notes challenged me to be a better writer than I thought I could be, and you managed to support me through all of it at the same time.

Stacey, you turned this manuscript into something beyond what I imagined. Thank you for your high standards and for your vision of what this book could be. I didn’t know before we started how many discoveries I would make during the editorial process—thank you for showing me how much more the book could grow.

Thank you to everyone at the Gernert Company, Dial Books, and Penguin who have helped this book find its readers. Rosanne Lauer for the copyediting and Theresa Evangelista for the cover. And also, special thanks to Sarah Burnes and Lauri Hornik.

Thank you to my two very first readers, Lauren Strasnick and Michael Leviton. Your notes gave me the tools and the confidence to keep working. To my friend readers: Caitlin, Jordan, Lauren, Lily, and Sara. Also, Emily Parliman, Susan Chumsky, and SCBWI. And to Tula for teaching me to paint (and see).

I wouldn’t have known how to do this without the conversation and company of the artists and writers who I am lucky to know both in LA and NY. Especially my boyfriend, Joel, your creativity and your belief in art is contagious. Thank you for being so okay with me always being glued to my
word processor
.

Finally, my family. This book is for you. My sister, Clarissa, thank you for inspiring me to write and for giving me the sentence that launched the whole thing. And thank you for always insisting
You play, too
. My parents, John and Nancy, a million
thank-yous
aren’t enough—words cannot capture my gratitude.

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