Real Mermaids Don't Sell Seashells (20 page)

Writing a book is a lot like being stuck on a deserted tropical island with circling sharks, but it is a process made much easier with the help of keen-eyed critique pals and super-patient friends and family.

Much thanks to my agent, Lauren MacLeod, for answering my smoke signals and helping me navigate through shark-infested waters as I took these scribblings from a vague idea to an actual book. Thanks also to my editor, Aubrey Poole, who always provides a safe place to land on shore and who helps make all my words shipshape with her expert editorial eye.

Marcelle, Charlotte, and Gord: you are my constant sources of support and inspiration. None of this happens without you.

Hélène Boudreau never spotted a real mermaid while growing up on an island surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, but she believes mermaids are just as plausible as giant squids, flying fish, or electric eels. She now writes fiction and nonfiction for kids from her landlocked home in Ontario, Canada. Her first book of this series,
Real
Mermaids
Don't Wear Toe Rings
, was a 2011 finalist for the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators' Crystal Kite Award.

You can visit her at
www.heleneboudreau.com
.