Winning It All (29 page)

It’s hard to believe our journey with the Garrison family is coming to an end. We’ve loved, laughed and cried with them, and we know their future is as bright as the championship trophy they strive for each and every week.

There have been so many people who’ve helped us bring this series to life it’s hard to formulate a list—but we’re still going to try. So, here goes…

Thanks to our hubbies, Ryan and Keith, for their constant support and inspiration. And a special thanks to the all the kids—Krista, Robbie, Bella, Caitlyn and Grace—for hanging in there when Mom is on the phone talking about the wild mix of plots, characters and racing details.

Thanks to all our supportive friends and fellow writers who help dig us out of the holes we often find ourselves in: Jean Brashear, Jacquie D’Alessandro, Jennifer St. Giles, Rita Herron and Stephanie Bond.

Thank you to the amazing editorial staff we’ve been privileged to work with over the last few years, including Stacy Boyd, Tina Colombo, Tracy Farrell, and Marsha Zinberg at Harlequin and John Farrell, Catherine McNeill and Jennifer White at NASCAR.

Also at Harlequin we owe a great debt to everyone in the PR and art departments for taking such great care of our trilogy, giving us fantastic covers and sharing their generous enthusiasm. We’re espe
cially grateful for Michelle Renaud. We had the best marketing guru in Michelle and an even better friend.

Thanks to our fantastic agent, Pamela Harty and The Knight Agency, who’s stood right beside us through every crazy moment and God knows there were plenty of crazy moments to go around.

A great big hug to Russ Thompson and Bobby Hamilton Jr. for all of the great gearhead info. We can’t think of two better guys to get under the hood with. Nobody knows race stats like Russ. Thanks, Russ, for always keeping us on track.

Smoke, you inspired us while writing this trilogy. You’ll have to guess why.

Everybody at Sirius NASCAR radio and especially the gang at Tradin’ Paint. The producers always have on great guests, who make our research process easier and fun. Postman
is
the man, and Chocolate, you definitely know which character you are!

The webmaster of Jayski.com. Whenever we needed a fact, a historical tidbit, statistic or detail, we knew where to go. Thanks a bunch!

And finally thanks to the racers who’ve inspired us, the people in front of and behind the scenes who bring us the show and the fans who remind us why we love this crazy sport.

Love and gratitude to you all!

Liz & Wendy