Page 61 of Never Seen the Stars

Colleen and Meghann, you are my rocks. My writing rocks. My lovely, intelligent, loyal writing rocks. Thank you for all your creative help, and for keeping the gremlins of imposter syndrome from creeping in and wreaking havoc.

Thank you to all the teachers and writers of the UCLA Extension Writers’ Program, especially Mark Sarvas, and my fellow Novel Revision students: Brigid, Katie, Krista, and Shannon. What a wonderful little instant writing community we made!

I also owe SCBWI a debt of gratitude for providing me with my training wheels when I was still figuring out what kind of writer I wanted to be. Especially the Los Angeles chapter. Y’all work so hard, and your joy in your work is apparent.

Thank you to my mom, dad, and brother, Nick. You have always made sure that I know how proud you are of me, and I’m here for it!

Cooper and Lucy, the fact of the matter is that I probably would never have started writing for the under-eighteen crowd if I hadn’t had two amazing examples of that crowd in my house to inspire me. You have always had utter faith in me, and your genuine excitement about each progressive stage of this process has increased my own. I am so touched by how proudly you introduce me to your friends now as your mom: “She’s a writer.” I guess I really am, huh?

Chad, thanks for pushing me to celebrate each and every writing win. Christy, Kelly, Lesley, thanks for always asking for updates and being ready to celebrate each win as boisterously as if it was your own. You are the definition of excellent friends.

Aaron, your unwavering championing of “author me” is everything. You held the torch of taking me seriously until I was strong enough to hold it myself, and for that I am forever grateful. Thanks for being ready to pitch jokes at our impromptu morning brainstorming sessions in the family room, for bringing in your “scissors skills” when I needed to start cutting, and for letting me see you cry when you were reading my first draft. You are the bestest husband.

And finally, thank you to the Foundation Fighting Blindness. Your unflagging efforts to fund research and explore emerging treatments for retinal diseases are a beacon of hope for people like me and my family. Hopefully, more people will join you in the effort as a result of this book, and soon people with conditions like Hattie’s will only exist on shelves of fiction.