The shitty first draft is done! Coming in at 54,777 words, it has some growing and refining to go, but the bones are all there.

Thanks to my wonderful editor/mentor/teacher Richard Thomas and my comrades in his Novel in a Year workshop for helping me make it less shitty than it would have been writing on my own. Huge thanks go out to them for all their feedback and support along the way!

Also, so much love and gratitude to my wonderful friends Carina Bissett and Katherine Wagner, without whose support I wouldn’t have gotten words on the page as many days as I did.

And my amazing husband, Gary Slye, who has always been my greatest cheerleader and dedicated reader, I cannot express how thankful I am for everything he does.

Thanks to my mother, Donna Royer, who introduced me to Dr. Seuss and Stephen King and gave me a love of reading and horror.

Last, but not least, the ever-supportive writing community of which I can’t list all the people who have cheered, listened, and offered encouragement along the way. You all are the best!

And yes, you will see these again once I finish the final draft, again when I find a publisher, and again when my book is published lol.

Now on to revisions!