Griffon laughs as he leans in to kiss me again. I feel his desire as I press myself into him, and I know that whatever happens in this lifetime or the next, I’ll remember this moment, these emotions. From now on, good or bad, nothing is lost. Everything will be kept. Forever.
The acknowledgments page is the hardest one to write because it takes so many people to create every book, and I’m terrified of leaving someone out. But I’ll do my best. This story wouldn’t exist without the following people:
Erin Murphy, who makes us lean in closely to hear her soft-spoken words of agent-y wisdom.
Mary Kate Castellani, the editor who never lets me get away with anything, and who transformed a manuscript I thought was pretty good into an extraordinary story.
Emily Easton and everyone at Walker, for their vision and support from the very first idea.
Jen Cervantes and Amy B. White, for reading the early draft when it really wasn’t very good.
Natalie Lorenzi, for emergency Italian translations.
Robin Mellom, for long rambling phone calls, anguished e-mails, and propping me up. And for junk food.
Daisy Whitney, for regularly being available to text after midnight.
Gabrielle Charbonnet, for going there before me and giving great advice.
Ammi-Joan Paquette, Julie Phillips, and Kip Wilson, for being so enthusiastic about those first early chapters.
Portia Kunz, Liesl Kunz, and Devin McKeown, the most critical and intelligent teen readers around.
RJ, Linzey, Anna, Danielle, Dakota, Harper, Philip, Devon, and all of the other teens who hang around my house, eat my food, and always answer honestly when I shout out questions like: “How would you kill a person and make it look like an accident?”
Amy Lipke, Barbara Stewart, Jessica Romero, and Karen Ryan. I can’t do anything without the support of my friends.
Jill Raimondi, for plastering a smile on her face and looking interested whenever I go on about revisions. And on. And on.
Mom, Joe, Dad, Sue, Jessica, and Wendy give me the courage to follow through.
Bayo, Jaron, and Taemon. My boys. I can’t say enough.
Last but not least, I’m inspired by the people who loved Griffon the most: Denise, Ed, Ron, Kathy, Juliet, Lukas, Brittany, and Tyler. Thank you for sharing his memory.
