More thanks:

To my agent, Jennifer Laughran at Andrea Brown Lit. Signing with you is one of the smartest things I’ve ever done. I would have written a third book to win you over. To my editor, Karen Chaplin, for seeing the passion behind Lainey’s (and my own!) prickly exterior, and for pushing me to make this story come alive on the pages. To everyone else at HarperTeen, from the corner offices to the cubicles, who was involved in this book. You have played a part in making my dreams come true and I will always be grateful.

To my friends and family as always. Especially to Connie for being my Bianca, and to Publicist Mom—the best in the business. Seriously, I could not survive without your love, patience, and random edible gifts. To all the other amazing industry people who are my traveling partners on this journey, including the YA Valentines, the Literaticult, the kidlit twittersphere, Antony John, Heather Anastasiu, Elizabeth Richards, Jessica Spotswood, Tara Kelly, Rachel Harris, Victoria Scott, Julie Heidebreder, Ai-Lynn Collins, Ken Howe, Christina Ahn Hickey, and Jamie Krakover. To Shelly and Craig Clemons from Darker Violet Designs, for the website and general tech-support awesomeness. I’m sure I’m forgetting someone so [insert your name here].

To the City of St. Louis who took good care of me growing up, and to all the cool ’90s bands whose music coaxed me down from the ledges—I will never stop loving you. To everyone from Wiliker’s Restaurant, for the flour fights, charred quiche, and years of hilarious antics that have crept their way into these pages. To all the amazing alterna-boys I have been lucky enough to know, especially the one who introduced me to Henry Rollins’s spoken word stuff and the one who introduced me to the Roky Erickson story. To Adam for being “just a guy” and then some. To Evan and Jay for setting the boy-bar impossibly high. When people say Micah is too good to be true, I’m going to tell them about you two.

And finally, to the readers. Always and forever to the readers. In the end, it all comes back to you.

About the Author

Photo by Kholood Eid