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Ack<strong>no</strong>wledgements<br />
I have been writing since before I was even old e<strong>no</strong>ugh to<br />
k<strong>no</strong>w the alphabet and my stories were just stick-figure pictures of<br />
cats going on adventures. Now that this book is in your hands, my<br />
ultimate goal has been achieved. I’ll have to start thinking of some<br />
new ones soon. Seeing Norway would be cool; I’ve got a little<br />
Viking blood. But before I do that, I need to get out my<br />
immeasurable, extreme, totally mushy gratitude to everyone who<br />
helped me along this journey.<br />
First, I want to thank Mike and Gail O’Connell for their<br />
endless patience, guidance, and general kindness. Without you,<br />
<strong>no</strong>ne of this would have been possible, and I am so, so insanely<br />
beyond words to thank you for recognizing me in that little coffee<br />
shop in Toms River years ago. You are both amazing, as are the<br />
rest of the staff at Hibernian Publishing who put their valuable<br />
time and effort into transforming this manuscript into a book.<br />
Thank you, also, to Lisa, for always encouraging me every<br />
step of the way and for being my biggest supporter every minute.<br />
Thank you for your hours and hours of listening to me vent and<br />
especially for reading this even though it scared you. You are<br />
amazing and I am so blessed to have worked with you for the past<br />
decade.<br />
Thank you to my parents for letting me spend hours of time<br />
locked in my room and writing/drawing away when I should have<br />
been emptying the dishwasher or folding my laundry. Especially to<br />
my daddy, who passed on a lot of badass traits, but particularly a<br />
love of all things creepy and gory. I love you so much.<br />
Thank you to Mr. Neid, wherever you are, for letting me<br />
write creative stories far beyond the allowed word count and for<br />
reading them and cheering me on anyway. Also for <strong>no</strong>t yelling at<br />
me for reading Goosebumps under my desk. To this day, you are<br />
still the only teacher who let me get away with that. Thank you,<br />
Ms. Rolston, for being the greatest English teacher on the face of<br />
the earth and for pushing me to do more than I thought I was<br />
capable of.<br />
iv
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