Countdown to #getPOSSESS: Day 22

mood: grateful
pandora/ipod: "telephone" by lady gaga

POSSESS is on sale tomorrow. It's completely insane. INSANE, I TELL YOU!!!!
So on the eve of publication, I thought I'd take the opportunity to thank all the people who made this book possible. And what better way to do that than to share with you...

...my Acknowledgments!

To Ginger Clark, my fearless, amazing, ballsy agent. She's been a friend and ally, and she's never given up on me. I count myself lucky to be one of her clients.

To Kristin Daly Rens, my wonderful editor, who understood this novel from the get-go, whose notes and vision totally resonated with me, and who loves Bridget as much as I do. Again, I'm a lucky girl.

To the entire Balzer + Bray and HarperCollins team who have been so supportive throughout this process: Alessandra Balzer and Donna Bray, Sara Sargeant, designers Sarah Hoy and Amy Ryan, copyeditors Kathryn Silsand and Laaren Brown, Emilie Ziemer and Megan Sugrue in Marketing, and Allison Verost in Publicity.

To the fabulous Holly Frederick and Dave Barbor at Curtis Brown, Ltd. who have worked tirelessly on behalf of this novel.

To my expansive support network of Inkies, Hopefuls, Purgies, Apocalypsies and Bookanistas, especially Cindy Pon, Sarah Eve Kelly, Chandler Craig, Lisa and Laura Roecker, Deborah Gray, Wendy Cebula, Emily Kokie, Amy Dachtler, Yadira Taylor, Jake Gilchrist, Rachanee Srisavasdi, Tara Campomenosi and Jessica Morgan. And of course, my comrades-in-arms, YARebels Jen Hayley, Leah Clifford, Scott Tracey, Victoria Schwab, Hannah Moskowitz and Karsten Knight.

To a group of readers whose collected awesomeness surpassed all expectations – Jen Hayley (again), Courtney Allison Moulton, Amy Bai, Debra Driza, Mónica Bustamante Wagner, Jennifer Donahue, Sue Laybourn, ChristaCarol Jones, Nadine Nettmann, Juliette Dominguez, Rebecca Burrell, L.K. Herndon, Tracey Martin, Bryn Greenwood, Lisa Brackmann, Laurel Hoctor Jones, Shveta Thakrar, Karen Latham, P.J. Hoover, Kiki Hamilton, Keely Parrack, Holly West, Jill Myles, Rachel Hunter, Kitty Chiu and Mark Uhlemann, who also gets some credit for the title.

To the amazing Pixie Spindel of Pixie Vision Productions who made magic happen with that author photo.

To my "other" family at Cirque Berzerk who have been endlessly enthusiastic about my "other" artistic endeavor. Rock on.

To Carrie Policella, boss and friend, who always turned a blind eye when I was writing on the clock.

To Roy Firestone, my brother from another mother, without whom I would surely be completely insane. He's my rock, my sounding board, my dog sitter, my happy hour partner, my reality check, my cheerleader and clearly the best friend a girl ever had.

To Peggy McNeil, my mom, who raised me to believe that I could do and be anything I wanted. I'm not sure she was thinking "opera singer circus performer writer" at the time, but it all worked out.

Much love.

I could not have gotten this book to publication without all of these glorious folks, and more. I've had so much support over the last year that it's really inexpressible.

No author is a solo act. It's something I never want to forget.