Fourth Wing

Acknowledgments

First and foremost, thank you to my Heavenly Father for blessing me beyond my wildest dreams.

Thank you to my husband, Jason, for being the best inspiration an author could ever have for the perfect book boyfriend and for your endless support of my dream-chasing ways. Thank you for holding my hand when the world went wonky, getting me to every doctor’s appointment, and managing the overwhelming the calendar that comes with having four sons and a wife with a connective tissue disorder. Through the surgeries and specialists, you’ve been our rock. Thank you to my six children, who teach me more than I will ever teach them. You guys are my reason. Never doubt that you are essential to my existence. To my sister, Kate, love you, mean it. To my parents, who are always there when I need them. To my best friend, Emily Byer, for always hunting me down when I disappear into the writing cave for months.

Thank you to my team at Red Tower. There isn’t enough gratitude in the world for my editor Liz Pelletier, for giving me the chance to spread my wings and write fantasy and keeping me fed and laughing during our twenty-one-day stint of finishing edits. No laptops were harmed in the making of this book. But seriously, this book is my dream. Thank you for making it come true with your advice, input, patience, and endless support— it wouldn’t have been possible without you. To Stacy for copy editing during sleepless nights. Heather, Curtis, Molly, Jessica, Riki, and everyone at Entangled and Macmillan for answering endless streams of emails and for bringing this book to the marketplace. To Madison and Nicole for all the incredible notes and staying up all night during the read-through. Elizabeth, thank you for this beautiful cover, and to Bree and Amy for the exquisite art. Thank you to my phenomenal agent, Louise Fury, who didn’t bat an eye when I said I wanted to write a fantasy and who makes my life easier simply by standing at my back.

Thank you to my wifeys, our unholy trinity, Gina Maxwell and Cindi Madsen — I’d be lost without you. To Kyla, who made this book possible.

To Shelby and Cassie for keeping my ducks in a row and always being my number one hype girls. To Candi for handling everything that comes our way with grace and laughter. To Stephanie Carder for taking the time to read. To every blogger and reader who has taken a chance on me over the years, I can’t thank you enough. To my reader group, The Flygirls, for bringing me joy every day.

Lastly, because you’re my beginning and end, thank you again to my Jason. There’s a little bit of you in every hero I write.