Racing Savannah

Acknowledgments

Growing up, my family didn’t have much money. I felt bad about myself for not having brand name clothes and sneakers, and I thought that wealth equaled self-worth. By the time I entered high school, things hadn’t changed much for me. My clothes still weren’t cool. I still had low self-esteem. But I wanted more for myself—I wanted other people to respect me. I didn’t understand that people would respect me if I respected myself.

With this book, Racing Savannah, I wanted to show readers that no matter who you are, where you come from, what you look like, how much money you have—you have the right to go after whatever you want. You have the right to make your dreams come true. Of course, you have to work hard too. Please don’t ever put yourself down. Figure out what you like about yourself and keep learning and going after what you want like Savannah does. You rock!

I had a lot of fun writing this book, but it sure was hard to write. I knew nothing about horses or horse racing going in, so it became a team effort.

I am most grateful to the wonderful people at Charles Town Races in Charles Town, West Virginia, Kentucky Downs in Franklin, Kentucky, and The Thoroughbred Center in Lexington, Kentucky, for answering my many questions, taking me on tours, and letting me snap picture after picture. Mike Cameron, a horse owner I met at The Thoroughbred Center, gave me so many great details and even let me hang out with his beautiful mare, Tellalittlesecret. C.J. Johnsen, the son of the owner of Kentucky Downs, gave me a tour of the racetrack in a golf cart, which was fun.

Thank you to book bloggers Maggie Desmond-O’Brien and Lisa Lueddecke. Maggie grew up on a farm in Minnesota and Lisa rescues abused racehorses. You both were such a help to me in learning horse lingo.

Many thanks to my Washington, D.C., writer friends, who spent hours discussing the plot and characters over cheese and wine: Jessica Spotswood, Robin Talley, Andrea Coulter, and Caroline Richmond.

As always, I couldn’t do this without insightful readers: Allison Bridgewater, Julie Romeis, Sarah Cloots, Tamson Weston, Tiffany Schmidt, Tiffany Smith, Kari Olson, Natalie Bahm, Jen Fisher, Shanyn Day, and Jessica Wallace. Thank you to Trish Doller for keeping me sane. Christy Maier—thank you for taking the time to read this book and give such helpful feedback.

I’m also grateful to Marguerite Coffey and Michele Truitt for their friendship and many thoughts on the culture of horse racing! To Susan Curley, thank you for being such a good friend and supporter of my work. Thanks to Leslie Moeller for sending me articles about horse racing.

Thank you to everyone at Nelson Literary Agency: Sara Megibow, Kristin Nelson, Anita Mumm, and Angie Hodapp. Sara—you are the best literary agent ever! I love how when I ask if there’s anything I could be doing to promote my books, you always say, “Just get back to writing and let us do the work!” I love your editorial eye and I’m grateful that you keep pushing me to get better and better.

I am so thankful for the team at Sourcebooks and all the wonderful support they give me. Leah Hultenschmidt, you are such a great editor and advocate for my books. Derry Wilkens, thanks for all the great publicity work you do. To Jillian Bergsma, my production editor, I appreciate your keen attention to detail and the guidance you have given me. Thank you to Todd Stocke and Sean Murray for your tireless efforts to promote my books and for the fabulous distribution.

Thanks to my family for supporting me, especially my parents, brother, and sister. Also, Bob and Jackie Kenneally, Pam and Bob Beggan, and my husband, Don. Dad, I think you should write Tattoos of the Clinically Depressed. For real.

Finally, thank you to my readers. I love your reviews, your comments online, and your emails. You make it all worth it.