I’ve heard it said, “It takes a village to write a book.” And boy, do I have my own “pirate crew” of amazing misfits to thank for this one!

First, I wouldn’t be here without the ultimate Author of my own life-story. Thank you God for being a loving heavenly Father who blessed me with the ideas, themes, and endurance I needed to get this book out into the world!
To my incredible husband, Ben—Thank you for always believing in me when I thought I’d never finish, reading every draft (even though you hate spoilers), and cooking all kinds of delicious food to celebrate each milestone. I owe you countless hours of quality time!

Huge thanks to my extraordinary parents—Mom and Dad, you always taught me that I can do anything I set my mind to. You both are incredible examples of that and I love you so much. To my brothers, Zach and Matt—you guys are the Gaius to my Quinn. I am stronger because I have you in my life. And my sister-in-law, Becci—thanks for your constant encouragement. Can’t wait for you to read the final product!

Big shout out to friends like Zack & Cara Russell, Amanda Carlson, Gail Kay and more who constantly cheered me on in such intentional, special ways.

Then we have my writer crew!

I can’t even begin to thank my wonderful friend and critique partner, Bethany Atazadeh. This whole journey started with your encouragement to get involved in the online writing community and shoot for the stars! Your love and support of me over the past 3+ years has meant more than you know. Thanks for being my friend, praying for me, helping me tackle crazy plot holes, and answering my gazillion questions about self-publishing.

With Bethany, endless love and gratitude to the other amazing ladies in my Writer Mastermind groups! Mandi Lynn, Savannah J Goins, Holly Davis & Alicia Grumley—Our friendship, our weekly writer meetings, and daily marco polos have kept me going!

To my 1st round of beta readers: Ingrid Nordli, J.J. Otis, Holly Davis, Hannah Jane, Mickey Miles, Kate Fann, Abigail McCarty, Bethany Dominguez, Christine L Roland, and Paige—You all hold a special place in my heart! Thank you for your feedback and overwhelming enthusiasm for a draft I knew still needed a lot of work! And to my 2nd round, my dynamic duo: Alli Earnest and Cam Meze—Thank you for letting me test this crazy “serial” idea on you to make sure it worked. You both are wonderful and many scenes are a direct result of your brilliant suggestions!

To my editors and cover designer—you are all full of powerful pixie dust! Fiona McLaren—I still can’t believe I found such an amazing “unicorn” of a developmental editor! Your insightful critiques took this story to the next level (especially with Aeron!) and the way you worked so intentionally with me meant the world.

To Cassidy Clarke—you are a gem! Your love for this story made applying your copy and line edits the best experience. I’ve saved all your hysterical fangirl comments about my characters. They warm my heart so much!

To Hillary Bardin, my super talented cover designer—I loved working with you! Your patience with my many requests was incredible and seeing you bring my characters to life has been a dream come true!

To my proofreaders CJ, Stacee, Bethany and Ben—you all went above and beyond as my final line of defense! This story sparkles because of you!

Special thank you to Sarra Cannon—your Publish & Thrive course gave me the confidence and tools to indie publish this series in 1 year! I’m eternally grateful!

To my ARC Team Members—You’ve made marketing this story SO much fun! Your excitement and promotion of this book is a huge reason it’s in so many hands now. Thank you!

To my Patrons—Thank you SO much for your support over the years! It’s because of you that I was able to afford these amazing editors and cover designer and I’m ecstatic to finally give you the final product! (P.S. I have something special for you below!)

And of course, to you, my wonderful reader! Thank you so much for picking up this book! This story and world was created for you. I sincerely hope you enjoyed every minute of it and I can’t wait to continue this adventure with you in the next Episode!