The first thing, before you read anything else, is that I want to thank God for helping me along this life and giving me the opportunity to be on this app and write. It's been really great on here. You all are so nice. Literally and genuinely!

Also, my rabbit. He's literally the best. His picture is up there. ⬆️ His name is Sir Pickett "Richard the Lionhead" Fence. Okay, he's not knighted, but he's cool enough to be. And his name... get it? Like, the English king during Robin Hood that King John does in, King Richard the Lionheart? (He's a Lionhead rabbit, by the way.) He's super sweet, and inspires me a lot. I love him.

Okay! Next.

So your first thought when you opened this story was...

Wow. She's original. Sarcastically, I mean.

(Sarah grins absently.) If you haven't guessed, Nikki is me.

Sort of.

She represents my... good side, sort of, and then she has the normal anger and sadness and other emotions that people have as a part of life. So maybe Nikki is my normal side—like normal emotions day-to-day.

Willa is my bad side. Probably me when I was around ten to thirteen years old. She has anger-management issues, as many kids going through puberty do, and she makes a generally tough time for herself as it is, since, well, she doesn't try very hard to reconcile after fights. I think that's part of a sense of inward pride, honestly. Even I don't really understand her completely.

Z is the kind of person I turn into when I'm around my friends that I don't know very well. I get shy and really quiet, and only talk when absolutely necessary, and the general introverted-ness. You guys probably know what I'm talking about, because I'm sure that a lot of you go through the same stuff!

So... why did I write this?

Well.

For one thing, I wanted to focus on the illusive and daunting project of Character Development. Yeah. You all know about it. I'm trying to make my characters deeper, in a sense, instead of making them dispensable and just there for five minutes of drama. I haven't really succeeded, so this summer, when school's over, I'll be working on it more. Probably mostly rewriting, actually. (Sarah winks at the phone screen.)

Another reason... well, I wanted to trot out a smidge of romance in this one. Obviously, I'll be working more on that in my editing run-through later this year. But the idea of Vince flashed in my mind one day, and I was like, "Hm. Maybe it could work." At first, I didn't want any romance in it. I thought, Lots of humans don't get any, so why should Nikki? But then...

I dunno. It kinda just stole my heart and ran away with it.

I kind of develop crushes on some of my characters sometimes. Especially the love interests. It helps me to write better.

Uh, there are some people I'd like to thank for their support of this book.

The only rational first choice is Miss Chinmayi Hegde, or, as I call her, Hegde, because Keefe calls Sophie 'Foster' in the KOTLC series, and she's at least as cool as Sophie. (Have you changed your mind about liking Wonderboy yet, Hegde? Keefe is always better!;) ) She's supported and read this book since I first began releasing, and has really paid attention to it (while writing her own great book, The Fearless Rajkumari!) and been a great friend throughout it. Thanks, Hegde!

The second person I'd like to thank is my friend Cady, who has also supported this book a lot and has been super nice and supportive of it. Thanks, babe! You're amazing!

And... thanks to you, reader. You're reading it, which is all the recognition I need for this here story. Thanks. It means more than you know to me.

Yeah. (Sarah sucks in a breath.) Well, it's been a heckuva ride, honestly. I really appreciate all the support from you guys!

And all the pieces of strawberry preserves-buttered toast that I've eaten and the cookies—decidedly not stale but still magical peanut butter cookies, of course—have also been a help. Thanks to me for the toast, heh, and thanks to my mom for the cookies. She's a good cook.

Anyhoo...

Bye!

We'll talk later, okay?

Thank you.

XX,

Sarah