Blaze (24 page)

Special thanks to Superagent Ammi-Joan Paquette for believing in me and for smashing through force fields of rejection with grace and determination. To Aubrey Poole, my fantastic editor who soars above and beyond and to all of the incredible folks at Sourcebooks. Thank you so much for giving Blaze the chance to fly. Special thanks to Anne Cain for expressing Blaze’s awesome talent with her own. And to Derry Wilkens for helping Blaze soar far and wide.

To the remarkable EMLA GANGOs, Verla’s fearless Blueboarders and my cosmic critique buddies Alison Ashley Formento, Amanda Coppedge, Shana Silver, Kristen Spina and Michelle Castrofilippo. You folks fill this writing adventure with infinite goodness, wisdom, and laughter.

To Mom, thank you for raising me to love books and for giving me mustard seed faith (even when it nearly landed me in clown college). And thank you, Paw, for your awesome sense of humor and generosity. To Gerry, mentor extraordinaire and owner of the most amazing comic collection on the planet. To super-galactic siblings: Jenna, the wolf-whisperer, and Zach, the baby-wrangler. (I’m still waiting for a waterpik rematch.) To besties, Donna and Dorene, and to my extended legion of family and friends. Thank you all for your support, prayers and inspiration.

Most of all I want to thank the people who put up with my catch-phrase, “
Just
a
minute
,” as I worked on this book. Trinity, my Sweetie 3.14… and Aidan, my trampoline champion. Remember, “Cromptons never quit.” And especially and always to The Best Mate. Brett, you can be pretty funny—just not as funny as me. Thank you for making the journey such a blast.

When she was seventeen, Laurie Boyle Crompton painted her first car hot pink using forty cans of spraypaint. The paint dried a bit drippy, but the car looked great when it was flying down the back roads of Butler, Pennsylvania, where she grew up. Laurie now lives near New York City but she loves to visit the mountains and maintains a secret identity in New Paltz, New York, where she and her family can often be found crawling over rocks or tromping through the forest. You can visit her at
www.lboylecrompton.com
or read more about girls and comics at
www.gofangirl.com
.
Blaze
is Laurie’s first novel.