The Liar Society (25 page)

When we set out to write books together we had no idea what we were getting into. Publishing is a tough business. But luckily it comes complete with some of the most amazing people we’ve (n)ever met.

To our incredible agent, Catherine Drayton, you saw promise in our work and never lost faith in us or in Kate. Thank you for telling us our original title was “wet,” talking us off ledges, making us laugh, and cheering us on.

To our editors—Dan Ehrenhaft for giving us a chance, Kelly Barrales-Saylor and Leah Hultenschmidt for pushing us to make this book the best it can be. To Kristin Zelazko, production editor extraordinaire, who helped us walk the fine line between bad grammar and voice. To Mallory Kaster for contributing to hundreds of covers and finally finding one that is so totally Kate. Thank you to the entire team at Sourcebooks for believing in our work and putting up with our crazy ideas (we’re looking at you, Paul Samuelson).

To all of our amazing writer friends—Loretta Nyhan, there is absolutely no way we could do this without you. Not only are you the original beta ninja, but you are an incredible friend. To Elana Johnson for reading our first draft and including us in all of your grand schemes. To Scott Tracey and Beth Revis for ripping into our millionth revision and pushing us even further. To Joanna Stampfel-Volpe for being one of the nicest, most supportive people in publishing and hooking us up with an incredible network of writers. To Katie Anderson, Sarah-Frances Hardy, and Jeanette Schneider for clicking onto our blog and into our lives. To all of our amazing blog readers, thank you for coming back every day and reading our randomness. Your comments are the highlight of our day. To the Hopefuls, the WriteOnCon team, the Elevensies, the Bookinistas, and our YA book club for helping us find our place in the writing community. And to Kiri for fixing our bastardized Latin. Apparently free online translators don’t work. Good to know.

To Dianne Caywood, Tara McKendry, Sarah Berg, and Zack and Casie Markwell for reading our first doomed manuscript and “loving it.” To Rick and Sarah Jackson and Erik Vaughan for being willing readers. And Alex, Emma, and Rachel, our first readers of the YA variety. To our grandma, Josephine Trinetti, for reading our blog every single day and saying enough novenas to land us a book deal. And Liz Stropki, our one-woman publicity team who never leaves home without our business card. To all of our friends and family, thank you for supporting our double lives as writers.

To our dad, Mike Roecker, for pushing us to write strong, female characters and to our mom, Joni “the Regulator” Roecker, for reading more book blogs than we do and keeping us abreast on all things publishing. To the third Roecker, Stacey Vaughan, for choosing to read our book, for acting as our personal graphic design slave, and for her unwavering love and support. To Ken and John for giving us the chance to live our dream. We’re still not sure we’d be that supportive of one of your “hobbies.” And finally, to Jack, Mia, Ben, and Lydia for not calling child services when we neglect you to write and for saying things like, “I want to write a pink book when I get older.”

Lisa and Laura Roecker are sisters-turned-writing-partners with a love of all things Young Adult. Some call it arrested development, but the sisters claim it keeps them young. Plus, it’s cheaper than Botox. Lisa and Laura live in Cleveland, Ohio, in separate residences. Their husbands wouldn’t agree to a duplex.
The Liar Society
is their first novel. To learn more, check out
www.lisaandlauraroecker.com
.