The Heartbroker (27 page)

I wrote my first novel,
Styling Wellywood
, in almost complete isolation, barely telling a soul I was writing it. God knows what my family and friends must have thought I was doing with my time. Consequently, I only had a small handful of people to thank.

In this, my second novel, things have changed a bit. To start with, my friends and family know I’m a novelist these days, so even if I had wanted to write it in secrecy, I would have failed abysmally. Secondly I’ve become a fully-fledged member of the wonderful world of writers’ communities, both virtually and in person. And it totally rocks.

So, who to thank? The biggies have to be my editor, my critique partner, and my beta readers, all of whom have offered me invaluable advice and support. My editor is the fabulously finicky Julie Crengle, who gladly gave up her time to fix my (hopefully only occasional) mangled language and grammatical anomalies. She’s also a lawyer and offered advice on that partnership agreement. Julie, thank you so very much.

My critique partner is a fantastic fellow Kiwi chick lit author, Maggie Le Page. Maggie, your sharp mind, strong sense of humour, and ability to create wonderful characters and story lines in your own work has helped me immeasurably in the creation of mine. Thank you.

To my beta readers, Leanne Mackay, Marina Collot, and Nicky Willis: thank you for not only your suggestions but for believing in my novel, even when I had my own doubts. I particularly liked it when you have used the words ‘love’ and ‘your novel’ together. I shall be using you again for novel number three.

Thank you to all the wonderful authors of New Zealand Romance Writers, particularly the Wellington chapter. I don’t get to attend as many meetings as I would like, but when I do I leave brimming with ideas, enthusiasm, and extremely useful information. I would especially like to acknowledge the wonderful romance author Kris Pearson, whose expertise in hot and racy sex scenes helped me give Brooke and Logan a night to remember. Kris also came up with the novel’s cute title, which clicked with me straight away. Thank you, Kris.

The other writers’ group I want to thank is Chick Lit Chat HQ, a virtual group of like-minded chick lit authors who support one another through the writing and marketing of our work. Thank you all for gladly offering your time and ideas, especially Tracie Bannister and Whitney Dineen whose grasp of the chick lit world is nothing short of miraculous.

I also want to thank Pete McLennan for his general wonderfulness as well as for his knowledge; my hairdresser, Kate of Ahead With Organics for her advice on Brooke’s hair; and the American Cancer Society for information on Jennifer’s breast cancer.

Last but most certainly not least, a huge thank you to my husband. You give me the time, the support, sometimes even the ideas, to pursue my passion for writing. I know some days the laundry’s not done, the dogs aren’t walked, the house is a mess. I want you to know how much it means to me. Thank you, you’re the best husband I could wish for.