To My Book, On the Eve of Its Birthday

Dear Book,

It's hard to believe that it was over 5 years ago that I woke up from a dream about a girl named Goldenrod Moram (I know, how very Stephenie Meyer of me). There she was: spunky, spirited, annoyed with her name. I thought about her a lot that day.

I thought about her a lot over the next few months at a time when I thought it might be possible that my writing days were behind me. And yet, within a year, I had quit an important day job, signed up for a children's book writing class and started to write down Goldenrod's adventure in earnest.

And how that adventure has changed: from class feedback to SCBWI pitch sessions to real, honest-to-goodness editorial letters. We've been through a lot together, book. (About 27 drafts by my last count.)

And now it's time for you to make your way out into the world. You'll always be my story, of course. A story from my head and my heart. A story that was written in part to the kid I was and the books I loved. But now you're about to fulfill your book destiny; you are about to have readers. There'll be some who may like you, some who may not care for you, and some, even, who may love you. I hope you come across at least a few of those.

But before you go, I just want to say--from the bottom of my heart--thank you. It turns out you have been my great adventure, a fulfillment of a lifelong dream, and a rare and wondrous thing. I'm very grateful to you, book, for the past 5 years and I'm curious as to what the next 5 will hold. After all you taught me that, sometimes, it's very okay to be a dreamer.

Love,
Your author