TK&TB release day: gratitude and a new super power
Mad love to the Lerner designers who set me up with this lovely blog tour banner!
It’s official: The Knife and the Butterfly is OUT IN THE WORLD. Ask for it in your local bookstore, request it from your library, or order it online. If you read it and love it, consider these (mostly serious) suggestions for helping to get the word out about a book you love.
Today I’m trying out my divisibility suit, which allows me to be in three places at once. So I’m at YA Outside the Lines talking about the things Azael carries, I’m here at I Read Banned Books explaining how TK&TB was inspired by·the students I never got to teach, but I’m also right here at home, serving up the acknowledgments page of The Knife and the Butterfly in light of its release:
Much gratitude to the following professional rock stars: my agent, Steven Chudney; my editor, Andrew Karre; and Lindsay Matvick, Elizabeth Dingmann, and all the others at Lerner who work behind the scenes to make great books happen. I’m also grateful to the Blythe Woolston for blazing trails and sharing her wisdom.
A special thank you to the turn-around scholars of my freshman English summer school class at Davis High in Houston. I started finding Azael’s voice while we were writing together back in 2007, and you told me that you wanted to hear more of it. I’m glad you put me on the right track.
To my writing group, thanks for reading the manuscript (twice). To Alisa, thank you for the friendship that makes writing seem possible all over again every time we talk.
To my families from Kilgore, El Paso, Houston, Denver, and beyond, thank you for believing in my writing. Special thanks to my parents, who can find redemption anywhere and who support me in everything, and to my brother, Justin, who never, never leaves me in the lurch.
And most of all, thank you to my boys for all the days and nights you shared me with my writing. Arnulfo, thank you for reading and for listening. I still can’t believe my luck. Liam, thank you for your jokes, your laughter, and your besos. You two are the best part of my every day.
Thanks, everybody!
