A Bride for Keeps (29 page)
Authors: Melissa Jagears
Tags: #FIC042030, #FIC042040, #FIC027050, #Mail order brides—Fiction, #Farmers—Fiction, #Frontier and pioneer life—Fiction, #Kansas—Fiction
I am indebted to so many people for helping me on my journey to publication, and I’ve
most likely not thanked any of them enough for their generosity, time, and expertise.
To my husband, who listens to my rambling story ideas and the woes of making characters
do what I want—even though I often keep him up late at night to do so. I’m grateful
he enjoys being my fight coordinator and weapons and outdoor expert.
To the original Scribes 203 group, Anne Greene, Charlie Marquardt, Diana Sharples,
and Glenn Haggerty Jr., who had to deal with a very green writer, yet saw my potential
and hacked my words to pieces so I could grow. If it wasn’t for your kind but thorough
help in learning the craft, I’d not yet be where I am.
To my critique partner, Naomi Rawlings. Not only is she exactly who I need to kick
my stories to the next level, but she is a friend I treasure.
To two of my very best friends, Andrea Strong and Karen Riekeman, who believed in
me before reading my manuscript and still believed in me afterward, their confidence
in me is incredibly encouraging.
To my agent, Natasha Kern, and my editors, Raela Schoenherr and Sarah Long, and the
other people behind the scenes at Bethany House who championed my manuscript and helped
me achieve my dream of holding this book in my hands: I’m very, very grateful.
To authors who give of their time to judge prepublished contests, I know how much
work that is and am thankful you do so. I especially want to thank the ones that came
out of anonymity to encourage me. And to contest coordinators and organizations that
provide contests and industry professionals serving as final judges who make them
worthwhile, this book most likely wouldn’t be published if it hadn’t been for your
time. And to Seekerville, which posts monthly contest updates that spurred me to put
this manuscript in One. Last. Time.
And to my poor children, who have to put up with a writing mommy, I thank them for
not caring that the house is often a disaster. I’m glad that ditching housekeeping
to write doesn’t make me a poor mommy in their eyes. And to my husband, who deals
with it.
And to my God, who loves me for reasons unfathomable. May I grow to be a better servant
with the gifts you’ve given me.
Melissa Jagears
, an ESL teacher by trade, is a stay-at-home mother on a tiny Kansas farm with a fixer-upper
house. She’s a member of ACFW and CROWN fiction marketing. Her passion is to help
Christian believers mature in their faith and judge rightly.
A Bride for Keeps
is her first novel. Find her online at
www.melissajagears.com
, Facebook, Pinterest, and Goodreads.
