On Dublin Street (51 page)

I can
’
t forget to say a huge thank you to my fellow authors, Shelly Crane, Tammy Blackwell, Michelle Leighton, Quinn Loftis, Amy Bartol, Georgia Cates, Rachel Higginson and Angeline Kace. I cannot tell you how much your friendship these past few months has meant to me, and how wonderful it is to have such awesome, kind ladies to turn to for help, advice, and a giggle. There are no words to describe how brilliant you all are.

A rather HUGE thank you to my readers for taking a chance on me, for encouraging me, and for filling my days with big cheesy grins from reading your emails, Facebook, Twitter and Goodreads comments. You
’
ve no idea how much I appreciate those :)

And finally, a special thank you to my mum, dad, my brother David, Carol, my closest friends, Ashleen (congratulations Mrs. Walker!), Kate, and Shanine, and all my family and friends for being there and being you. Some elements of
On Dublin Street
are personal to me, and personal to you. Sometimes it takes a lifetime to learn the important lessons, for us it seems to have come upon us all too quickly.

Grief and loss are probably the most fearful creatures that exist. They can teach us to worry about the future, to question the longevity of contentment, and prove us unable to enjoy happiness when we have it. But loss shouldn
’
t be a fearful creature. It should be a creature of wisdom. It should teach us not to fear that tomorrow may never come, but live fully, as though the hours are melting away like seconds. Loss should teach us to cherish those we love, to never do anything that will result in regret, and to cheer on tomorrow with all of its promises of greatness.

Sometimes strength and courage aren
’
t in the big things. Sometimes the bravest thing we can do is enjoy what we have and be positive about what makes us lucky. It
’
s easy and un-extraordinary to be frightened of life. It
’
s far more difficult to arm yourself with the good stuff despite all the bad and step foot into tomorrow as an everyday warrior.

To my family and friends: you
’
re the strongest warriors I know.

Samantha Young is a 26 year old Scottish writer who graduated from the University of Edinburgh in 2009. She studied ancient and medieval history, which really just means she likes old stuff. Since February 2011, Samantha has been self-publishing her amazon-bestselling young adult novels. She
’
s the author of four series
—
ten novels and one novella.

On Dublin Street
is her debut into adult fiction.

For more info on Samantha
’
s adult fiction visit
http://www.ondublinstreet.com

For info on her young adult fiction visit
www.samanthayoungbooks.com