Scare Crow (36 page)
Authors: Julie Hockley
BILLY
A woman in love with a man who only rejects her could just about be the most dangerous
thing on the planet. I used to think this, foolishly. Until I had a daug
hter.
The love of a father for his little
girl?
It’s a weapon of mass destruc
tion.
It’s something you just don’t fuck
with.
Thank you to my husband for being my Cameron inspiration, sans the drugs and violence
and bloodshed. Okay, maybe not so much like Cameron—rather, my love inspira
tion.
Thank you to my kids for napping in the afternoon so that Mommy could finish this
book, and to my mom and dad for being nothing like Isabelle and Burt Shep
pard.
To Sophie Normand: if it weren’t for all those fall-head-over-heels relationships
and subsequent inevitable broken hearts, this book would have never come to be. We
laughed, we cried, we cried some more, we laughed again. We grew up eventu
ally.
A special thank you to Alan Bower. Alan has changed the lives (in a good way) of so
many self-published authors out there (I know—I googled him). There aren’t many people
in the world who can look beyond the ugly words (mine) of a first-time author (me)
and see the story. There are even fewer people who listen to the readers, appreciate
the passion they have for a book. Alan, you have done so much for
Crow’s Row
. You make me hope that someday, if I keep working at it, I won’t cringe every time
I reread something I w
rote.
Thank you to my editors, Elizabeth Day and Cheri Madison, for using kid gloves in
telling me that
Scare Crow
still needed a lot of work and for being the reader that nightmares are made of.
And thank you to iUniverse and Author Solutions: when everyone turned
Crow’s Row
down, you were there to ensure that Cam and Emmy’s story would be shared with the
world and not just end up at the bottom of my closet with the rest of the things I
don’t know what to do
with.
Now, to the fans of
Crow’s Row
. Where do I start? You guys are crazy. You drive me crazy. I appreciate your offers
to babysit my children so that I can write, though there were times when I thought
that if I didn’t finish
Scare Crow
, one of you was going to come to my house, hopefully make my kids dinner, and chain
me to my computer until I was done. Let’s face it: if it weren’t for your constant
hounding (in a loving and encouraging way, of course), I would have never finished
Scare Crow
. Cameron and Emily’s story would have stopped after
Crow’s Row
, and it would still be gnawing away at all of us. I hope that you liked
Scare Crow
. I hope that I did justice to Cam and Emmy’s story. Otherwise, I’m afraid for my
life.