The Secret Cellar (27 page)

So, where to from here? I wonder as I gaze out the window at the deep blue sky and the ocean below. I smile, remembering the promise I made to my mom on the way home from Bartleman’s the night of the auction. Not to worry, Mom. After the events of the past few
days, I believe—more than ever—that life really is one amazing adventure after another.

With New Year’s Day just around the corner, I can’t help wondering what surprises my thirteenth year will bring. What lies over the horizon for me and the rest of the Red Blazer Girls?

I can’t wait to find out.

In the three years since the first Red Blazer Girls book,
The Ring of Rocamadour
, hit the bookstore shelves, I’ve learned a great deal about the world of children’s book publishing. In short, it is a wonderful place, full of talented, committed, and very hardworking people who love and believe in books as much as I do. I would like to extend heartfelt thanks and appreciation to everyone who has been a part of my little adventure, with special recognition going to:

Kate Gartner, for your playful, creative design work on all four RBG books. I love the way they look!

Daniel Baxter, for those terrific covers and interior illustrations, and the portrait of Isabel and Maggie that makes me smile every time I look at it.

All the sales, publicity, and marketing folks at Random House Children’s Books, for your enthusiastic and continuous support of my books.

Rebecca Waugh at Listening Library and Tai Alexandra Ricci, the voice of Sophie, for the great audiobook versions of the RBGs.

Copy editors Artie Bennett, Jenny Golub, Sue Cohan, and Janet Renard, for their patience, diligence, and tenacity.

My agent, Rosemary Stimola, for believing in “the girls” from the very beginning.

My editor, Nancy Hinkel, who has a knack for making exactly the right suggestion at exactly the right moment in exactly the right way. It’s a gift, really.

Readers, friends, librarians, and fans of “the girls”: Thanks for all the nice things you’ve said about Sophie and her friends!

As always, my friends and family, especially LLG.

 … and a tip of the metaphorical cap to David Levithan and Rachel Cohn’s brilliant book
Dash & Lily’s Book of Dares
.

Michael D. Beil’s first Red Blazer Girls installment,
The Ring of Rocamadour
, was hailed as a “PG
Da Vinci Code
 … with a fun mystery, great friends, and a bit of romance” (
School Library Journal
) and was an Edgar Allan Poe Award Nominee for Best Children’s Mystery. The second Red Blazer Girls mystery,
The Vanishing Violin
, was similarly lauded, with
Kirkus Reviews
saying, “The red blazer gals feel and act like real tweens while tackling everything that comes their way with logic, humor and refreshing savoir faire.” And the third,
The Mistaken Masterpiece
, kept up the breakneck pace, with Booklist saying, “Clearly—and happily—there’s plenty to keep the girls sleuthing for a long time.” Michael D. Beil’s stand-alone middle-grade novel,
Summer at Forsaken Lake
, was published by Knopf in 2012.

Mr. Beil, who teaches English and helms the theater program at a New York City high school, has, in his own words, “too many hobbies to count.” When he’s not teaching or writing, he loves reading, skiing, sailing, cooking, playing cello, and hiking—including climbing
Mount Kilimanjaro. He finds literary inspiration in everything from classic films to Charles Dickens to that beloved barrister, Horace Rumpole.

He and his wife, Laura Grimmer, share their Manhattan home with dogs Isabel and Maggie and cats Cyril and Emma.