by K. Ryan
K. Ryan is a former English teacher, who graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point in 2009. In between 'real life' duties, she's been writing the Carry Your Heart series quietly on the side for the last two years. When not writing, she's either binge-watching something on Netflix, running, reading, or cheering on the Packers. She lives in the Green Bay area with her crazy-supportive boyfriend and the best decision of her adult life, a not-so-stray cat named Oliver.
Follow her on Twitter and Instagram (@authorkryan) and Facebook or visit her website for updates and news.
Acknowledgements
First of all, I think a book is really only as good as its cover, so I owe a huge thank you to Matt at The Cover Lure. Not only did you create something that was vibrant, full of life, and beautifully eye-catching, but you also managed to capture exactly what was in my head. You were also, by the way, super patient with me and all my newbie questions and I felt like it was true collaboration in every sense of the word.
To Jamie McGuire and Karina Halle—I'm pretty sure you're not aware I exist, but without your fearless bulldozing of the new adult genre a few years ago, I doubt I would've went through with self-publishing. When I read Jamie's book, Beautiful Disaster, and Karina's book, Sins and Needles, my hopes and dreams of becoming a published author were just a pipe dream. When I read those books, I thought to myself, God, I wish I could do that too...maybe I can do that too. So thank you, Jamie and Karina, for inspiring me to see this thing through to the end and proving that it can be done.
To Michelle and Heather, my awesome betas—your time and your thoughtful feedback has been invaluable to me. I can't tell you how helpful it was to have someone to bounce ideas off of that really understood what I was doing and the changes I needed to make in order for this to work. Let's do it again.
To my first readers—you know who you are. It's been such a scary, fantastic ride two years in the making and you guys were there from the very beginning, challenging and supporting me to keep going. Caleb and Isabelle wouldn't be here without you.
To my parents—thank you for supporting me even when you weren't entirely sure what I was doing and even when I wasn't entirely sure I wanted to explain it. Thank you for trusting me and for encouraging me to chase a dream instead of a paycheck.
To Oliver—best writing partner ever. Just saying.
To Andrea—my best friend and my first official reader. I don't think you have any idea how hard it was for me to turn this over and let you actually read the thing. I've never been more nervous and I really shouldn't have been. You've been supportive since day one and I can't wait to hand over books two and three next!
And finally, last but not least, to Michael—I don't think there are a lot of people who would accept their girlfriend being let go from her job and then making writing her new career plan with so much peace. I think it's just because you've always understood what this has meant to me without me really needing to explain it. You've always known my original career path was really just a placeholder for what I really wanted in my life and without your unwavering support, I would not have been able to do this. I guess maybe some of this was a little bit of art imitating life, huh?
Playlist for Carry Your Heart
"Use Somebody" by Kings of Leon
"See How I Run" by Jessie Baylin
"Come Pick Me Up" by Ryan Adams
"Wicker Chair" by Kings of Leon
"Pumped Up Kicks" by Foster the People
"Walk" by Foo Fighters
"Follow Your Arrow" by Kacey Musgraves
"Shut Up and Dance" by Walk the Moon
"She Will Be Loved" by Maroon 5
"Can't Help Falling In Love" by Ingrid Michaelson
"All I Want Is You" by U2
"I'll Be Your Man" by The Black Keys
"Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow?" by Amy Winehouse
"Somebody That I Used To Know" by Gotye
"Maybe I'm Amazed" by Paul McCartney
"American Girl" by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
"Roadhouse Blues" by The Doors
"Hard to Handle" by The Black Crowes
"Fight Song" by Rachel Platten
"Cannonball" by Damien Rice