My Best Friend Is a Goddess
Page 36
Maybe it’s the myth lover in me writing this and, like any myth, it’s simply something I put faith into to make sense of something I don’t really understand. But that’s the story I tell myself, and that’s all that matters.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
First mention has to go to my one-in-a-million husband, Greg — I’m well aware that living with a writer in manuscript-mode is often challenging to say the very least. Thank you for your oodles of patience, your endless understanding, and for being my cheerleader at all times. Thank you for always providing the essentials on demand — coffee, cuddles and cat videos! You’re the star guiding my ship. Knowing you are one hundred per cent there for me, no matter what, is what gives me the faith and courage to take on challenges, and to commit myself to what makes my heart sing — aka the wild and glorious adventure of being a storyteller!
My father, Peter — you’re the one I call when I have writer’s block, am disillusioned and want to give up, or am in tears from frustration and overwork — and every time you talk me through it, give me just the right advice, and inspire me with enough courage to go back to the computer and wrangle with the words again. Thank you for always believing in me, and for showing me firsthand how to live a life enriched by creative spirit.
Cybele, thank you for the long conversations over Italian food throughout 2014 and 2015, as this book went from outline to fully formed manuscript — and for always reminding me of my accomplishments when I’m having moments of self-doubt. Even when the world feels too tough and serious, you still have me in fits of laughter like we’re thirteen years old and back in trigonometry class again. My Best Friend is a Goddess is a book about friendship and when it comes to ours — even across continents, states and nearly two decades of change — every time we catch up, it’s like no time has passed at all.
Sarada, I’m so lucky to have been blessed with an in-built best friend for my sister. We’ve seen each other through heartbreaks, hard times, and a heck of a lot of fun too. Because of you, I know what it’s like to have a friend who can literally read your mind, can finish your sentence for you, has your back no matter what, and who understands you like no-one else. I can’t imagine my life without my sister, and the dedication of this book could never go to anyone else but you. Love you always, twinny.
Big hugs and many thanks to other special people who support me — my lovely brother Jesse, my beautiful grandmother Heather, my gorgeous friend Bo Hyea-Ok and my fantastic in-laws Cecil, Sharon and Helen.
Sarah Ayoub, thanks for your encouragement and support last year via email, and whenever we cross paths as fellow HarperCollins authors! It’s fantastic to have a friend who knows what it’s like to be a young writer, and can sympathise and give genuinely helpful advice during challenging moments!
On the publishing side of things, I am super-lucky to be surrounded by a stellar team:
Lisa Berryman, it’s been a privilege to work with you on my third project with HarperCollins Australia. Thank you for being behind Goddess from the start, for all your hard work not only in managing the project, but also in making it a key title. Thank you for your advice and guidance over the last two years, for helping me refine one very large manuscript into what I hope is a story with real heart.
Nicola O’Shea, you know my ‘voice’ so well that I never feel anxious about the editing process (very unusual for an author!). You make my work better, and you do so in such a considered, constructive way. Thank you for all your hard work on Goddess — this was my first venture into structuring a novel with alternating chapters, so I really appreciate the time you spent in ensuring that Emily’s and Adriana’s stories were told in the best way possible.
Kate Burnitt, I am so lucky to have you as my in-house editor — you continue to amaze me with your dedication, hard work and exceptional eye for detail. You pick up on the little things that I never would, you polish the story till it’s extra shiny and you are an absolute delight to work with. Just all-round awesome!
Cristina Cappelluto, Amy Fox, Bianca Fazzalaro and Holly Frendo — the Harper Kids team are absolute champions. I’m so grateful for all that you do to support, encourage and promote me as an author.
Libby O’Donnell, thank you for your efforts in ensuring that my work reaches as many readers as possible, across borders, languages and oceans! Fingers crossed Goddess travels far and wide.
A huge thank you to the bloggers who champion my books out there on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook — to name just a few, Annie McCann from Read3r’s Re-Vu, Eugenia (genie-inabook) and Jaz (pixelski.com). Thank you for the ongoing love, shoutouts, retweets and shelfies, all of which make a writer’s heart soar! Thanks also to the #loveozya community in general — the teachers, bookstores, writers’ festivals and other authors who support and encourage Australian literature.
Finally, my readers — the greatest part of my job is knowing you’re out there, turning the pages, hopefully smiling, laughing or crying at certain points of the story. Thank you for your beautiful messages, pictures, kind words and enthusiasm for my work (a special mention to Paula Campos here, you’re a star!). There is no better feeling in the world for a writer!
If you’d ever like to make contact, please say hello on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter — I LOVE hearing from you!! :-)
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
TARA EGLINGTON grew up in Byron Bay, New South Wales. Surrounded by crystals, chakras and sound-based healing, Tara’s only option for teen rebellion was to complete a non-arts degree and move to Sydney for a ‘normal’ career, but she ended up in a creative industry anyway. Tara is the author of three YA novels: How to Keep a Boy from Kissing You, How to Convince a Boy to Kiss You and My Best Friend is a Goddess. Her hobbies when she’s not writing include watching endless cat videos on YouTube, planning pretend holidays to the Maldives, and daydreaming about who would play Hayden Paris in the film adaption of How to Keep a Boy from Kissing You.
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ALSO BY TARA EGLINGTON
How to Keep a Boy from Kissing You
How to Convince a Boy to Kiss You
COPYRIGHT
Angus&Robertson
An imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers, Australia
First published in Australia in 2016
by HarperCollinsPublishers Australia Pty Limited
ABN 36 009 913 517
harpercollins.com.au
Copyright © Tara Eglington 2016
The right of Tara Eglington to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by her under the Copyright Amendment (Moral Rights) Act 2000.
This work is copyright. Apart from any use as permitted under the Copyright Act 1968, no part may be reproduced, copied, scanned, stored in a retrieval system, recorded, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the publisher.
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National Library of Australia Cataloguing-in-Publication data:
Eglington, Tara, author.
My best friend is a goddess / Tara Eglington.
ISBN: 978 0 7322 9990 3 (paperback)
ISBN: 978 1 4607 0392 2 (ebook)
For secondary school age.
Friendship—Juvenile fiction.
Best friends—Juvenile fiction.
Change—Juvenile fiction.
A823.4
Cover design by Hazel Lam, HarperCollins Design Studio
Cover images (clockwise from top left): shutterstock.com; Guille Faingold / stocksy; kkgas / stocksy; michela ravasio / stocksy; Guille Faingold / stocksy; shut
terstock.com
Emoticons by shutterstock.com