Sasquatch, Love, and Other Imaginary Things
Page 24
“What?” Kyle asked.
“The after-party. How about we invite the whole crew over to the cabin and order some soy cheese pizza and play video games.”
“Take out the soy cheese and add pepperoni and you’ve got a deal,” Kyle said.
“What do you think, Sam?” Devan asked.
“I’d say it’s time Bigfoot finds himself.” I smiled up at Devan, happy that while I still couldn’t be certain of the existence of any mythical creature, our feelings for each other turned out to be the very opposite of imaginary.
Acknowledgments
We’d like to offer a big, hairy, Bigfoot thank you to all those who joined us on this adventure and helped make this book a reality. We are forever grateful to:
Our own idiosyncratic families, who never embarrass us as much as the Bergers embarrass Sam (but sure try their darndest). Endless appreciation to Bill and Paula Mingo, who helped shape Betsy into her current bookworm form, and shuttled her to Hebrew school for a million years, but never made her go camping. Heaps of gratitude to the DuBois family—Charlie, the eccentric inventor dad, who plans all the DuBois family adventures; Helen, the ever-clairvoyant mom, who knew Carrie would be a writer well before she did; and Dana, the little brother who encourages all of Carrie’s outrageous ideas without (too much) judgment.
Our nerdy love interests. Big thanks to Marcus Aldredge, Betsy’s geeky significant other, who first got her hooked on cryptozoology. All those hours watching Monster Quest finally paid off! And three cheers for Dan Shaw, Carrie’s partner in sarcastic commentary. He may be a skeptic when it comes to the existence of Bigfoot, but he’s a true believer in this book and his wife’s big dreams.
Our amazing agent, Christa Heschke, who was Sasquatch’s first champion and who, along with Shannon Powers and the rest of the McIntosh & Otis team, read and reread our many drafts, offering excellent editorial advice along the way.
Our extraordinary editor, Jacquelyn Mitchard, whose wisdom and acumen transformed our little monster of a manuscript into a ferocious beast of a book, as well as Bethany Carland-Adams, Karen Cooper, Stephanie Hannus, Meredith O’Hayre, and the whole Merit Press/Simon & Schuster team whose enthusiasm for Sasquatch has taken our breath away.
Our excellent critique partners and early readers Amanda Lanceter, Emily Lake, Christy Mafucci Wendell, Julia Putnam, Judy Shatzky, Sherry Soule, and Constance Tarbox Windish, with special thanks to Mathangi Subramanian for her thoughtful comments which helped bring additional layers to the characters.
Our wonderful world of writers, especially our friends from Query Kombat, including hosts Michelle Hauck and Michael Anthony, our QK Cabal group, author Micol Ostow and the lovely writers we met through her Media Bistro class, and the super talented and encouraging 2017 debut author group.
Our relentlessly supportive friends who’ve offered infinite love, encouragement, and expertise over the years, including Alexis Buatti-Ramos, Sonya Carpenter, Jim and Lori Crispi, Michael Hicks, Ella Leitner, the Meola family, Elizabeth Miles, Poornima Ravishankar, the Shaw family, Kimberly Small, and Cara Winter, as well as all those in our “extended” families at the Museum of Jewish Heritage, New Victory Theater, San Francisco Ballet, Purchase College, SUNY, The Faux-Real Theatre Company, and New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts/CAP 21.
Our inspirations: Ms. Jane Austen and our fellow Janeites, the Bigfoot believers and cryptozoology community who search for Sasquatch on TV, blog about beasts online, and stand behind their sighting stories, and, most especially, the adventurers who explore the mysteries of our world and seek to find that which has yet to be discovered—we salute you!
About the Author
BETSY ALDREDGE is a former magazine editor turned communications professional, now in charge of media relations for Purchase College, State University of New York.
CARRIE DUBOIS-SHAW is an arts administrator and playwright who fundraises for the San Francisco Ballet and volunteers for the San Francisco Writers Conference and San Francisco Dance Film Festival.
Simon Pulse
Simon & Schuster, New York
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Authors.SimonandSchuster.com/Betsy-Aldredge
Authors.SimonandSchuster.com/Carrie-Dubois-Shaw
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This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real places are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and events are products of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or places or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
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First Simon Pulse hardcover edition August 2017
Text copyright © 2017 by Betsy Aldredge and Carrie DuBois-Shaw
Jacket illustration © 2017 by Getty Images / Idimair, Bulentgultek
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CIP data for this title is available from the Library of Congress.
ISBN 978-1-5072-0280-7 (hardcover)
ISBN 978-1-5072-0281-4 (ebook)