by Amanda Morey
John now owned the gas station he used to work part time at. The car garage was better than ever. He was married to a woman named Emily that he had met when she came in to get her car fixed. Her and Sam got along really well and she would babysit for them sometimes. They would often stop by Sam and Jason’s for dinner.
Matt got a job and saved up his money so he could go to college. He owned a bookstore in Missouri. He was another frequent visitor. He wasn’t married yet but was seeing a woman who he met in his bookstore.
Shawn still got too wild and partied too much. But he kept down a steady job at John’s gas station and even had a steady girlfriend. He would come by about twice a month.
Chris couldn’t seem to get himself together. He spent more time in jail than at work at John’s gas station. But John always gave him another shot. He made sure to stop by Sam and Jason’s once a month; as long as he wasn’t in jail.
As for Jason and Sam, Sam went to school and became a physical therapist. They were right outside of their old town. In a safer town. For their daughter Michelle. And the son they had fifteen years ago, named Jason Matthew Channing Junior. Jason had been right; Sam did go to school and become a physical therapist. She should’ve trusted him all along. About everything. There would have been no Jason Jr. or Michelle if she hadn’t.
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Amanda Leigh has a BA in English and Communications and a double minor in Psychology and Creative Writing. During college, she worked on the literary magazine and loved every minute of it.
Amanda has a cat named Sawyer—named after one of her favorite characters on Lost. Amanda enjoys reading, writing avidly in a journal, writing poetry, fiction and creative non-fiction, cooking and art—particularly photography.
She also keeps up two blogs. On one she posts all about books and writing, Girl with a Pen and a Dream, http://www.girlwithapenandadream.blogspot.com, and on the other she talks about everything else (medical experiences, music etc.), The Life of a Chronic Bibliophile, http://lifeofachronicbibliophile.blogspot.com/.
Amanda is a bit of a chocoholic and is slightly obsessed with office supplies. She has many ideas for stories so keep an eye out for more work from her.
http://www.authoramandaleigh.com/
https://www.facebook.com/AuthorAmandaLeigh
https://twitter.com/APenAndADream
https://www.youtube.com/user/AmandaLeighYA
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6426366.Amanda_Leigh
Other Books by Amanda Leigh
Thousands of Mornings: Original Photography and Poetry (June 2012)
Holiday Hospital Stay Poetry Collection 2012: Original Poetry Inspired by My 2012 Holiday Hospital Stay (July 2013)
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Even though writing a book is often a solitary experience there are always people to thank. There are the people who are just always there. Family, friends, my stepmom, my dad. There are the people who are in that category and have let you bounce ideas off of them and talk endlessly about your character’s issues, backgrounds, favorite colors and so on and so forth. Or when you have to figure out how to fix a plot hole or a mistake in the timeline (especially in a book like this). Even to just have family and friends who support you in your writing journey is difficult, so if you have people who also put up with your crazy babble you’re doubly blessed.
Now, there are always people who get those extra special shout outs. To my mom, for always being there, listening to my babble, helping me do the final spelling and grammar edits on this book, and helping with my books past.
To Jennifer Weiser, who has become my critique partner, writer friend and friend. You have been wonderful and I’m so glad that we got to connect. Thank you for reading this manuscript and giving me your feedback. I can’t tell you how much it means to me that you loved it. All of the good things that you’ve said about this story mean oh so much to me. And I’m so glad that you’re excited for my next book, too. I will always be there to read for you.
So, I must thank Rachel Harris. If not for her Flirt Squad, Jenn and I would have never connected. Thank you to Rachel Harris for starting that wonderful group! Thank you for supporting all of us who are in that group and just being so supportive in general! And thank you for answering that question that I had about Point of View! Also, for writing terrific books! To the Flirt Squad, you all are also wonderful! Thank you for your support and for just generally being great!
To Ryan, thank you for reading My Heart is Yours and giving me feedback. And just for being there through this crazy journey of being an author.
To Trisha Wolfe. I can’t write an acknowledgements section without thanking you. You have been so great and so supportive. You’ve been someone to talk to and ask questions and you share a lot of my posts from my Facebook author page. I’m so glad that I joined the Tuff Girl Legion. It’s a great group and I have so much fun there. I love posting teasers from my next book. It really helped boost my confidence to read your comments on it. As with the Flirt Squad and Rachel Harris, without the Tuff Girl Legion and Trisha Wolfe, this journey would not have been the same.
Mia Rivers, Theresa Troutman: you’ve been there to have fun with throughout this journey, too. Victoria Scott, you were one of the first people that gave me advice and the one who helped me make a decision to start a blog. (Even if you had no idea that you did, you did). To any other authors or bloggers et cetera who have been with me throughout this journey, thank you. Whether it was participating in the cover reveal for this book, posting a review of one of my first two books, hosting me for a guest post (At The Cool Table), tagging me in one of those blog hops or tagging me in the lucky seven game or sneak peek sunday, asking if you could review this book for your blog or just being there throughout the journey.
To Yulia, thank you for reading very early drafts and always giving me feedback. To Katie, Hannah, Aasma, Nicole, Shannon and Emily, thank you for listening to ideas and even reading snippets at times. Thank you for being excited about my writing. To Katie Elizabeth, thank you for all of that time spent during our free periods in high school talking about this book. We spent a lot of time talking about what might happen, which direction the book should go in and working out possible endings. Thank you for that. Even if the ending didn’t end up exactly as we discussed in eleventh grade. Thank you, really.
To Dee Little. Thank you for being supportive, hosting me on your blog and for that wonderful five star review of my first book. And to anyone else who has read one of my first two books.
To Tana, for being so enthusiastic about having a book signing at your restaurant. Thank you for everything.
To Kacey at WHUD, thank you for interviewing me on the radio station. I still can’t believe that I was interviewed on a radio station.
To Mrs. Cohen, Ms. Paressi, Ms. Sulsky, Mrs. Travis, Dr. Collins, Dr. Poe, Professor Bryant, thank you for teaching me about writing and critiquing my work. To my workshop classes, thank you, also. To Ms. Cavelleri, for being so determined to teach me how to read. Mrs. Baressi, you taught me about art as opposed to writing but you were supportive of my writing, too. And art has also become an important part of my life. To any teacher and anyone who ever took an interest in my writing, thank you.
Of course, to Tommy and Lois, for showing my mom and I how to self-publish. And for interviewing me on your blog talk radio channel.
To anyone who picks this up, writes a review, enjoys it, loves my characters, et cetera, thank you, too. It means so much to me.
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