by Penni Russon
Huge thanks to Molly O’Neill, Mark Ury and everyone at Storybird, especially all the other Creative Partners and young people in the Storybird community who read, liked, shared and commented. I’d particularly like to thank Victoria Usova who drew Sibbi, the twins, Else, Clancy, Dave and Olly and the ghost girls for Storybird, and made them come alive for me, even before the writing began. Thanks to Sandra Eterović and Sandra Nobes for the cover of my dreams, and to Eva Mills and Hilary Reynolds for helping me reimagine a serialised story into a solid book – a bit like trying to catch a river in your hands. Thanks also to Penny Harrison, Chay Baker, Chris Miles, Lili Wilkinson, Sarah Dollard and Kate Whitfield, who either helped me solve plot problems or just asked interested questions. Thanks to Ange, Daniel, Ashleigh and all the crew at Wild Wombat, where I am writing these words. Thanks to all my Blogger, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and IRL friends for being funny and interesting and outraged and compassionate. Thanks to my family for putting up with me.
Thanks to me, for writing this book. The world might not have been waiting, but I was.
And thank you, for reading.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Penni Russon grew up in Tasmania and now lives in a house built by a drama teacher in the foothills of the Kinglake Ranges – Wurundjeri country. She lives with her partner, three kids and a schnauzer called Swoosie.