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THANK YOU.

6/18/2015

4 Comments

 
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I want to mark today's ebook  release of my debut novel TRUST with gratitude for all of the support & encouragement I received journeying to this moment! I'm so insanely grateful this day has come. 

So in this blog, I am sharing my Thank You-s (which are also known as the Author's Acknowledgements section) which can be found inside of book. :)

THANK YOU
A decade ago, I had a conversation that changed my life. I was in NYC, having brunch with my genius playwright friend, Zohar Tirosh. I confided to her that I’d had a re-occurring weird flash of a vision in my head of a librarian climbing a strange spiral staircase.

“I want to know where she is going and what she’s looking for,” I told her.

“So write it, Jodi,” she said seriously, as if she believed that I could.  “Write it and find out.”

Ten years, many miles, drafts, and doorways later, I’d like to acknowledge her and all of the people who said: “Yes, you can”. Thank you Zohar Tirosh-Polk, Jamie Azevedo, Mike Melkovic, Terrace Yeats, James Babson, Gina Arizpe, Cristina Gavin, Megan Bauer, Olivia Osby, Marilyn Kresge, Kathleen Kaufman, Melanie Elms, Gretchen Berg, Jen Berg, Aaron Harberts, Scott Director, Sascha Alexander, Courtney Greene, Tim Cummings, Tamara Braun, and my sister, Holly Baker-Johnson.

I’d like to thank my parents, Nancy and Orlando Baker, who took me to the library every single week when I was growing up. Surprisingly, since they were both teachers, they never pushed me to be an academic centurion.  Instead, they gave me the freedom to try and become the artist I wanted to be.

Thank you Harry Oosterom, my incredible grandfather, who supported me in so many amazing ways and told me he was proud of me no matter what.

I would like all of the Gods in the multiverse to bless Tatum Crigger, my BFF and artistic soul-mate, who lovingly read, critiqued, and cheered every single draft - really, every single word - I wrote. Thank you for the many times when, on dark days, you repeated the title of my own book to me, reminding me to: “TRUST.”

Thank you to my agent, Andrea Somberg, who read my original draft in one night and called to tell me she loved it. While she was editing my book with discerning eyes and an unbelievably perceptive ear, she would email me the most terrifyingly wonderful questions, like: “What would happen if most of the story took place in NYC?”  I’m glad I always answered: “I’ll write it and find out!”

Thank you to Miranda Spigener-Sapon, PR-Goddess and queen of making the seemingly impossible, possible!

Thank you Lino Azevedo, for the brilliant and beautiful cover of TRUST.

Thank you to all of the breathtakingly magical (and patient) artistic and academic teachers I’ve had, especially at Walnut Hill School of the Arts. Great teachers make information sing in the hearts and minds of their students. I’m grateful I had so many. Also - thank you, my fellow ‘Walnuts’. Non Nobis Solum (Not for ourselves alone), always and forever.

I have to thank those incredible writers - some of whom I’ve spoken to and most of whom I only ever met on a page - whose stories changed me: Madeline L’Engle, Norton Juster, Maya Angelou, J.D. Salinger, Laura Ingalls Wilder, Toni Morrison, Raymond Carver, Laini Taylor, L.M. Montgomery, Zilpha Keatley Snyder, Lois Lowry, Julia Cameron, Joseph Campbell, Andrew Lang, Louise Fitzhugh, Lewis Carroll, Susan Ee, C.S. Lewis, Maud Hart Lovelace, Noel Streatfeild, E.L. Konigsburg, Tom Robbins, Maurice Sendak, Holly Black, Neil Gaiman, Kelley Armstrong, Terry Pratchett, William Golding, Marion Zimmer Bradley, Sara Beth Durst, L. Frank Baum, Suzanne Collins, Jon Skovron, Justine Larbalestier, Ntozake Shange, Eva Ibbotson, Ray Bradbury, Garth Nix, Megan Whalen Turner, Phillip Pullman, J.K. Rowling, Maria Dzielska, Sandra Cisneros, Don Freeman, E. Nesbit, Paulo Coelho, Adriana Trigiani, and so many, many more.

When I was a kid, the faces of children’s librarians in my hometown lit up whenever I walked in the library. They showed me that being a librarian is the noblest of professions. No matter what a person is looking for, a librarian will do anything and everything to help you find it, without knowing why you need it. They just assume that if you ask, it’s important. They believe in the pursuit of knowledge and dedicate their lives to organizing and protecting information so that it is accessible to all.

Thank you Librarians, everywhere, for all that you do.

Thank you to Freddy, the love of my life. I knew he was extraordinary the moment I met him. Like Cax, he always miraculously shows up where and when I need him  (and want him) most. He always bets on me - even when things are not obviously in my favor. Thank you for inspiring, supporting, and sharing this experience with me. My love, I want to hold hands with you forever, through every step of each journey we take towards becoming more solidly ourselves.

My last - but definitely not least - acknowledgement is for you, the reader:

Thank you for turning my dream into a reality. 

Thank you for reading my book.
To get your ebook of TRUST today:

KINDLE/AMAZON:
http://www.amazon.com/Jodi-Baker/e/B00ZV3VR4E/ref=ntt_dp_epwbk_0


NOOK/Barnes & Noble
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/trust-jodi-baker/1121638684


IPAD/
https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/trust/id980383095?mt=11
4 Comments
Zohar Tirosh-Polk
6/18/2015 02:22:22 am

You wrote it and found out! And we are all enriched by it. CONGRATULATIONS! Thrilled for you and inspired by you. Huge love.

Reply
Jodi baker
6/18/2015 04:34:33 pm

Zohar. You just made me cry. Such happy grateful tears. Thank you for believing dear magical wonderful friend.❤️

Reply
Jamie Azevedo
6/18/2015 02:12:13 pm

Grateful for your perseverance and incredible mind. Looking forward to reading many, many more of your books. Love to you!

Reply
Jodi baker
6/18/2015 04:36:18 pm

Jamie: thank you for all your love & space holding. You helped me see ways out of no ways so many times. Love you so much.❤️

Reply



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