Dear Imaginary Reader,

Someone asked recently asked me who had I written Blue on the Horizon for, and I froze. You see, every author wants to think that a wide audience will love their story, but that just isn’t possible. I managed to squeak out the word, female before she fired the next question at me. I felt horrible because I know exactly who I wrote Blue for.

She’s 13 years old, with a crazy swirl of hair known as a cowlick in the wrong location on her head. It makes sure she never, ever, has a good hair day, but she doesn’t care, well, not much.

I know she’s a loner, but rarely feels lonely. She’s had friends, and maybe even has a one or two right now, but she’s been hurt by friendships going bad before so she’s not shopping for more.

I know she’s intelligent, but she tries to hide it from her classmates. I’m sure she loves science, and she finds geology fascinating, but she wants to be an astronomer.

I know she has a pet, but I don’t know what species. It could be a cat, or a dog, or even a chicken, but I hope it’s a tortoise. I know she tells her pet all about her day, and she’s certain it will never share her secrets with anyone.

I know some of her classmates think she’s weird, and it hurts her feelings even though she knows from their perspective it is true.

You see, I know a lot about the person I wrote Blue on the Horizon for, but I’ve never met her.

I also know she’s a year older now, maybe even at a new school. I know she has found another friend who loves science as much as she does, and that together they can recite the periodic table forward and backward to some silly song they made up over the holiday break.

I hope she gained strength from Gaven’s story. After all, if someone so weird can find acceptance, she can too, and that is why I’m pouring my soul onto paper. To tell her that being called weird is perhaps the greatest compliment she will ever receive.

Finally, I know she expects a more sophisticated story from book two of the Legends of the Aurora, and I’m doing my best to deliver. My young reader will welcome back a few old friends, but new characters and perils await her in every chapter. Hang in there kid, I’m working as fast as I can.

Postscript: What I didn’t expect was a fan base of woman, well past the gawky stages of my imaginary reader. I’ve thought about this a lot. My conclusion is that we all remember that stage. I’m pleased that I could bring those emotions to the page is so visceral a manner. I know that I see myself in Gaven, maybe you will too.