Some New Trend

At the risk of repeating everything Carrie said, I’d like to say a big “Thanks” to:

FAMILY. My Mom, who would set aside time at work to read the latest chapter, and then always call to tell me she loved it. My Dad and Jo-z, who anticipated listening to all of our homespun podcasts. To Christy, Bill, Alyse, Adalin, Justin, Melissa, and everyone in my extended family – I’ll always appreciate your infinite support. I could’ve sought out doing something more lucrative with my life, but even after chasing wild and seemingly unattainable career ambitions, none of you have provided anything but encouragement and validation. I’m also glad that none of you seemed to worry whenever I threw in the occasional dirty joke or swear word.

SNT STAFF. Thanks for remaining dedicated and making our project ten times cooler. Drea Zacharenko — we met shortly before all of this and I couldn’t have been happier with the site, stickers, and press kits. John Yam — receiving your illustrations was like unwrapping a Christmas gift every week, except that you never gave us an ugly sweater or pair of ankle socks. I was thinking we could get matching Will Sharp tattoos. Move back to Alabama and we’ll talk about it. Jason Slatton – it was tough to get around to editing when subjects such as the new Ray Davies solo effort demanded serious attention and nerd-out time. Back when you compiled the “SMiLE” recording sessions for me at Jonathan Benton, I confess, one of the bigger platonic crushes in history from one heterosexual male to another began to develop. Thanks for your edits, advice, and much thanks for aiding me with writing and educational endeavors. And Cary Norton (or should I say Delores?) – you’ve done a great deal more than can be listed on a blog post, but to start, I’m glad we share a work space, and I wish I could be there to distract you more. You’re really good at board games, but you should practice lobstering more often if you plan on staying up-to-par with your competitors. Sean Kirby and Seth Newell – our first idea was to recruit some Red Bull girls, but you were cheaper. Just less hot. Truthfully though, you were a great promotional team. Plus you knew how to operate a video camera. And you did other stuff, only it’s all too illegal and unethical to mention.

FRIENDS. There’s more of you than the people listed below, so I’ll try to cover the friends that told me they were reading, along with a handful that were around as the project developed. Here we go: Matt Binnie, Renee Boucher, Jarrod and Stacy Allen, Kipp and Jesse Williams, David and Anna Carrigan, Van and Sarah Newell (a lot of thanks here for education assistance), Matt and Jessica Parsons, Aaron and Amanda Lane, Helen Harris, Garret Simpson, Andrea Northen, Alan Barton, Dallas and Allison Taylor, Elisa Munoz, Jenna Lyle, Stephanie Masters, Stefanie Tubbs, Brandon and Brooke Ballard, Jessica Jones, Amy LaRue, Jeanette Brabston, Olivia Keaggy, Sarah Moorad, Firekid and Meg McClung, Steven Lambert, David Smith, Evan and Chrissy Labit, Brooke Yeah, Elise and Mark LaGory, Daniel Kirby, Jenn Edgar, Sarah Schmidt, Claire Cormany, Jamie and Tammy Harper, Tiffany Fuller, Taylor Gonzales, Meghan Ellie Smith, Krista Montelpare, Watermark, Shades Valley Community Church, Crestline Starbucks & Urban Standard coffeemakers, BiciCoop, Underoath, April Cover, REAX, former bandmates, old and new coworkers (Amy Miranda, Tatanka, Matt Allen, AJ Roach, others from Daily Cup/JBB, Fly Bar & Restaurant, Urban Outfitters, etc.). And to any other readers that’ve found their way to the site – you’ll forever be our friends too.

CARRIE ROLLWAGEN. You’ve been my neighbor, boss, coworker, barista, reading peer, nurse, personal chef, therapist, scooter advisor, and writing partner. We’ve written a couple other novels (and screenplays!) in close proximity over the years. In the spirit of tight deadlines and taking on more than you can handle, you came up with the concept of writing a book together to share with others for free. The night before April 6th I couldn’t sleep. While Josh was nervous about establshing contact with Bryanna, I was nervous about establishing contact with our audience. Would anyone read the thing? Would they like it? Surely they’d think we had serious issues. And didn’t we, though? You calmed my nerves and helped me go through with it, and made it easier even when it was hard. You’re a hard worker, talented writer, but more than any of the roles I’ve listed you’re a great friend.

Now that I most certainly sound like a big ol’ weepy-eyed pantywaist…

SOMEONE. Anyone. Please give us money.

Kevin and I decided to use our last couple of review posts as kind of an acknowledgements and thank you section of our book in preparation for next Monday’s final chapter, so here goes:

Thanks, of course, to all of our readers and listeners. You’ll never really know how much your encouragement means. Thanks to friends who’ve listened to me talk endlessly about this project, especially those of you who have become regular readers and even contributors. Jennifer Edgar has always been the first to offer a compliment, and has helped with advice and editing. John White has continually reminded me to be true to our characters, and has offered great plot and dialogue assistance whenever I asked. Elisa Munoz has been available to listen to my rants day and—probably too often—night. Cary Norton has saved us from technical disaster on more than one occasion, and Stephanie Masters has always come through with comments and fan support.

I’d like to thank my family—my parents, Mike and Susan, my sister Courtenay, and Blaine Lautner, specifically—for supporting this project from the first chapter. Thanks to Jennifer Gorman, Jennifer Crabb, and Wendy Hiers for making my own high school years bearable and providing the inspiration for Stephanie, June, and Bryanna.

I really can’t say enough about the collaborative team that helped make Some New Trend a reality. Seth Newell, your video was brilliant, a lot of fun, and got the project off to a great start, and your organization of our launch party—with a lot of help from Sean Kirby—made the event fun and successful. Drea Zacharenko, I couldn’t ask for a better designer. Your commitment to incorporating our ideas and the heart of our story into a lovely and easy to navigate design provided the structure we needed to support us over the next several months. Jason Slatton, I miss our editing sessions already, and not just because of the Al’s. You taught us so much about writing and about story, and I know your influence on our writing will live long past this blog. John Yam—your illustrations complemented our chapters better than I ever could have imagined, and were like a gift each and every week. They added so much to our project, and I can’t thank you enough.

Finally, to Kevin. You’ve been professional, flexible, and supportive. From your very first line, I’ve been amazed at the quality of writing you’ve produced every week. Thank you for always being available when I needed advice, always meeting your deadlines, always being willing to pitch in when I was busy or sick. Thank you for your excellent edits and ideas for character development. I couldn’t have asked for a better writing partner. I’m so glad we made this crazy idea a reality.

Some dogs like to eat homework … ours likes to give it away. Just comment on this post and let us know what you think of Some New Trend (or anything, really), and we’ll put your name in the Dog Bowl of Magic and Literature. Juanita picks a new name each week, so you’ll have a new chance to win every Friday.

This week’s giveaway is Taken By Storm by Angela Morrison. Forbidden romance! Deep sea diving! Mormons! Need we say more?

The winner of last week’s giveaway, TMI, is … Krista! Send an email to info@somenewtrend with your mailing address, and we’ll get your book in the mail soon.

If you’ve won a book but haven’t received it yet, be sure to let us know. Resend your address and we’ll double check the outgoing mail.