Readers and friends, today is a very special day.

Today is my friend and editor’s BIRTHDAY!

I hadn’t yet met Danielle Ellison a year ago, but in the eleven months I’ve known her she has LITERALLY changed my life. She saw something in me and my writing that I hadn’t been able to get anyone else to see and took a chance on my work. The first in the industry to do so. Only by a few seconds since Patricia Riley jumped on the wagon pretty quickly, but still. (If you haven’t read the story of how I sold Sing Sweet Nightingale to Spencer Hill, go read it. You’ll see what I mean) More than that, Danielle has become a incredibly dear friend and has introduced me to so many other people I can’t imagine my life without now.

This girl is full of wisdom and insight and ideas and she’s helping me dive into a world I’ve been trying to break into for years. Years, people. Danielle and her co-editor Patricia saw potential in my mess of a manuscript and also saw how to pull a story out of it I didn’t even realize was there. They’ve helped me refine my vision and are chiseling away at my talent to make me better than I ever could have been without them. Their faith that I can survive this process is a lot of what keeps me going sometimes. I adore them both for it.

Danielle is funny, smart, blunt, and passionate. She’s talented and devoted to the things she believes in. She’s also an obsessive fangirl, which is probably one of the many reasons we get along so well!

Go find her on Twitter and wish her a happy birthday if you haven’t already!

Love you, Danielle! <3