by kendra Smith
Thanks to the whole of the DWLC for all the love, support, laughs, brunches, rant-y emails, and movement of crockery: to Adrienne Dines for much support and a fabulous plot idea from a chance comment; to Kerry Fisher for being such a strong voice in publishing and supporting us all; and again to the lovely Claire Dyer – and to fellow Aria author Alison Sherlock who always has an encouraging word (however, please may I have my jacket back?).
Thank you to Anne Kavanagh for the steer on PR speak; thanks to the ‘dream team’ of medical copy checking, Lucy and Richard Hartopp and to Sarah Taylor-Smith and Lisa Nugent for their help. And to midwives Rachel Clark and Melissa Kallat for reading my scenes. Also to Brilliant Beginnings Surrogacy agency, especially to Helen Prosser for advice on the surrogacy process. I have blurred some of the lines between fact and fiction for the purpose of plot in the surrogacy process, but am grateful for all the input from the agency about how the system works (details below for anyone who would like to find out more). All errors are entirely mine.
Thank you, most importantly, to my friends and all my family for your love and support and home-cooked food delivered this last year (I have eaten a lot of lasagne). To my mum and middle sister for flying down to lend moral support. And to my eldest sister Andrea who had to be ‘me’ on many occasions: school runs, taking middle son to clinic visits, packing for a ski trip, making food, making beds and making our life easier. And my darling boys, who have supported me and learnt that Mum actually does take sugar in her tea, even though she’s always told them she doesn’t. The three of you are my world.
Thank you to retired paramedic Phil, who, thankfully, heard the smash and was on the scene to help me get out of the car.
I would also not be here, quite literally, if it were not for the staff at the Royal Surrey County Hospital; grateful thanks to Mr Dinneen who opened up my foot twice: once to put in metal plates and the second time to remove them (see? I did run again). Also to the dedicated nurses at the Frensham Ward.
And last but not least, to my incredibly supportive husband who has solidly stood by my side and helped me every (wobbly) step of the way and watched as a medical team tried to rebuild his wife from head to toe. This has not been easy for either of us and I am so grateful for his love and support.
And thank you to my lovely readers, you can find me here, too:
Twitter @KendraAuthor
Facebook @kendrasmithauthor
For more information on surrogacy, please contact Brilliant Beginnings Surrogacy Agency:
www.brilliantbeginnings.co.uk
Phone: 020 7050 6875
About Kendra Smith
Kendra Smith has been a journalist, wife, mother, aerobics teacher, qualified diver and very bad cake baker. She started her career in Sydney selling advertising space but quickly made the leap to editorial – and went on to work on several women’s magazines in both Sydney and London. With dual Australian-British nationality, she currently lives in Surrey with her husband and three children.
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