by Heidi Lang
“Anyhow,” he continued, flashing Lailu a brilliant smile like she hadn’t just been yelling at him, “the quest is officially completed, and I have a perfect record.”
“That’s great.” Lailu found herself smiling back. Vahn had a perfect record, thanks to her help. Master Slipshod was back. Business was booming. She felt like she was on top of the world and everything was going her way for once. Until she glanced down, her eyes falling on Vahn’s newspaper. On the front page, a headline jumped out at her: Gregorian LaSilvian Single-Handedly Hunts Mountain Dragon, Serves Best Dragon Cuisine Ever!
Lailu scowled and turned on her heel.
“Where are you going?” Vahn called after her.
“To the kitchen,” she called back. “I have some serious work to do!” Best dragon cuisine ever, she thought to herself irritably. She’d show him!
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
It would be easy to fill another book with all the people we have to thank, so we’ll try to keep it brief. But we’d especially like to thank Jennifer Azantian, who has been a tireless champion for our book, and her team, Ben Baxter and Masha Gunic, for being some of Lailu’s first fans. Thank you all for pulling Lailu’s story out of the slush and fighting to find her the perfect home. We’re so happy to be part of Team Azantian.
Another huge thank you to Sarah McCabe and Fiona Simpson, who are two of the best editors a master chef could hope to work with. Our story is a hundred times better thanks to you both.
Also thanks to Angela Li for our amazing cover illustration, and Nina Simoneaux and Karin Paprocki for the cover design. And thank you to everyone else at Aladdin who left their mark on this book: our publisher Mara Anastas and deputy publisher Mary Marotta; Carolyn Swerdloff and Catherine Hayden in marketing; Christina Pecorale and the rest of the Simon & Schuster sales team; our production editor, Katherine Devendorf; and our publicist, Audrey Gibbons. Truly, we are so grateful to all of you.
Lailu and her story had quite a journey before finding a home at Aladdin, and we were privileged to meet many wonderful writers along the way. We would not be where we are now without the help of Stephanie Garber, whose endless enthusiasm and suggestions brought our manuscript to a whole new level; Teresa “word slasher” Yea, who taught us so much about pacing and is the reason this book isn’t seven hundred pages long; Sarah Glenn Marsh, whose keen insight helped us shift our story in the right direction and who is always ready to share cute dog pics when needed; and Alan Wehrman, who read our manuscript multiple times over with endless patience and eagle eyes.
Also, so much thanks to the rest of our critique group: Miles Zarathustra, Colleen Smith, Meg Mehagian, and Joan McMillan, who have been with us since the beginning. You guys are the best.
We also want to thank a couple of writers who have been our biggest cheerleaders and supporters as we navigated this road. Thank you so much, Jae Dansie, who we met at our first ever writing conference—someday we’ll moderate a panel together! And Brian Taylor, who always knew the best way to cheer us up and keep us going. Justin Stewart, thank you for your enthusiastic support. Also thanks to Liz Briggs—#TeamBriggs forever—and Krista Van Dolzer. Your encouragement has meant more than we can say. And thanks to Ally Carter for being our debut mentor, and the rest of the 2017 debut authors who have been with us, sharing personal experiences and information as we navigate this winding path together.
Also an enormous thank you to all our friends who have cheered us on over the years, including Takeshi Young—we’ve never forgotten our early days of DMQ; April Stearns, Moana Whipple, and Becky Dickson—it’s been a joy and a privilege to share writing time with you ladies; thank you to Conor Driscoll—love the website! And to Nate Boltseridge and Scott Grabowski, for putting us up during our first writing conference. And to everyone who read our early drafts and encouraged us to keep going, including Kim Kauffold, Jennifer Flinn, and Julianne Dunn. Also a huge thank you to Mitch Berman—it was in your classroom that one half of this duo realized she not only wanted to be a writer, but that it was an actual possibility.
And last but not least, we owe so much to our supportive family, but especially thank you to Lyn Lang—glad to be the “wordsmith” in your family; our cousin Christy Buncic, who was willing to slog through our early drafts; Rosi Reed, our very own resident mad scientist and older sister; our dad, Rich Bartkowski, for reading everything we ever write and always, always giving us positive feedback; and our mom, Rose Bartkowski, for being so encouraging every step of the way. And thank you to Nick “Title Master” Chen and Sean Lang, our partners in everything. You are the reason this dream has been possible.
And to everyone else who has offered us support and encouragement on this long, long trek, thank you. This one’s for you.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Photograph of authors copyright © by Portia Shao with Positive Vista Photography & Art
Heidi Lang (right) & Kati Bartkowski (left) are a writing team of two sisters with twenty years of experience in judo. Heidi likes to fling food across her stove while attempting to cook new dishes, and Kati enjoys trying new cuisine at fancy restaurants. Between the two of them, they love creating characters that kick butt both inside and outside the kitchen.
Aladdin
SIMON & SCHUSTER, NEW YORK
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This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real places are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and events are products of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or places or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
ALADDIN
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First Aladdin hardcover edition July 2017
Text copyright © 2017 by Heidi Lang and Kati Bartkowski
Jacket illustration copyright © 2017 by Angela Li
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Jacket designed by Karin Paprocki
Jacket designed by Nina Simoneaux
Book designed by Nina Simoneaux
The text of this book was set in Adobe Caslon Pro.
This book has been cataloged with the Library of Congress.
ISBN 978-1-4814-7793-2 (hc)
ISBN 978-1-4814-7794-9 (eBook)
