The Valentines: The Valentine Files: Thankful Version

Hi sweet readers!

Yesterday was the American Thanksgiving, and as we Vals nommed turkey and dressing and embarrassing amounts of pie, we wept with thankfulness. (We also may have wept because we can no longer fit into our skinny jeans but whatevs. THAT IS SO NOT IMPORTANT.;D)

In this epic year of 2014 . . .

we Vals have SO much to be thankful for. Why? BECAUSE THIS YEAR OUR DREAMS OF BECOMING A PUBLISHED AUTHOR CAME TRUE.

How we feel whenever we see our books in the wild…:)
Not kidding.

We are all so incredibly grateful that our agents took a chance on us… and our editors . . . and our publishing houses . . . but most of all, we're grateful for you, sweet readers! We're thankful that you chose to pick up our books out of the ~~hundreds~~ thousands on the YA shelves, and we're thankful you took a chance on a new author. We're thankful you read our stories and shared them with others, and we're so, so grateful for your support.

WE LOVE YOU.

We're also incredibly grateful for each other. In your honor, we got together and cracked open the Valentine files to give you a little extra insight into our characters. (We're also eating virtual pie in your honor because we're all about you.:D)

Ready? Here's our question:

What is your character thankful for at the start of the novel…and what is he/she thankful for at the end?

Kristi Helvig, BURN OUT:

At the beginning of the novel, 17-yo Tora is just grateful to be alive in a world where most have died. By the end of the novel, she's still grateful to be alive but she's even more grateful to know that she's no longer alone.

Amy Rolland, OF BREAKABLE THINGS:

At the beginning of the novel, Alex is thankful for death. At the end, Alex is thankful (ironically) for life, for a second chance, and for Chase.

Bethany Crandell, SUMMER ON THE SHORT BUS:

At the start of the novel, Cricket is thankful for good cell service. At the end, she’s thankful for an uncomfortable summer.

Kristen Lippert-Martin, TABULA RASA:

At the start of TABULA RASA, Sarah is grateful for forgetting and at the end, she's grateful for remembering.

Lynne Matson, NIL:

At the start of NIL, Charley is grateful for basic necessities like clothes and food. At the end, Charley is thankful to have contributed something meaningful to help those trapped on Nil, she's thankful to have a chance to live without an expiration date, and she's thankful that she found her soul mate . . . even if Nil won't let Charley keep him.

Bethany Hagen, LANDRY PARK:

At the beginning of LANDRY PARK, Madeline is thankful for almost everything about her life. But by the end she is thankful that she was able to learn to see past it and find the truth.

Lindsay Cummings, THE MURDER COMPLEX:

At the start of TMC, Meadow and Zephyr are thankful for enough food to survive on. At the end...they're not feeling very thankful at all.

Philip Siegel, THE BREAK-UP ARTIST:

Becca is thankful at the beginning for being single, and by the end she's grateful for her best friend.

Sara B. Larson, DEFY:

At the beginning of DEFY Alexa is grateful for anonymity, to be hidden in plain sight, but by the end she is grateful to be truly seen.

Paula Stokes, THE ART OF LAINEY:

Lainey starts out thankful for her industrial flat iron and smoking hot boyfriend. She finishes the book thankful she has not gone bald from all of the flat ironing, and also for her true friends and even more smoking hot new boyfriend :)

Jaye Robin Brown, NO PLACE TO FALL:

At the beginning of the novel, Amber is thankful for her best friend, Devon, because he keeps her life from being complete drudgery. At the end, she's thankful for him and a whole lot more but telling would be spoilery! :)

Anne Blankman, PRISONER OF NIGHT AND FOG:

At the beginning of PRISONER OF NIGHT AND FOG, Gretchen's grateful for her friendship with her honorary "Uncle Dolf"--aka Adolf Hitler. By the novel's end, she's incredibly grateful that she's seen through him.

Sara Raasch, SNOW LIKE ASHES:

At the beginning of SNOW LIKE ASHES, Meira is thankful for her chakram and any food that isn't something she had to scavenge in the prairie lands where she lives with the other Winterian refugees.

At the end of SNOW LIKE ASHES, Meira is thankful to BE one of the Winterian refugees, instead of one of the Winterians enslaved in a Spring work camp. She comes to be thankful for a number of other things that border on spoiler-land, so the only other thing I'll say is that she becomes very, very aware of how good her life was -- and how much better it could still be.

Jen McConnel, DAUGHTER OF CHAOS: