***
Before going to acknowledgement, I would like to urge any of you who have had or is currently having suicidal thoughts to keep your local suicide hotline in your mobile phone at all times. Or those of you who have friends with suicidal tendencies. Or every each of you, really. You never know who's going to need your help.
New Zealand
National Helplines
Need to talk? Free call or text 1737 any time for support from a trained counsellor
Lifeline – 0800 543 354 (0800 LIFELINE) or free text 4357 (HELP)
Suicide Crisis Helpline – 0508 828 865 (0508 TAUTOKO)
Healthline – 0800 611 116
Samaritans – 0800 726 666
***
Writing a book is never easy, but writing this book was especially hard. Other than the fact that it deals with difficult and personal subject, the characters inside Wearing My Smile are very dear to me. I wanted them to grow as person and sometimes that growth came from a painful experience. Then I wanted them to be happy. I wanted this book to be the best version it could ever be.
Wearing My Smile would have never been done as well as it currently is without the help and support of the people around me.
Thank you to my editor and my friend, Anastasia M. Intishar, for all your help in editing and guiding me throughout the writing process. It was a roller-coaster process and I knew I got insecure sometimes but you were always patient. I adore you.
Thank you to my best friends--you know who you are--for the endless support you gave me even though I could be a jerk sometimes (most of the time). And thank you for existing in my life, really. I couldn't have gotten a better set of best friends I could call as a part of my family. You are my inspiration for Roo. You all share a part of my soul. I'm so glad we have met in this lifetime.
Thank you to all my friends who read my stories and said, "Are you kidding me right now? You call this writing of yours bad??? I'm going to punch you in the face because they're amazing goddamn you!!!" No need for hysterics y'all I'M SORRY I'M JUST FEELING INADEQUATE OKAY? HAHAHA. I love you, bye.
Lastly, all my thanks to you for reading this book till the end. It couldn't have been an easy journey, but you'd made it. I hope by the end of this book you could feel a sense of hopefulness because that's what I want.
This is not the end of the journey. Far from it. This is where you can start doing something, no matter how small. Even trying to live your life to the fullest and heal is enough. You are enough.
Be happy. Speak to someone. Give your loved ones the longest hug and tell them you love them. Tell them they deserve better things in life. Tell them they're good enough.
Love,
Anna.
YOU ARE READING
Wearing My Smile | ✔
Teen Fiction"I wondered if you'd ever thought that the name your parents had given you felt like sharp knife twisting through your heart in its prayer. I'd never asked you that before, now I'd never get to." Having been together since forever, Roo struggles in...
