This book went through a number of transformations as I tried to dig out its heart and uncover its true face. It wasn’t easy. I will never forget the insightful, lightbulb-blazing question my editor, Elise Howard, asked me when we met at a café on Bleecker Street to talk about one of the many foggy drafts of this book. Without her, I never would have found my way out of the fog. My agent, Michael Bourret, assured me, again and again, that there was a light at the end of this tunnel of rewriting and revising and he never once let me forget it. Without his unwavering confidence in me and his wise guidance, I would never have made it this far in my career.
Thank you to the whole Algonquin Young Readers team, my publishing home, especially: Sarah Alpert, Kristen Bianco, Jacquelynn Burke, Jodie Cohen, Caitlin Humphrey, Krestyna Lypen, Ashley Mason, Michael McKenzie, Craig Popelars, Caitlin Rubinstein, Travis Smith, Carla Weise, and Laura Williams. Thank you to Kieryn Ziegler, Lauren Abramo, the team at Dystel, Goderich & Bourret, and Dana Spector at Paradigm Agency. Thank you for the sharp copyedits of Elizabeth Johnson and proofreading by Dan Janeck, and the gorgeous art and cover design by Sarah J. Coleman.
Thank you to the Corporation of Yaddo, who may recognize the furniture. I’ll admit that the seeds of this story were found during a residency in West House. Significant pieces of this book were also written at the Writers Room in New York City, Think Coffee on Mercer Street, the Merchant Hotel in Salem, Massachusetts, and the Highlights Foundation.
These people gave me moments of light when I needed it, and I hope I can do the same for them: Will Alexander, Elana K. Arnold, Bree Barton, Gerry Bello, Libba Bray, Phillip Brigham, Martha Brockenbrough, Amy Rose Capetta, Jess Capelle, Alison Cherry, Kara Lee Corthron, Marie Miranda Cruz, Echo Eggebrecht, Rebekah Faubion, Stephanie Feldstein, Melissa Fisher, Stephanie Garber, David Macinnis Gill, Alex Grizinski, Michelle Hodkin, Holly Hughes, Trevor Ingerson, Kelly Jensen, Varian Johnson, Jeanne Kay, Margot Knight, Uma Krishnaswami, Stephanie Kuehnert, Justine Larbalestier, Eileen Lawrence, Christine H. Lee, Jacqui Lipton, Samantha Mabry, Kekla Magoon, Cori McCarthy, Diana Mikhail, Phoebe North, Jilana Ordman, Micol Ostow, Emily X.R. Pan, Lilliam Rivera, Laura Ruby, Selah Saterstrom, Liz Garton Scanlon, Cynthia Leitich Smith, Cristin Stickles, Erin Swan, Mandy Sue, Courtney Summers, Linda Urban, Daiana Vargas, and Aaron Zimmerman and the Tuesday Night Workshop. Thanks to my VCFA advisees, my fellow VCFA faculty, the program staff at Djerassi and my beloved Djerassi writers, especially those of you still with me from the beginning.
Thank you to my family, always unwavering in their support: Laurel Rose and Dan; Josh and Kristin; Shawnee; Marc; and most of all, my incredible mother, Arlene Seymour, who used to wander the streets of New York with hair to her waist and suede boots to her knees.
At the center of the writing storm, and during my foggiest and most lost, there’s been my lifelong love, Erik, who shared the past twenty-one years in New York City with me, all because I refused to live anywhere else. I may have cried the day we let go of the keys to our tiny Village shoebox and said good-bye to the city only months after finishing this book, but with him at my side, I know that wherever we end up, it will be home.