I would like to thank my agent, John Silbersack, for believing in my writing and this book enough to sign me. I don’t know what I’d do without your consummate professionalism and calm, which consistently ran counter to my debut author anxiety during parts of this process. You’ve had a string of excellent support staff in your assistants and I’m so lucky to have worked with them over the past few years. Jennifer Johnson-Blalock, thanks for pulling my book out of the slush pile and putting it into John’s hands. Hannah Fergesen, thank you for helping me shape this story for submissions into something I love. (Hannibal and Will forever. We ship it.) Caitlin Meuser, thanks for answering all my ridiculous questions about the process so quickly and enthusiastically. Sometimes I think you can read my mind.
A million times thank you to my editor and champion, Bess Cozby, for loving my story and characters enough to offer this book a home at Tor Teen. I’m forever grateful for your vision, the support provided by you and the entire team at Tor, and the laughs we shared in-between all the hard work. Slay, slay, slay.
Special thanks to Nikki Katz, critique partner of dreams and stellar friend. Going through this journey in tandem with you has been a wonderful adventure filled with tears and laughter. Here’s to the unfortunate felling of many more trees in the pursuit of putting books into the hands of readers, both reluctant and voracious. Without them, we are nothing.
I would be lost without the friendship and support of the truly extraordinary Gretchen McNeil who is both an incredible mentor and cherished friend.
Writing a book is a solitary process but it doesn’t happen entirely alone in the proverbial cave. A huge amount of gratitude goes to the following people who cheered me on, offering support, friendship, laughter, and incredible notes (sometimes in real life and in person): Elle Jauffret (ma soeur), Robin Reul, Jennifer Bosworth (reality-check advisor and guru), Ara Grigorian, Jennifer Keenan, Debra Driza, Lisa Ritter Cannon, Holly McGuire, Elaine Garrett, Caroline Tyler and Amy Rose Thomas (Texas forever), Miguel Camnitzer, Edith Cohen, Julia Collard, Amy Del Rosso, Matthew MacNish, Jessica Siblaugh-Cowdin, Luvina Jean-Charles, Jenny Peterson, Rachel Harris, Stephanie Monday, Sian Preston, and the incomparable Electric 18. Much appreciation and respect to Jennifer Laughran and Eric J. Adams, my mentors at the 2011 Big Sur Writing Workshop for instilling belief in me early on and teaching me a few tricks I still keep up my sleeve.
Heartfelt thanks go to Michelle Zink and Lois Duncan (may she rest in peace) for providing thought-provoking editorial notes and encouragement simultaneously that continue to help me grow as a writer.
I’m in awe and indebted to the amazing authors who agreed to read a prepublication version of this book while their own lives and deadlines loomed: Carrie Mesrobian, Stephanie Stuve-Bodeen, Gretchen McNeil, Christa Desir, and Michelle Zink.
I can’t thank my friend Karen LaFace—a USA Olympic springboard diver in the 1992 games in Barcelona, Spain—nearly enough for reading this book and providing editorial notes on all things springboard diving. Any and all liberties taken were mine for fictional purposes.
I would be a sad and lonely recluse without my non-writing friends who meet me for happy hours and brunch, running dates, and movie nights. You know me, listen to me moan about my fears and deadlines, and still invite me to your parties. Thank you for making my life so fun and rich: Michelle Yoho, Alexandra Gerritson, Alison Stanton, Jessica Thorndike, Katy Fryer, Lorenza Tupaz, Marissa Weir, Cherry Hernandez, Megan Luce, and Kristen Fay.
Chrissy Weir, I don’t know what I would have done without the delicious, healthy meals you provided every time I ordered from Food Made Fresh during deadlines. Tammy Lawler, the world’s most awesome bartender, thanks for lifting my spirits (pun intended) every time Mike and I showed up at the bar for a pint at the end of a very long day. You rock.
Special thanks go to my parents, Vasilios and Vasiliki Kouvaros, for believing me when I told them I won a puppy in a spelling bee (sorry not sorry for lying). My love for storytelling began that day. Thanks to my extended family The Mariano, Schwalbe, Tranakas, and Brodsky clans. Look at me, still the same weirdo going against the grain that you’ve always known. There’s something to be said for consistency. And to Barbara Brodsky, my resolutely supportive mother-in-law, who always let me know she believed in me. Every single day I wish you were here to share these special moments. I know you’re proud. I know. Still, I miss you.
Thanks aren’t enough for my daughters, Zoe and Ava, who provided encouragement and cheers through revisions and deadlines, giving their thoughts on plot and characters, while eating whatever was in the house when I was too busy to cook. I hope this book makes you proud of your strange, sometimes absentee, mother.
And last but never least, all my love and thanks to my incredible, irreplaceable husband, Michael, for enthusiastically reading every single draft of this novel and offering usable, intelligent feedback. It’s nothing short of a miracle that you know me, and all my characters, so well and love me anyway. Would that it were so simple.