My world is made fuller because of stories. They center and ground me. As a reader, they take me into places and spaces I might never visit. They introduce me to characters and people I might not otherwise meet. Stories connect me to pasts, presents and futures in ways that allow me to feel, imagine and reflect. My life is made richer because of stories and the people who read, share, write, encourage, remember and live them.
My first storyteller was my mother. Thanks to you and your pursuit of your own dreams and Lorraine, my beautiful, talented, rock star of a sister, I know that boundaries are imaginary. You were my first readers and listeners too. Growing up, I told and retold long, winding stories that I loved falling into. Thank you both for listening and encouraging and for cheering, imagining and reimagining with me then and for cheering, imagining and reimagining with me now.
Much of writing is solitary but so much of Curdle Creek is made possible because of the support of others. Amira, Marat and Noah, thank you all for listening to my stories and for supporting my pursuit of my passion for them, for waking me up so I could write in the early hours of the morning and for believing in what I do and why I do it. You all empower me to imagine and inspire me to hope for a brighter tomorrow. You all lead me home.
Thank you to my niece and nephews and to my father for your joy. And special thanks to my family, extended and otherwise, blood and not, living and deceased. I write because of you. I was often surprised while writing Curdle Creek. Characters were doing unexpected things in unexpected ways. There seemed to be no end to the harms they were willing to inflict on other characters. No end to the things they were willing to do to survive. My dear friends kept me grounded during the writing. While I was writing about characters capable of hurting one another, I was nourished by friendships that have survived years, life and miles. Wanda Hawkins, Candace Hantouche, Peace Toleito and Naomi Kruger, I appreciate your friendship, support, advice and laughter.
Thank you to friend and fellow writer Peter Kalu for inviting me to write a piece for Shots in the Dark, a crime fiction anthology published by Commonword. That’s when I first met Osira (then named Riley), her best friend Mae and the eerie town of Curdle Creek. And thank you for the invitation to be in the next anthology. That commission gave me the opportunity to revisit the town and to dig a bit deeper into their story. Writer Conor O’Callaghan, years ago you recommended I write a book set both in the US and the UK. I was then, and still am now, thinking about home and where it is. Your advice led me to explore home on both sides of the pond.
While individuals provided support, so did the wider writing community. I was able to use part of my time as a British Library Eccles Centre Fellow to research the Tulsa Race Massacre and the Red Summer of 1919. Some of these horrific events are imagined in Curdle Creek. Thanks to funding from Sheffield Hallam University I was able to attend the Kimbilio Fellowship. The fellowship felt like a returning. Being back in the United States for a short time allowed me to remember the kindness of strangers and how good people can be even during times of political uncertainty.
Thank you to New Writing North for your continued support and to writing groups that kept me company through the editing process. My 5:55 a.m. writing group, thanks for saying yes! to early morning writing and joining me in starting my days doing something that I love. I’ve been editing while joining writing sessions hosted by Torch Literary Arts, the London Writers Salon, and Sisters in Crime. Thank you all for the space and community you create.
Where would Osira be without my wonderful agent? A special thanks to Elise Dillsworth for supporting this book in all of its forms. Your editorial eye is appreciated as is your patience and support for my writing. I appreciate your encouragement to follow my creativity and curiosity wherever it leads. Curdle Creek is in good hands and, again, you’ve found the perfect publishers to bring it to readers. Thank you to Sharmaine Lovegrove. I appreciate your enthusiasm for Curdle Creek, Osira, Mother and the residents that make Curdle Creek their home. Thank you for the space to tell this story in its many twists and turns. Thank you to Michelle Brower of Trellis Literary Management for your keen editorial insight.
I’ve also been fortunate to have wonderful editors who could recognize what I was trying to do in Curdle Creek as a draft and whose feedback strengthened the story. Hannah Chukwu and Retha Powers: your belief, enthusiasm and expertise have been everything. Thanks for believing in Osira, Curdle Creek and in me. It was also a special treat to work with Linda McQueen on copy edits. Your attention to detail is superb and I appreciate your insights. I’m extremely fortunate to have an amazing team of copy editors, assistant editors, publicists, marketers and more supporting Curdle Creek.
Thank you to the many writers who have shaped me and to the many libraries that have fed my imagination.
Finally, thank you to you. I appreciate your being on this journey with me. I’m looking forward to where it takes us.