I’M GRATEFUL TO MY most intelligent, lovely, and loyal agent, Jane Gelfman, whose encouragement keeps me going. To the smart and savvy Jill Schwartzman, an author couldn’t ask for a better editor—throughout every aspect of publication, Jill helped come up with The Best Laid Plans. Caitlin Alexander stepped in, seamlessly, to helm this project with grace, great ideas, and enthusiasm. Many thanks to publisher Libby McGuire and associate publisher Kim Hovey for their endless energy and spirited support. And to the gang at Ballantine who helped turn these pages of words into a book: assistant editor Rebecca Shapiro, cover designer Lynn Andreozzi, interior designer Mary Wirth, production editor Crystal Velasquez, and copy editor Michael D. Aisner. Thank you publicists Katie Rudkin and Lisa Barnes; and Quinn Rogers and Kristin Fassler from the marketing department—it’s thanks to you that readers have found their way to these pages.
Thanks to Eliot Spitzer for inadvertently creating a scandal, which led to a million details about the call-girl business that I was able to garner from daily news stories. Insight and information also came from rereading the witty and wily Sidney Biddle Barrows’s Mayflower Madam. Less controversial facts about the world’s most dangerous professions and footwear came from The General Book of Ignorance. Many thanks to my friend, emergency room doctor Pamela Arsove, for information about heart attacks (and her great cakes). To Rosanne Kang for suggestions about the look of the book and for being Rosanne. To that haven, the Writers Room, where most of this book was written. My most beloved niece Lori Edelman’s marriage to the wonderful Dejay Clayton inspired the Hawaiian wedding scene. Dr. Fredric Brandt is a real dermatologist and I count myself lucky to be his patient—as “Dr. B.” in the book he finds himself in a fictional situation, but everything else I say about him is true.
My mother, Marian Edelman (who is nothing like Naomi, the mother of my protagonist), is nevertheless an inspiration. She, my honorary mom Julia Levy, and my “Aunt Marcia” Kirshner, are my biggest cheerleaders.
Friends, too numerous to name, know who they are. I am grateful for their love, support, and patience—thank you, all, for putting up with me.