This book has been in the works for a long-ass time. Earl and Emma first met in a college playwriting class, so thank you to Antioch College, and to all the fabulous professors I met while I was a student there. Thank you too to Jessica Wallis, who during that same period of time took that fateful road trip with me that landed us in the Badlands and the Black Hills. Perhaps we would have had more energy for hiking if we had eaten something other than pancakes?
While the inspiration for the book began in college, the first draft came to life at Emerson College, where I had the privilege to work with Jessica Treadway and Christopher Tilghman. Special thanks to my good friend and fellow grad student Eric Mulder, who believed in the book way back when.
Thank you to the members of the Yellow Springs Writers’ Group and the Quarry Hollow Writers’ Retreat. Thank you to the Antioch Writers’ Workshop and Tin House Summer Workshop. Special thanks to the Ohio Arts Council, which not only offered me a grant but also introduced me to the Fine Arts Work Center in Provincetown, Massachusetts. Thanks to Tom Jenks and Narrative Magazine. Thank you to Pam Houston for introducing me to Writing by Writers and the talented Christian Kiefer. Mary Carroll Moore, I am indebted to you for your wise editorial comments and for sharing your own inspiring work with me. I am forever grateful to Debbie Phipps Pretzel Chips for telling me it was time to leap.
Thanks to Antioch College, the Miami Valley School, and the Moses Brown School. These institutions believed in me when I’m pretty sure I knew nothing at all about writing, teaching, or leadership. I owe a great deal to my students, who have taught me about who I want to be—in particular, Rafael Torch, whose ferocity and talent will always inspire me. You are missed. Thank you to Eli Nettles, who always calls me out when I’m being a “titty baby,” and to the text string Dermit for making me take life less seriously. To Michelle Martello, Annie Branning, and Katrina Kittle for never giving up on this book. To my parents, my little brother, the Wallis family, and the town of Yellow Springs. You raised me to believe that the life of an artist was well worth pursuing.
I am grateful to Dawn Tripp, who helped me find my fierce and supportive agent, Kimberly Witherspoon, and equally thankful to Kim, who connected me with my editor at MCD, Daphne Durham, who, with the help of Lydia Zoells, has shaped this book into something I am really proud of.
And, most of all, gratitude and love to my spouse, Daniel Meiser. My home will always be with you. And to my daughters—Violet Hays (ten) and The Wilde Beast (eight), who are already the strongest, funniest, smartest young women I know. Be unstoppable.