You know that saying, it takes a village to raise a child? I’ve got no idea if that’s true, but I can tell you that it definitely takes a village to make a book. The Shadow in the Glass has been twelve years in the making (and honestly, who gave time permission to do that) and a large part of that has been due to the following people.
First of all, I’ve got to thank my preliminary readers: Rosie, Jess, Georgie and Wei. I pestered them with endless drafts of this book and I am forever grateful for their thoughtful feedback and bottomless reserves of patience. Without their advice, I would never have got this far. I’ve still got the paper drafts and I will treasure them forever, especially the ones with the little faces drawn on them.
My wonderful agent, Chloe Seager, also deserves a huge thank you. Her advice and support have been invaluable on every level and I owe her at least one massive cocktail. Thanks also to everyone at Madeleine Milburn and Northbank; it’s been fantastic to work with such dedicated and lovely people.
Speaking of, it’s time for me to thank everyone at Harper Voyager! I could not ask for a nicer team to publish my first novel. Natasha Bardon and Vicky Leech – thank you both so much for all the fantastic editorial advice, for indulging my tendency to go off on historical tangents in the notes, and for letting me be as spooky as I like. Thank you also to the insanely talented Caroline Young for the gorgeous cover; it looks so nice I cried. I’m also very grateful to Rebecca Bryant, Jeannelle Brew and Robyn Watts for all their hard work on promoting and producing this book. If I’ve missed anyone at Voyager I’m very sorry and will buy you a drink; you are awesome.
The writing process can be really hard work; it was made so much easier through the support of my friends. A really special thank you goes out to my housemates, Cath and Claire, for keeping me supplied with endless cups of tea, indulging my mid-cooking writing rants, and for reminding me that I am a human being who needs to go to bed occasionally instead of an unstoppable word machine. (Although give it time, I’ll get there.) Thank you also to Susie, Ellie and Catherine for letting me bounce ideas off you, for listening to me and for all your help and encouragement. You’re the best, why do we not all have matching jackets already.
I have, of course, saved the best for last. I never would have been able to do this if it wasn’t for the constant love and support from my family. Lucy: thank you so much for all your advice, for letting me rant at you even when it’s all nonsense, and for taking my author photo much better than I ever could. Mum: thank you for supporting me, for believing in me, and for telling literally everyone that you meet that your daughter is an author now. Dad: thank you for going on that walk with me when I was seventeen and letting me explain the plot of the novel – your reaction was what let me know that I had something worth writing about. I love you all very much and I could never have done this without you.
– JJA Harwood, August 2020