So this is it, the end! Over the last seven years, the Ferryman series has changed my whole world. I can’t quite believe that I’ve written the last words and that I’m saying goodbye to Dylan and Tristan, Susanna and Jack. I remember exactly sitting down in my (damp) flat in Peebles, Scotland, and typing out the first couple of lines – what later became the beginning of Ferryman’s third chapter.
Back then I could never even have imagined the book being read by anyone other than my mum and husband, never mind people across the globe. It’s mind-blowing, and has only been possible with the help of the following lovely, lovely people.
Huge thanks are owed to my agent, Ben Illis at the BIA, who found Ferryman amongst a heap of manuscripts I threw at him when he was brave enough to take me on. In addition, thank you to Helen Boyle, who guided me through my first editing process and helped shape the book with a sympathetic hand and a lot of patience.
Thank you to my friends and family who were the very first readers of Ferryman, Trespassers and now Outcasts: Chris, Clare, Ruth and Mum. I admit I’m not the greatest at receiving criticism, but your encouragement and support means a lot to me. Further thanks to the many bloggers and journalists who helped bring the Ferryman series to readers.
I need to say thank you, of course, to the team at Floris, who breathed new life into Ferryman, and brought Trespassers and Outcasts into the world. I’m very grateful to you for believing in Dylan the way I do. In the same vein, thank you to White Horse Time, who discovered Ferryman and brought it and the following books to readers in China. The love I’ve felt there is incredibly heart-warming.
Finally thank you to you, the reader. Whoever you are, wherever you are in the world, I’m humbled that you chose my stories to read out of the millions of books out there, waiting. I hope you enjoyed them.
Claire -x-