Acknowledgments

You Do You may be a tribute to self-reliance and individuality, but it would not exist without the hard work, help, and thorough strokings of my ego provided by the following people:

Jennifer Joel is always looking out for my best interests (as though I don’t do enough of that already), and there is nobody I would rather have in my corner. She makes being “difficult” look easy, not to mention likable and stylish. She’s not just my agent, she’s my hero.

Michael Szczerban has been letting me do me for three books now, but his spot-on notes, insightful queries, and a few of his own chortle-worthy jokes have made each of them better than I ever hoped they could be. He is the gentlest of dumplings.

His colleagues at Little, Brown—including but not limited to Ben Allen, Reagan Arthur, Ira Boudah, Amanda Brown, Sabrina Callahan, Nicky Guerreiro, Lauren Harms, Andy LeCount, Nel Malikova, Katharine Meyers, Lauren Passell, Barbara Perris, Lauren Velasquez, and Craig Young—are keeping the no-fucks-given flame alive. Thanks, guys! If I have to play on a team, I’m glad it’s with you.

Natasha Hodgson at Quercus Books was the very first to express her enthusiasm for You Do You, and I’m grateful to her and her colleagues—Bethan Ferguson, Charlotte Fry, Elizabeth Masters, and Laura McKerrell—for their gloriously inventive support of my books and me over the years. Jane Sturrock, now back and with 100 percent more Sophie, rounds out a substantial cheering section.

Additional thanks to all-stars Sharon Green, Lindsay Samakow, and Nic Vivas at ICM; Lisa Cahn from Hachette Audio; Callum Plews, Gavin Skal, and Audiomedia Production; and to the readers all over the world who clamored for one more. (Big ups to Poland, by the way. You guys give mad Instagram love.)

To my parents: Thank you for instilling in me good values and a strong moral compass, despite what Amelia from Amazon might think. And thank you for not smothering me with my blanket. I remember the time I wouldn’t stop screaming until Dad drove halfway back to Camden to retrieve it for me, and that night alone must have been extremely tempting.

Finally, the biggest slice of my large cheese pizza of gratitude goes to my husband, Judd Harris, who makes sure I’m always well-fed, well-slept, and well-spritzed. He is a profoundly weird contrarian nonconformist, and that is exactly why I love him.