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This should more aptly be called “Apologies,” since I may have cursed the entire team who worked on this manuscript.
I wrote Starstruck 7 while on the rush of early pandemic panic, way back when we thought it would all blow over by summer. But Starstruck 8 came during the long stretch of Pandemic Fatigue, the doldrums of trying to act like life was getting back to normal when nothing is normal anymore. Sitting down with this manuscript got harder and harder every day. Interestingly, the concept I had for the Dread had been on paper since my first draft in summer of 2013: as I wrote Dreadknot in 2021, it felt all too real.
The feeling was exacerbated with every round of edits, as everyone who came into contact with the manuscript seemed to be struck with some mysterious curse. So thank yous first go to the entire Bolide Publishing team who I were in the front line of this misery: thank you to Michelle Dunbar, Anna Johnstone, and Cayleigh Stickler, for giving Dreadknot your all when everything was crumbling around us. Thank you for still believing in this series, eight books in, and counting. I hope the curse won’t follow through to book 9!
An absolutely massive thank you goes to Madeline Dyer, both as an editor and a friend. You found exactly what Dreadknot was missing and pulled it out of me kicking and screaming. You are the strongest person I know. I have no idea how you manage to do so much when the world is throwing curveballs at you left and right.
To Cora Corrigall, honorary editor, alpha reader extraordinaire. Your insight early on kept Dreadknot from going completely off the rails, and your constant motivation kept ME from going off the rails. Watching you grow into a bona-fide editor is so thrilling! Thanks for shouldering the curse with me.
To Crystal DuVall, who always knows, somehow, exactly when I need cheering on. How do you do it? I’m terribly sorry for the curse proving to be real only two days into getting the manuscript. Here’s to our many hats!
To the Fellowship of the Five: Madeline Dyer, Lisa Amowitz, Emily Collin, and Heidi Ayarbe. You have been my write-or-die team through thick and thin. Thank you for being my shoulder to cry on and my cheering squad all rolled into one. I’m so proud of all of us.
To Hugo, curse-breaker. You have been my rock as the world has been crashing down around us. I love you more than I can put into words. Thank you for seeing me through and through.
And to you, the reader. Things are hard right now. Bleak doesn’t even begin to cover it. And even when you feel like you are alone—you are not alone. Find your people. We’re getting through this labyrinth together.
