They say it takes a village to raise a child and I say it takes a medium-sized city to make a book, perhaps something like Birmingham or Seville.
Firstly, thank you to my agent, Rowan Lawton, the greatest cheerleader in the land. I could not and would not want to do this without you.
I owe so many thanks to my HarperCollins family, it’s hard to know where to start. To Lynne Drew, without whom there would be no book (and not just this one, literally there would be no Lindsey Kelk books, full stop), thank you for all your wisdom, guidance and support. Martha Ashby, your keen Yorkshire eye is always appreciated. Felicity Denham, you’re the best at what you do and I could not appreciate you more. I might be sat in a room, pouring my guts into a laptop but it takes killer editorial, sales, rights, marketing, publicity, production, art, design, logistics and legal teams to make sure this book finds its way into your hands. I’m lucky to be held together by some of the very finest out there, in the UK and all over the world.
The last year has been a lot. Who thought it would be a good idea to move house, plan a wedding and write a book all at the same time? This idiot. And this idiot would be completely on her arse without the love and support of Kevin Dickson, Della Bolat, Terri White, Emma Gunavardhana, Danielle Radford. Also, he won’t ever see this but I couldn’t get through a day without my big brother, so thanks Bobby. I owe a lot of thank yous to a lot of people that will never be properly expressed (I mean, I still haven’t sent all the thank you cards out from the wedding) but I hope everyone in my life knows how much I appreciate and love them.
Special thanks to Caroline Hirons and the fantastic, not-at-all-Snazz-like, Max Hirons, for their insight into the minds and wardrobes of teenage boys.
To Jeff, thank you for all that you do, all that you are, and for taking care of me and our cat children. I love you very much. I can’t believe we got married. Lol.
Being an author is a very weird and often lonely job. I mean, it’s hard to go out for a drink after a hard day when your only office-mate is a cat, so thank you to Mhairi McFarlane, Kevin Dickson (again), Paige Toon, Giovanna Fletcher, Louise Pentland, Marian Keyes, Sarra Manning, Rosie Walsh, Rowan Coleman, Julie Cohen, Lia Louis, Isabelle Broom, Andrea Bartz for understanding and supporting and being absolutely brilliant. Sometimes it was just a tweet or a DM, sometimes it was an entire bottle of wine or a weeping three a.m. phone call (sorry about that) but I really want you to know it was appreciated.
There will never be a time I’m not completely stunned by the fact I get to do this for my job. The fact you chose to read this book means I am forever in your debt and you have my endless gratitude.