Every new book I write is the product of a holy trinity of creative input: it starts with me, but there are two other integral parties. For A Consuming Fire, the first is Nicole Fiorica, my deeply talented and sympathetic editor. She takes the rough, vaguely book-shaped things I come up with and makes them shine. She’s a staunch advocate and a wonderful publishing-world partner. I’m so grateful to have her in my corner and hope we’ll be making novels together for years to come.
The second indispensable participant in the creation of my books is Lauren Spieller, literary agent extraordinaire. Lauren reads everything first, she helps me hone my ideas, and she turns them from something nebulous and plotless into actual cohesive stories. She is so, so much more than someone who just handles the business end of things. But she knows all that, so I’ll just say, Lauren, you’re the best. Let’s keep doing this forever.
They say you can’t judge a book by its cover, but I happen to be a person who often does. I’ve been privileged to have my worlds and characters brought to life by incredibly talented cover artist Kim Ekdahl for two consecutive books now, and I am so appreciative of her creative genius and thoughtful compositions.
When my stories are in their infancy, there are two people I entrust them to before anyone else: my mom and Steph Messa. They’re the people I consider my alpha readers—beloved cheerleaders who provide enthusiasm when the books I write are still kind of a hot mess.
And speaking of hot messes, I myself am one on a regular basis. Any functionality I possess is brought to you by my emotional support writing group, affectionately known as The Pod: Steph Messa, Anna Bright, Hannah Whitten, Jen Fulmer, and Joanna Meyer. I would bury a body for any one of them, no questions asked, and know they’d do the same for me.
Writing books takes a lot of time. It means a lot of sitting in a room with the door shut, being completely unavailable because frequent disturbances and creative flow are mortal enemies. Thank you so much to my person, Tyler, and my darling changeling children for being understanding when I shout “NO INTERRUPTIONS” with a wild gleam in my eyes and hole up at the far end of the house for entire afternoons.
Lastly, and most importantly, thank you to my readers. To those who’ve just joined me, and those who’ve been here for a book or two, and those who’ve traveled with me through all four stories—you are the reason I do what I do.