I know you don’t write horror but I kinda want the feminist upstate The Shining lol
I got that message from Andrea Bartz on October 29, 2022, and, well, here we are. An enormous thanks to her for daring me to take on one of the most beloved horror novels and movies of all time and add my spin—and for, as always, being an incredible beta reader and an even more incredible friend.
Of course, I only started even thinking about setting a book in the snow after my agent, Elisabeth Weed, suggested I mix things up with a winter book. So in addition to being my number-one career champion, I also owe this idea to her. To Elisabeth, DJ Kim, and the entire The Book Group family, thank you for everything.
An idea is nothing if you can’t pull it off, and I could not have turned this seed of a thought into an actual, real-life book without the help of my brilliant team at Putnam. To Kate Dresser, thank you so much for your invaluable edits and for helping me plot out this whole thing so I could write it before my baby arrived—your suggestions truly changed the way I thought about plotting and made this my tightest first draft yet. And to Tarini Sipahimalani, thank you for keeping me on track and helping the whole process run so smoothly. I owe every met deadline to you. To Nicole Biton and Bianca Mestiza, thank you so much for helping, as always, to get my stories to exactly the right outlets—and for all the pinch-me moments when I get to see my little books in some of my favorite publications. And to Ashley McClay and the entire marketing team, I am so appreciative of all you do to share my book with the world.
To Michelle Weiner and the film team at CAA, I really don’t deserve you. I’m so thankful to have you in my corner, and I’m constantly in awe of how hard you fight for my books.
To Grace Long, Joel Richardson, and everyone at Michael Joseph, I am so happy that I get to continue to publish books in the UK with you. It’s been such a joy to be part of the Michael Joseph family and to have my books come out with all the care and dedication in the world.
To Jenny Meyer and your all-star team, including Heidi Gall, I am always so grateful for the care you’ve taken in pitching this book around the globe. Thank you so much for helping get it into the hands of as many readers—and countries!—as possible.
As always, I am forever grateful to my brilliant beta readers, including the aforementioned Andrea Bartz, Danielle Rollins, and Kamala Nair. Without you all, well, I would be too embarrassed to put this into the world!
Writing is a tough path to take, and I’m so thankful that my parents and sister never doubted me and always encouraged me to pursue this wild dream. To Kiki, YaYa, and Grandpa Michael, thanks for giving my girls just as much love and support as you’ve given me.
People always ask me how I can have two kids and write books at the same time. Well, the answer is immense support from my family, including constant encouragement to go after what I want and the time available to do so. To Thomas, thank you for handling bedtime just about every single night, including reading approximately ten books to Eleanor so I can unwind, get some work in, and prepare for the day ahead. To Eleanor, thank you for being my cheerleader, for helping me sign copies when we’re out and about, and for hands-down stealing the show at my last book party. And to Mary Joyce, thank you for being a ray of sunshine whose smiles make each day more wonderful.
Finally, to Farley: You might be a dog, but you’re still my first-born son—and my favorite coworker.