Thank you to Kelly, Ethan, and Noah for putting up with me when I get stuck in whatever emotional trauma my characters are experiencing at the time. Thanks to my mom, dad, and sister for giving out copies of books to every medical professional in northern Kentucky. (A little additional thanks to my mom, who taught me to crack eggs with one hand, like in Sabrina.) And thanks to the nonfamily (but still family) people I do life with—LeeAnn, David, Jenny, Tonya, Robert, Anne, Caitlyn, Sharon, Laura, and probably at least one other person I’m forgetting to name, whom I shall refer to as Mildred. Thanks for everything, Millie!
Thank you to the amazing publishing team—Amanda, Becky, Leslie, Kerri, Taylor, Savannah, and so many others—who somehow make sense of my ramblings (and make my ramblings better) enough to create a book. An actual book.
Special thanks to my editor, Laura Wheeler, who (for some reason) keeps believing in me when I struggle to believe in myself and who, this time, miraculously, helped me believe in myself again.
Do you know what else helped with that? Therapy. And lots of it. (That’s my not-so-subtle way of saying thanks to my therapist.) Seriously . . . one of the best decisions I’ve ever made. If there is some stigma or argument in your mind keeping you from doing some work (counseling, not facelifts) on yourself, I strongly encourage you to do what you need to do to get healthy. I promise you you’re worth the effort, friend.
Thank you, NYC, for being my muse.
And, hey . . . Oscar Isaac? Ditto. Thank you to the writers who inspired me and entertained me and challenged me and distracted me while I spent time with Cole and Laila. Writers like Thao Thai, Delia Ephron, Janine Rosche, Annabel Monaghan, Martin Short, Gillian McAllister, Gabrielle Zevin, Elle Cosimano, and so many others.
And thank you, Jesus. Whatever measure of talent or creativity I may have as a storyteller on my best day starts and ends with you, and in writing this book, you helped me rediscover the joy of it all. Thank you for that gift.