We Own the Night was a very different book when I first wrote it. It’s evolved over the years as I’ve grown to know Iggy—and myself. When I was her age, all I wanted to do was leave my suffocating and small southern town. I wanted to chase my dreams. Move to a big city. Get away. And, spoiler, I did. But unlike Iggy, I didn’t see all of the things I would leave behind.
But—and I’ll tell you a secret Iggy and I know—going away doesn’t mean leaving things behind. You take them with you. You carry them on the plane, tucked comfortably into a small nook in your heart so wherever you are, you are home.
This book wouldn’t be possible without those friends and family.
To my brilliant editor, Meredith Rich. Iggy would’ve gone off the air a long time ago without you. To Eric Smith, who has championed me through writing and life with unending motivation and support. Bro, he’s cool. To my writing friends—Nita Tyndall, Jarad Greene, Christianna Marks, Rae Chang, Hannah Fergesen, Bess Cosby, Lauren Spieller, and a few others I’ve forgotten--thank you for putting up with me during my god-awful writer’s blocks, and for brainstorming with me, and those last-minute coffee dates. To all the readers, reviewers, and bloggers who loved and supported my first book, The Sound of Us—thank you for being the light at a very long tunnel. To my writing playlist—especially the band Motion City Soundtrack—because this book was built on their album Even If It Kills Me. They might be defunct now, like a fictitious pop-rock group I know, but their music survives.
And finally, to my parents.
Wherever I am, I carry you with me.