Thank you to my brilliant editor, Asanté Simons, who understood the final, clarified vision for this novel and helped me get it there. I also appreciate everything that the exceptional team at William Morrow—including Stephanie Vallejo, Rita Madrigal, Kaitie Leary, Rhina Garcia, Jennifer Hart, Yeon Kim—did to bring this book out into the world.
I owe the warmest thanks to my agent, Kelly Van Sant, whose wisdom is unmatched and to whom I’m more grateful than words could describe.
Thank you to secondary readers Cora Godfrey and Katharine Forsyth, and sensitivity reader Dill Werner for their valuable input. Bao Vo and Marcos Varela listened to me ask detailed questions about the music industry and tried to steer me right; Dr. Ann Kuo researched when I asked medical questions; and my uncle, Larry Sloan, gave his valuable insight on police procedure (all inaccuracies are mine). I had additional help from Jodi and Jason Kingsley, Aurora Gordon, Jessica Schilling, David Kvasnicka, and Laura Lee Anderson.
Thank you to Cathryn Ibarra, Beka Vinogradov, Kristan Hoffman, the Nosies—especially Ang Jandak, Soleil Howard, Cindy Savage, Erin Gettler, Sharon Hsu, Alix Bannon, Rebecca Wright Iverson, Jacqueline WayneGuite, Kristin Maffei, and Kinzie Ferguson—and the crews of my two book clubs for their continued encouragement. (I’d also like to thank all friends whose names I borrowed for this story without permission.)
Additional thanks to Julie Sugar, Rebecca Lammons, Sarah Clarke Menendez, and Matt Mullenweg for their love and support over the years.
I’m so lucky to be surrounded by supportive family. So much love goes to my parents, who instilled in me a habit of reading and nurtured my creativity from an early age. Additional shout-outs go to my sister Chieko and my in-laws Donna, Bill, and Max.
To my life partner Walt, who has supported me through writing this book and other endeavors, thank you.
Most of all, thank YOU for reading this novel.