Thank you to my superb agent, Stefanie Lieberman, for six years of support, wisdom, and friendship.
Melanie Fried, you’re not only an astute editor with a crystal clear eye for structure and pace, your steadiness and optimism are unearthly. I’m so proud of us.
Kathleen Carter, huge thanks for working tirelessly to get the word out in these unprecedented times.
To Margaret Marbury, Susan Swinwood, Roxanne Jones, Pamela Osti, and everyone else at Graydon House, I’m honored to be part of the imprint and so grateful for your vision and excellent work. Gigi Lau and Mary Luna, thank you for designing a cover plucked straight from my daydreams.
Molly Steinblatt, Adam Hobbins, and the whole stellar team at Janklow & Nesbit, thanks for seeing promise in my work and giving me precious feedback on my duck-under-the-covers-in-shame-they’re-so-raw drafts.
Gratitude and love to Billy Bragg, Wilco, Nora Guthrie, and Woody Guthrie. I got the idea for this novel decades ago from their 1998 album Mermaid Avenue—created from a treasure of Woody Guthrie lyrics. If you haven’t played it, do so immediately.
Thanks to independent bookstores for keeping the faith and keeping the lights on—Rakestraw Books, Broadway Books, Powell’s, Cloud & Leaf, Books Inc., City Lights, Kepler’s, Lido Village, Diesel, The Elliott Bay Book Company, Parnassus Books, Books & Books, E. Shaver, Shakespeare and Co., and hundreds more. You are appreciated, loved, and needed.
Reading sites have been a bright spot for many of us in 2020. Much love to A Mighty Blaze, A Novel Bee, Bookworms Anonymous, Chick Lit Central, Great Thoughts’ Great Readers, Linda’s Book Obsession, My Book Tribe, Novels N Latte, Readers Coffeehouse, The Romance of Reading, Sue’s Reading Neighborhood, and many more.
I took some liberties with the Lilith Fair ’99 performer lineup in order to include two of my favorite singer-songwriters, Lucinda Williams and the late Lhasa de Sela, both of whom I was lucky enough to see at other shows. Thank you to Sarah McLachlan and everyone involved in Lilith Fair for the inspiration and the memories.
Professor Susan Rogers at Berklee College of Music was generous with her time and patiently answered my questions about analog recording. Any mistakes are mine.
Wes, you gave me the idea for Novel 4, and Kelsey, I admire your confidence onstage, offstage, and on the way to the stage. Tiff, Dave, Nat, Luke—I miss you. Erin Higgins, I’m so proud to be your aunt. To all the Doans, we may not see each other often, but you’re in my heart.
Dad—I still love Willie and George Jones. I miss our KSAN commutes. Mom—I can picture you in 1979 lying on the floor, headphones on, listening to your favorite tunes. Can’t wait for a post-pandemic hug.
Mike and Miranda—I may have written most of this in a tent in the backyard, but there’s nobody I’d rather be quarantined with than you two. Thank you for putting up with my moods and self-doubt and all that disco on Spotify. Miranda, please keep singing, ’kay?
Carrie—my big sister, my best friend, and forever my role model of a strong woman. You bought me my first 45 record (Melissa Manchester), introduced me to Solid Gold, KITS, and KFOG, and I paid you back by stealing your K-Tel albums and mixtapes. Wish we could travel back to ’79 for an afternoon and roller-skate to Grease and Xanadu in the garage. I love you.