As Lost as I Get (23 page)

A
CKNOWLEDGMENTS

A second book is in some ways harder than the first. (“Second” only in the sense of “second published”; I have several finished books on my shelf that never, ever deserve to see the light of day.) There’s a question of how to top what you already wrote, but also how to do more of what your publisher (and your readers) liked the first time around. Hopefully I’ve done that! I knew after writing my first book,
The Farther I Fall
, that writing Lucas’s brother Lee’s story would be very different in some ways, since the two men are so different.

Lee’s story, as it turned out, required a lot more research. I am not a doctor or a spy, nor have I ever been to Colombia, so I had a lot of ground to cover. Thanks to the wonders of the Internet, I was able to find a lot of sources I might not have been able to find otherwise, all from the comfort of my desk.

For assistance with all things medical, I am indebted to my friend Katy Burgess, a nurse and writer. She helped me fine-tune some details and gave me ideas for common illnesses and injuries my medical team might come across on a regular basis. Any mistakes or inaccuracies are purely mine and are either accidental or a deliberate attempt to ignore truth in favor of story.

Similarities between Médecins International and Médecins Sans Frontières (commonly known in the U.S. as Doctors Without Borders) are not entirely coincidental. Aside from the MSF name being trademarked, I learned quickly in my research that the way MSF works and the way I wanted Zoe’s organization to work were fairly different, so I created my own fictional organization and took some liberties with it. That said, I learned a tremendous amount about what it might be like to live as a doctor overseas from their material.

In particular, I have to mention the extraordinary documentary by Mark Hopkins,
Living in Emergency
, which colored everything about how I approached Zoe and her coworkers’ experiences. Dr. Chiara Lepora, the Head of Mission depicted in the film, had a lot of traits I already knew I wanted Zoe to have. Zoe’s comment about viewing the world as a car wreck that needed her help originated with Dr. Lepora. I was also intrigued (and horrified) by the patient with the long-neglected hernia, who of course, inspired Tia Yana and her predicament. If you have any interest in learning about what the real MSF does, I highly recommend tracking this documentary down and watching it.

I played a little more fast and loose with my research into the CIA. I didn’t want to delve too deeply into politics (Tom Clancy I am not), and mostly wanted a decent reason for Lee to a) have rescued Zoe in Mexico, and b) be in Colombia at the same time as her. In particular, I found Henry Crumpton’s
The Art of Intelligence: Lessons from a Life in the CIA’s Clandestine Service
helpful, although Mr. Crumpton would probably be horrified at the liberties I have taken here.

For my setting, I owe a huge debt of gratitude to the website
Colombia Journal
(colombiajournal.org), and every
single tourist who visited Inírida and documented their travels online. In particular, YouTube videos of the town and of boat travel along the Rio Inírida were especially helpful, since I am a visual person, and seeing it helped me describe it more clearly. For the political end of things, I watched more documentaries than I can list here, on everything from the era of the drug cartels to all the nature documentaries I could get my hands on. And I would be entirely remiss if I didn’t mention the website
My Colombian Recipes
(mycolombianrecipes.com) for providing me with a truly mouthwatering collection of local foods, and giving me a determination to someday try and make my own arepas de huevos. (Hopefully no one will need to call the fire department!)

Thanks to Julia Tagan, who was a fantastic critique partner this go-around. And thanks as always to Kristine Swartz at Penguin Random House, my amazing agent Jennifer Udden, and to you, without whom none of this would have happened.

Lisa Nicholas
is the author of
The Farther I Fall
. If she’s not writing, she’s feeding her story addiction any way she can: raiding Netflix, pillaging her local bookstore and library, and (most recently) tearing her way through the comics archive at Marvel.

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