Sweet Unrest (23 page)

Acknowledgments

I don’t think anyone was more surprised than I was that this story became the book you’re holding in your hands right now. There are so many people who helped to get it to this point—people who believed in the story, and who believed in the possibility that I could be a writer, much less get published someday. What follows isn’t enough to thank them properly, but I hope that it’s a start:

First and foremost, I need to thank my amazing editor at Flux, Brian Farrey-Latz, who believed in this story enough to buy it and whose keen insights made it better than I could have made it myself. To Sandy, my astute copyeditor, who found all the problems I managed to miss and helped me polish my prose. The whole team at Flux has my heartfelt thanks for their support—especially my incredible cover designer, Lisa Novak, who created the most perfectly haunting image to introduce Alex and Lucy’s story to the world.

Before the fine people at Flux, Nathaniel Jacks found my story in the slush pile and took a chance on it. My amazing agent, Kathleen Rushall, has had my back for this whole wild ride, and for that I’m profoundly grateful. I’m so lucky to have her support and to be a member of TeamKrush.

Many people read early drafts, but Karoliina Engstrom’s comments were especially astute and her support inspiring.

Mountains of thanks, bourbon, and donuts to my friends at www.OneFourKidLit.com and in the Fall Fourteeners blog group. You’ve all helped keep me sane for the last year. And to all my virtual friends on Twitter, who make long days of writing a little less lonely.

Thanks also to my family—to my mom, who read an early version of this and didn’t even seem all that surprised that I came up with it. And to my dad, who is the one that I owe my knowledge of photography to. Lucy’s talent all started back in the hours I spent in his darkroom, watching him work and learning the magic of photography. Together they make one heck of a publicity team.

Finally, it isn’t an exaggeration to say that this book would not exist without my husband’s support. He is always my first reader and my most trusted reader, and has been cheering me on ever since the day four years ago when I told him I might, maybe, try writing a book. His honesty saved the first draft of this book. He keeps the house from falling down around us and wrangles our two wild monkeys when I lose myself in the glow of a screen. He even braved the streets of New Orleans with a two-year-old, just so I could do research. There aren’t words or years enough to express my thanks—not in this lifetime at least.

© Cameron Whitman Photography, LLC

About the Author

Growing up in Northeastern Ohio, Lisa Maxwell liked reading so much that she gave up her rather sensible idea of becoming a lawyer and decided instead to get a not-so-sensible degree in English. And then she got another … and another. It seems to have worked out. When she’s not writing books, she teaches English at a local college. She lives near DC with her very patient husband and two not-so-patient boys. You can visit her online at www.lisa-maxwell.com or find her most days on Twitter @LisaMaxwellYA.