The Mask: A Vanessa Michael Munroe Novel (43 page)

At author engagements and book events, I’m often asked about the cadence and vocabulary in my writing, and how, seeing as I grew up deprived of an education, I’m able to do what I do. The best answer I can give, really, is a story that also does quite nicely in acknowledging the many hands that have touched this book.

Shortly after
The Informationist
was published, on the third stop of my very first book tour, I found myself doing a Q&A for a cozy little group. After the interviewer had finished her questions, we opened the floor to the participants, and it was then that an elderly gentleman, mid-seventies if we’re generous, leaned forward and pointed a thin, shaking finger in my direction.

“You claim to only have a sixth-grade education,” he said. “But I’ve read your book, and I don’t believe you.”

“Well,” I said, “you would if you’d read the first drafts.”

Much like those invisible early years where teaching myself how to write came into play, what we have in this beautiful, finished package belies the hundreds of raw, rough pages that wouldn’t have been fit for reading without the unseen effort of so many along the way.

To everyone at Crown Publishers—those in publicity, marketing, sales, foreign rights, production, audio, design, and more—everyone who’s put in so much effort on behalf of this series, I thank you. Through structural changes and personnel changes, you have been a constant, and I appreciate your support more than you know. To Lindsay Sagnette and Nora Evans-Reitz, thank you for making the production and publication process run smoothly.

A very special thanks to my editor, Christine Kopprasch, for being the bestest, smartest, hardest, fastest, and amazingest; for “getting” me, my stories and characters, and for knowing just how to bring out the best in me; for being collaborative and a perfect teammate. It’s been a joy and privilege working with you.

Love and appreciation also go to my agent, Anne Hawkins, for her knowledge, experience, and instinct. I wake up every day grateful that she has my back. Anne, you got me into this game and you’ve been my rock since day one: thank you for being you.

When a larger-than-life character like Munroe fills a story, it’s the political, cultural, and geographical accuracy that grounds the adventure in realism. Google works fine for laying a foundation, but you can’t smell the streets, feel the texture of the air, or get a reliable sense of humanity over the Internet. For that, and so much more, I make every effort to acquire firsthand experience in the environments I write about. But even with having traveled to Japan to get that boots-on-the-ground vibe as I did, authenticating the level of detail that threads through these pages wouldn’t have been possible without the help of two friends who, between them, share roughly four decades of living and working as
gaikokujin
(foreigners) in Japan. To Dawn McDonald, thank you for answering my questions, for not getting tired when I kept coming back for ever more clarification; thank you for the things you investigated and the details you confirmed, and for so generously sharing your time with me. Erinn L. in Kansai, without you, and the places we visited, the stories you told, the experiences you shared, the knowledge you imparted, the interpreting you did, and the way you humored my sometimes odd requests, this story would have been something else entirely—something far, far less—if it could have been told at all. Thank you for making this one possible.

To my friends, family, and children, who are always there even when I’m often not, thank you for your patience and endurance. To the muse, thank you for the laughter, insight, and always stretching my thinking in new directions. And to my readers and fans—especially all the “cool kids” who interact with me through e-mail—you bolster me daily with love, support, and encouragement, keep this series alive, and are responsible for the days I go without washing my hair or getting out of my pajamas. Thank you for that.

TAYLOR STEVENS
is the award-winning
New York Times
bestselling author of
The Informationist,
The Innocent, The Doll, The Catch,
and the novella
The Vessel
. Featuring Vanessa Michael Munroe, the series has received critical acclaim and the books are published in twenty languages.
The Informationist
has been optioned for film by James Cameron’s production company, Lightstorm Entertainment. Born in New York State into the Children of God, raised in communes across the globe, and denied an education beyond the sixth grade, Stevens was in her twenties when she broke free to follow hope and a vague idea of what possibilities lay beyond. She now lives in Texas.