Finally, as much as I wish I were, I am not an archaeologist. I know being an archaeologist is not as easy as hiking through the jungle and stumbling upon a half-buried archaeological site. As Indy pointed out in The Last Crusade, X never marks the spot （though he thought otherwise later in the movie）。 The actual process of locating a site requires lots of education and tons of research, and it’s extremely methodical. But I didn’t think you would enjoy reading about hours upon hours of researching in a library or months of scouting in the jungle, so this book requires you to suspend disbelief and accept that Corrie is simply that good of an archaeologist.
In the end, Raiders of the Lost Heart is intended to capture all of the thrills and swoons of the aforementioned adventure movies, albeit with a little imagination along the way to allow Corrie and Ford to shine. Besides, what’s an archaeological adventure without a little fortune and glory anyway? Hope you enjoyed!
With love,
Jo
Acknowledgments
Publishing a book has been my dream since the first grade. While my first book, The Dog and the Dog in the Pet Shop, required no assistance from others since the story, pictures （I couldn’t spell “illustrations”）， and glued binding were all done by myself, Raiders of the Lost Heart wouldn’t have been possible without the support and hard work of so many people—and in particular, so many badass women.
First, thank you to my agent, Eva Scalzo, and the team at Speilburg Literary Agency. When we spoke on the phone a few days after you’d liked my PitMad tweet and you were already halfway through reading this book, I had that warm, fuzzy feeling. Only fate can explain the fact that we sold this book on the anniversary of my one-year commitment to pursuing this whole writing thing in earnest.
To my editor, Sarah Blumenstock: Thank you for allowing Raiders to interrupt your vacation （sorry, not sorry）。 I loved writing this book, but I truly cannot believe how much I love it even more after having worked with you and incorporating all your amazing feedback. Thank you to assistant editor Liz Sellers, production editor Alaina Christensen, and managing editor Christine Legon—your fine-tuning has really made this book sing! Also, I promise someday I’ll get lay/lie/laid/lain right. Hopefully. To the rest of the Berkley Romance team: Kristin Cipolla, Jessica Plummer, Hillary Tacuri, and the copyeditor, Abby Graves, you all rock! And, finally, to artist Camila Gray for the stunning cover—you really brought Corrie and Ford to life. Extra thanks for the bird.
I can’t imagine having made it this far without my writing group, the Ponies! I’ve laughed so much （and so hard） with this group of badass chicks. Special thanks to Jen Comfort, my agent-sister and critique-partner extraordinaire! Your feedback was invaluable （and hilarious）， as are you. I’ll be your writing dom/sub any day. To Melora Fran?ois—you’ve pretty much been （stuck） with me since Day One when we sat at the same table during our first ECWC pitchfest. Thank you for always being up for a brainstorming session and for reading all my nonsense. I will never eat （an entire bag of） honey mustard pretzels and not think of you. And to the rest of the Ponies who’ve been with me since the start of my journey: Elle Beauregard, Lin Lustig, Jasmine Silvera, Kelly Blake, Alexis De Girolami, and Kate Wallis. You are seriously not only amazingly talented writers, but you are also amazingly wonderful friends.
Thank you to all the Berkletes （of which there are too many to name） for the advice, industry info, feedback, commiseration, publishing guidance, and NSFW laughs. In particular, thank you to the Latinas de Berkley （Alana Quintana Albertson, Isabel Ca?as, and Liana De la Rosa） for welcoming me with open arms.
I’ve also had the support of so many other authors along the way. Seriously, so many awesome people. But since I can’t name every single one, there are a few that need a shout-out. Thank you to my dear friend Kathy Swoyer for teaching me what “querying” is and attending my first ever writing conference with me. It was scary! But you taught me so much. Thank you to Sierra Hill for reaching out and introducing me to so many fabulous authors. And thank you to Danica Winters for （politely） calling me out at ECWC and forcing me to join social media. See? I finally did it!
To all my non-writing friends who’ve supported and encouraged me along the way: Thank you, LB, for taking the time to read this book and for always being there for me, even when I’m being weird. Thank you, Natalia, for pushing me to write that very first manuscript and actually putting up with reading the whole thing in all its terrible, cringeworthy glory! I would not be here without you. Thank you, Meredith, for all the book talk, being my biggest cheerleader, and promising to buy a hundred copies of this book. And to those who’ve read my many other manuscripts and gave feedback that ultimately helped me to become a better writer: Anna, Candace, Charli, Cindy, Elaina, Geneva, Jen, and Mary. I’m so grateful for all of you.
To my family, Mom, Dad, Elaina, and Phil: My dream of publishing a book, and in particular, this book, would not have come true without the arts （performing, visual, and literary）—and movies like Indy—being such a huge part of our lives. Mom always says, “Life is a musical,” and that has certainly rung true. What would life be, after all, without music, dancing, art, and books? “Thank you” doesn’t do justice to express the gratitude I have for all of you, so how about this instead? You . . . are . . . good, you are good, you are good, you are good!
To Harrison （LOL!） for the inspiration and that previously mentioned sexy, almost bashful smile.
Extra special thanks to my doggos, Gus and Henrik, for keeping me company during many writing hours.
And finally, to Nick. Thank you for humoring me when I talk plot points on our walks to get “bucks and barries,” and for bringing Gibsons and Manhattans to my office when I’m on a roll to keep my creative joosh flowing. On to our next adventure!