All of my senses sharpen as I take hold of Mateo’s hand and spin on my heel, pulling him toward the door. “Come on,” I say, ignoring the startled look of a passing server. “We’re getting out of here.”
“And going where?” Mateo asks. His voice is hoarse and ragged, like he just woke up from a nightmare and found reality even worse. “Do I need to remind you we don’t have a car?”
“It doesn’t matter,” I say, even though it obviously does. But that’s purely a logistical problem, and right now, we need to be thinking bigger than that. We reach the restaurant door and I shove it open with my free hand, every cell in my body thrumming with purpose.
“We’re going scorched earth,” I say.
I turned in a first draft of this book to my editor in January 2020, and began revising it two months later—at the beginning of what would become a world-changing pandemic. Like every industry, publishing scrambled to adapt, and I have many people to thank for keeping You’ll Be the Death of Me on track during so much upheaval.
My agents, Rosemary Stimola and Allison Remcheck, who are always guiding lights, shone especially bright during this uncertain year. Thank you for your wisdom, your support, and your steadfast faith in my books. Thanks also to Alli Hellegers for your work on the international side, to Pete Ryan and Nick Croce for your help in managing operations, and to Jason Dravis for your expertise in the film world.
I am grateful to the many people at Delacorte Press who carefully steered this book through the editorial and production process, especially my brilliant editor, Krista Marino, who finds hidden depths in every story, and my publishers, Beverly Horowitz, Judith Haut, and Barbara Marcus. Thank you also to Kathy Dunn, Lydia Gregovic, Dominique Cimina, Kate Keating, Elizabeth Ward, Jules Kelly, Kelly McGauley, Jenn Inzetta, Adrienne Weintraub, Felicia Frazier, Becky Green, Enid Chaban, Kimberly Langus, Kerry Milliron, Colleen Fellingham, Heather Lockwood Hughes, Alison Impey, Ray Shappell, Kenneth Crossland, Martha Rago, Tracy Heydweiller, Linda Palladino, and Denise DeGennaro.
I didn’t get to travel last year, but my books certainly did. Thank you to Clementine Gaisman and Alice Natali of Intercontinental Literary Agency, Bastian Schlueck and Frederike Belder at Thomas Schlueck Agency, and Charlotte Bodman at Rights People for finding homes around the world for You’ll Be the Death of Me. Special thanks as well to all the international editors and publishers who have supported my books, and brought them to readers in more than forty countries.
Thanks to Erin Hahn and Kit Frick for your thoughtful feedback on this manuscript, and to all the wonderful friends who helped me feel connected this year, especially Samira Ahmed, Stephanie Garber, Kathleen Glasgow, Lisa Gilley, Aaron Proman, and Neil Cawley. Lots of love to my son, Jack, and the rest of my family—I’m so grateful that we made it through this year in reasonably good health, even though I’ve missed hanging out with you.
And finally, thank you to all the readers who spend time with my books—you’re the reason that I get to keep writing more of them.