None of the characters in this book are based on real people, and, if anything, they are the complete opposite of the incredibly welcoming community of talented writers and booksellers and publishing professionals who have boosted me up in so many different ways, not only with this book but throughout my entire career.
Ernest learned something in this book that I’ve known all along: no book is written alone.
I am grateful to be on the receiving end of many people’s talents: my amazing publishers (Beverley Cousins, Katherine Nintzel and Grace Long); my brilliant agents (Pippa Masson, assisted by Caitlan Cooper-Trent, for books, and Leslie Conliffe, assisted by Kris Karcher, for film, and my endless thanks to Jerry Kalajian); superb editors (Amanda Martin and Molly Gendell); the incredible marketing and publicity teams (Tavia Kowalchuk, Tanaya Lowden, Hannah Ludbrook, and Jennifer Harlow); those involved with international rights (Sarah McDuling, Neil Godwin and Anna Ristevski of Penguin Random House Australia, and Kate Cooper and Nadia Mokdad of Curtis Brown London); my cover designer (Adam Laszczuk); proofreader (Sonja Heijn); and typesetters (Midland Typesetters).
Thank you to every bookseller who pressed Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone into someone’s hands over the last year and a half, and for again supporting this book with such passion and kindness. Thank you to every reader—what Ernest says about fingerprints and legacies is true, and thank you for leaving yours here.
Lastly, and always, thank you to my supportive, welcoming family: Peter, Judy, Emily and James Stevenson; and Gabriel, Elizabeth, Lucy and Adrian Paz.
And Aleesha Paz. Our story is my favorite story.