The Lost Boy

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

My Swedish publisher, Karin Linge Nordh, and my editor, Matilda Lund, have both been enormously helpful, as usual. I can’t thank you enough for the work that you’ve done this time around. Everyone else at Bokförlaget Forum has also supported me in countless ways and displayed an unflagging enthusiasm for the book.

The Nordin Agency represents me superbly in Sweden and in the rest of the world. Joakim Hansson has taken over the baton from Bengt Nordin and is continuing to run the race in an amazing way. I am also tremendously happy that Bengt is still in my life, as my friend now instead of as my agent.

None of my books would have been written without the help I’ve received in caring for my children. As always, I want to thank my mother, Gunnel Läckberg, as well as my ex-husband and now good friend Micke Eriksson, who never hesitates to help out. My former mother-in-law and my children’s grandmother, Mona Eriksson, has also contributed to the creative process with her delicious Swedish meatballs which, thank goodness, still continue to arrive at our house.

And my thanks to Emma and Sunit Mehrotra for lending us their wonderful house for a week last winter. I wrote many pages of The Lost Boy while we were there, with the sun shining and the snow glittering outside, while inside the fire crackled in the fireplace. Thanks also to my parents-in-law, Agneta von Bahr and Jan Melin. Your thoughtfulness and support have meant so much during the writing of this book.

As always, the police in Tanumshede have been a source of inspiration, and they have eagerly cheered me on. The same can be said of the citizens of Fjällbacka, who continue to enjoy watching me scatter dead bodies throughout their small town.

Christina Saliba and Hanna Jonasson Drotz at Weber Shandwick offered new ideas and suggestions, which led to a stimulating collaboration. They also helped me to focus on what is most important for me: writing.

Many people helped me with the research and fact-checking that were an essential part of this book. I would like to thank them all, especially Anders Torevi, Karl-Allen Nordblom, Christine Fredriksen, Anna Jeffords, and Maria Farm. Niklas Bernstone made an important contribution by travelling among the islands to take the perfect photograph of a lighthouse for the jacket of the Swedish edition.

And my thanks to all the readers of my blog. What a source of positive energy you are!

Thanks to my friends, who put up with the intense writing periods when I more or less disappear from the face of the earth. Incredibly enough, you’re still there when I emerge, which is more than I deserve since months may go by without a word from me. And my thanks to Denise Rudberg, who always has time to listen and offer encouragement – both when it comes to the travails of writing and regarding everything else in life, which we discuss in our almost daily phone conversations.

My books and everything that happens in my life as an author would mean nothing without my children: Wille, Meja, and Charlie. And my wonderful Martin. You’re not only my love but also my best friend. Thank you all for being there for me.

Camilla Läckberg

Enskede, 29 June 2009

www.camillalackberg.com