These Deadly Games(102)

To my parents, Lorri and Mark, to Grandma Gloria, and to all my family, thanks for your love and support, for rooting for me every step of the way, and for always believing in me even when I don’t.

Thanks to my wonderful editor, Jennie Conway, who loved this book before it was even a book, and whose fantastic feedback made it shine. I’ve so appreciated your guidance along the way, and I adore working with you. Thanks also to my keen-eyed copyeditor, Sara Ensey; Kerri Resnick, who designed this book’s stunning cover; Sara Goodman, editorial director; Eileen Rothschild, associate publisher; Elizabeth Catalano, senior executive managing editor; Jessica Katz, senior production editor; Lena Shekhter, production manager; Michelle McMillian, interior designer; Alexis Neuville, marketing manager and fellow Shadow and Bone fangirl; Mary Moates, publicist; Natalie Figueroa, assistant publicist; Brant Janeway, vice president of marketing, and everyone else at Wednesday Books/St. Martin’s Press for all your hard work getting this book into readers’ hands.

Thanks to my incredible literary agent, Jim McCarthy. I will never stop talking about how you seem to reply to my emails before I even send them. It must be magic. Thank you for selling this book two months into a global pandemic (again, magic), for loving my stories, and for talking me down from a panic more than once. I’m so happy to have you in my corner.

Thanks to my foreign rights agent, Lauren Abramo—it’s mind-blowing to see my words in other languages—and the team at Dystel, Goderich & Bourret. Thanks also to my film agent, Mary Pender, at the United Talent Agency for championing this book in Hollywood.

Thank you to my beta readers and friends Wendy Heard, Sonia Hartl, Megan Scott, and Elizabeth Schwab, and to my sensitivity readers, for helping me make this book even stronger.

Thanks to all of the talented authors who blurbed this book: Jessica Goodman, Emma Lord, Rebecca Hanover, Amie Kaufman, Tom Ryan, Sophie Gonzales, and Wendy Heard. It’s such an incredible honor to have your support.

Thanks to my author BFFs: Mike Chen, Wendy Heard, Shana Silver, Hannah Reynolds, Sophie Gonzales, Erin Bowman, Jennifer Iacopelli, Alechia Dow, and Dan Koboldt, for always being there to confide in, for helping me navigate this wild industry, and for being such joys to chat with constantly.

Thanks to the entire author community for being so welcoming. I’m fortunate to get to call so many of you friends: Jessica, Claire, Karen, Rebecca, Aimée, Amparo, Demetra, Emma, Julia, Samantha, Ashley, Alexa, Intisar, Janella, Jordyn, Tom, Nita, Sarah, Tess, Julie, Jess, and everyone in Clubhouse (the writing group, not the app, no offense to the app). Thanks to the rest of my friends and my BookBub coworkers (you know who you are). Please know how much I appreciate you.

Thanks to everyone on my street team! It blows my mind that you want to be part of it. Every time I get an email notification that someone’s joined, my husband hears me squeak across the apartment. It’s such a joy to have our lil’ community, to see your excitement, to have your support, and to gush about books we all love. And I so appreciate your help spreading the word. (New members can sign up at dianaurban.com/street-team; we’d be thrilled to welcome you!)

Thank you endlessly to the booksellers, librarians, teachers, bloggers, Instagrammers, TikTokers, and YouTubers who have helped more readers discover this book. I’m eternally grateful for your support and enthusiasm for my stories.

Thank you to the creators of The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim (Bethesda) and Fortnite (Epic Games) for inspiring MortalDusk and providing me with countless hours of entertainment. Actually, there’s probably an exact tally of hours somewhere in the settings, but nobody needs to see that.

Thanks to Taylor Swift. You’ll probably never see this, but I basically listened to Folklore on loop while drafting this book. Knowing you created it during lockdown helped give me the strength to finish this book during lockdown, too. So thank you for that.

Thanks to my favorite film score composers, Howard Shore, John Williams, Hans Zimmer, Ramin Djawadi, Sonya Belousova, and James Newton Howard, for all your music, the soundtrack to my life.

And, you know what? Yeah, I’m thanking my cat again. Kitty, thanks for being my coworker during the pandemic. A lot of this book was written with you on my lap—hence Whiskers, who plays such a vital role in this book.

If you enjoyed These Deadly Games, I would so appreciate it if you left a review on Amazon or your preferred retailer. Nothing sells books more than good word of mouth, and I’d be so grateful for any words you might be willing to leave. And again, thank you.