I watch her from the side mirror, watching us as we drive away. When we pull to a stop at the intersection she walks quickly to the footpath and picks something up out of the gutter. Your alarm cube.

As we turn the corner she’s walking back to her porch. Then we’re driving away, off toward the West Gate, and I imagine her sitting in her seat, kettle boiling, with your broken alarm cube on her lap.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

This book is the result of many hours at a desk, staring at the wall behind my screen. Those valuable hours would not have been possible without the support of my partner, Kevyn. Thank you for the winter weekends you spent at various parks in the rain with our kids (and the autumn, summer and spring ones too). A big thank-you also to my kids. When you’re old enough to read this book you might find this at the back: thanks for teaching me that time is precious and that how I weight it matters.

A massive thank-you to my dear friend Jessica Brennan, the only person to read this before I sent it off to be judged. The first person (other than me) to cry over it. Thank you for your support and encouragement and for reading ten versions of an author bio with less than three words’ difference between each one.

Dr. Tania Cammarano, my rock, thank you for the hours of writing (and nonwriting) conversations at parks and playcenters. Our friendship has kept me safely sane—well, sane-adjacent at least. Please consider doing a second PhD so I have someone to commiserate and whinge with in the writing trenches.

A huge thanks also to the amazing Stephanie Davis. Our early-morning fishbowl conversations about writing, creativity and everything helped motivate me when I was flagging. Thanks for always being curious; you’re awesome.

An enormous thank-you to the ever-wonderful, talented and generous Toni Jordan, who volunteered her time to a virtual stranger as a project-management mentor. I agreed to timelines I never thought I’d hit and hit them all (because you made them sound so reasonable). Your suggestions of entering the Text Prize (for the ancestor of this book) and the Victorian Premier’s Literary Awards were game changers. You have been so generous with your time and support, and I will be forever grateful. Thank you.

To the team at the Wheeler Centre, who do so much for writing and books, thank you for running the Victorian Premier’s Literary Awards, for which the unpublished manuscript of this book was short-listed. A special thanks to Hiroki Kobayashi, Veronika Sullivan and Michael Williams for their time and advice. Thanks also to judges Ellen Cregan, Luke Horton and Natalie Kon-yu for reading so many manuscripts and liking mine.