Title Page

COME AND GET ME

A CAITLIN BERGMAN NOVEL

AUGUST NORMAN

Dedication

To those on the bottom, looking up: You are not alone.

Acknowledgments

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

This novel, and the one and only Caitlin Bergman, came to life thanks to the love, support, and daring of a whole village of professionals, friends, and family—all of whom deserve a standing ovation, open bar, and/or lifetime supply of pizza, depending on their personal preference.

My agent, Eric Myers, had the patience and prescience not only to see a diamond in the rough, but to stick with me until the manuscript was polished and shiny. A million thanks—and sushi at SugarFish—and tacos at El Sitio—for making my dream a reality.

My editor at Crooked Lane Books, Chelsey Emmelhainz, was the first complete stranger to fall in love with Caitlin Bergman. Her notes and suggestions, as well as the hard work of the rest of the amazing team at Crooked Lane, transformed a nearly there manuscript into this finished book in your hands.

My trusted beta readers, including those brave souls who conquered the sizable original drafts, put up with typos, sloppy imagery, and radical misspellings, and still provided insightful and constructive criticism (apologies if I’m missing anyone): Travis Betz, Shulie Cowen, Charli Engelhorn, Ara Grigorian, Jeremy Kryt, Christine Logsdon, Derek Miller, Ward Roberts, Hilary Ryan Rowe, Wes Rowe, Rebecca Stevens, and Robin Winter.

In 2011, I attended my first writer’s conference—the Santa Barbara Writer’s Conference. Between the workshops, guest speakers, happy-hour appetizers, and late-night pirate sessions, I found a family of established and aspiring writers who encouraged me at all stages, including, but in no way limited to Lorelei Armstrong, Barnaby Conrad III, Avery Faeth, Toni Lopopolo, Matthew Pallamary, Andrea Tawil, Laura Taylor, Robin Winter, my wolf pack of Ara Grigorian, Chase Moore, and Trey Dowell—and, of course, the powers who bring the magical week together every year, Grace Rachow and Monte Schulz.

In addition, Ara Grigorian and Janis Thomas’s Novel Intensive helped me pare a sprawling plot down to a compact and marketable story. On the subject of Ara Grigorian, whose name has already appeared three times, I cannot thank him enough for the many hours spent delving into this challenging industry and for his support from inception to publication. Together, we will keep Porto’s in business.

Likewise, author and journalist Jeremy Kryt has supported me from college until now, spending hours exploring life and the literary world over email exchanges, phone calls, and Skype sessions, even while embedded with foreign armies or autodefensas in South and Central America. Thanks for your friendship, wisdom, and the use of your MFA by proxy. Actor-writer-producer Derek Miller has also been beside me since my sophomore year. I can’t imagine my path without his talent, advice, and sense of humor.