When I first read the outline for Heart of the Sun, crafted by the team at Temple Hill, my jaw almost hit the floor. Not only was I immediately gripped by the intense story, but I had listened to an interview about the subject of an EMP event in the United States just days earlier and had been doing some basic research out of pure curiosity (and a bit of dread). I’ve learned to follow what I believe are signs and immediately expressed my interest and commitment to telling Tuck and Emily’s tale as they traveled through a crumbling society. Thank you from the bottom of my heart to Temple Hill for trusting me to flesh out the fine points of your brilliant idea. And special thanks to Alli Dyer for helping me set the tone and offering invaluable direction as I set off on this journey.

Immense gratitude to Cat Clyne for taking this 140,000-word road trip/love story/breakdown of civilization and seeing every spot where improvements could be made and characters required polishing in that mess of a first draft. There were a lot of moving parts within this manuscript, and I couldn’t have seen the forest for the trees without you. And thank you as well to Gina Macedo for sprucing it up even further and keeping track of the days and distance.

To Marion Archer, whose empathy knows no bounds. I am so lucky to have you.

Thank you to Kimberly Brower for too many things to mention. Mostly though, for always, no matter what, having my back.

To you, the reader, thank you for traversing the miles with Tuck and Emily. And with me as well, whether from my first book or just this one. My love and appreciation for each and every one of you can’t be sufficiently put into words. And thank you too to all of you who spread your love of reading through beautiful art on social media. Your work inspires others to discover the love of reading, and the importance of that can’t be overstated.

And to my husband: I’d walk a million miles with you, and then a million more.