Take care of your mind, your body, and your soul. You’re the only one who can.
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Music was an instrumental part of creating this story. As you may have noticed in the eBook edition of this book, I linked to several songs along the way to give the readers the same experience I had while writing. For me, music has always been tied to every facet of my life, and I believe it has the power to move us as much as words do. Below is a link to the What He Never Knew playlist on Spotify, as well as a list of song titles and artists who I played on repeat while writing this book. I hope you enjoy it.
Playlist
Debussy — Footprints in the Snow
Beethoven — Moonlight
Sjors Mans — Without You
Yiruma — River Flows in You
Benny Andersson — Embassy Lament
Mozart — Sonata 17
Robert Gafforelli — Sentiment
Franz Liszt — Hungarian Rhapsody
François Couperin, Alexandre Tharuad: Les Barricades Mistérieuses
Gene Kelly — You Were Meant For Me
Sampha — No One Knows Me Like the Piano
Debussy — La Plus Que Lente
Bach — Prelude and Fugue
Debussy — Claire De Lune
Just when I thought the writing and editing process couldn’t get more challenging, I tackled Reese and Sarah’s story. To say this one put me through the ringer would be a gross understatement. These were the most complex characters I’ve ever written, and I know I wouldn’t have made it out alive if I didn’t have an amazing team.
First of all, I have to thank Drew Pace, an old friend who came through in the most amazing way for this project. Drew, your knowledge of piano — not just the instrument, but the career, the journey of being someone tied to classical — it was absolutely invaluable. Hearing your stories helped shape this story, and without you, I wouldn’t have been able to tap into the emotions, to the lessons, to the challenges. I really am at a loss for words, and I don’t know that I can ever truly thank you enough to feel like it’s adequate for all you did to contribute to this book’s success. Thank you for being so open and honest with me, and for taking time out of YOUR busy schedule to help me create art. You are truly a gem in this world and I’m so happy to know you!
Staci Brillhart. In every book I’ve ever written since the day we first met, you have been on my team. You’ve been cheering me on, helping me work through the tough spots, celebrating when I achieved what I set out to do. But, with this book more so than any other, you provided tough, RELEVANT feedback that truly helped shape this into the final product it was always meant to be. And, more than anything, you believed in me when even I didn’t. You knew I could survive the edits when I was looking at the notes and wanting to cry. I felt like I’d failed, like these characters would never come to life the way I wanted to, and you helped me pinpoint the biggest challenges and you helped me find solutions. I can never thank you enough for always being in my corner, and please know that even when it hurts, your feedback means more to me than I could ever say. I love you. More than tacos, babe!
Momma, as always, I could never do this without you. You raised me to be strong, to be independent, to chase my dreams and never, EVER let the setbacks make me quit. I don’t know how you do all that you do, but I am thankful every day that I got the resilient gene from you. I love you.
To the lovely Karla Sorensen and Kathryn Andrews, you two babes helped me SO MUCH in these edits. Thank you for taking the time and the care to help me really bring these characters to life. Your insight is always so valuable, and I could not do this without you. More than your help on this book, thank you both for being such amazing friends to me. I love our trips, sleepovers, laughs and late nights. I never want to do this without you. Let’s stick together — always!
Patricia Leibowitz — AKA QUEEN MINTNESS — I have to give you a huge, HUGE shout out for your help in this book. Not only were you instrumental in some of the big changes, but you are the ONLY beta reader who also read through the entire thing AGAIN after I made all the edits. You love this story and these characters just as much as I do, and your emotion while reading gave me life. I seriously cannot imagine doing this without you. I appreciate you more than you’ll ever know.
To my amazing team of beta readers: Kellee Fabre, Sarah Green, Danielle Lagasse, Ashlei Davison, Jess Vogel, and Sahar Bagheri — YOU ARE THE BEST TEAM TO EVER EXIST. Seriously. Some of you read as I wrote, others read at the end, but ALL of you provided the best feedback that helped transform this book into the final product. I am so thankful for all of your time, care, and feedback.
To the most amazing, patient, hard working and bad ass assistant to ever exist — Christina Stokes — I don’t even have the right words for you. Between hunting for stock photos for our teasers and finding copy to share on various social outlets to reading the story and petting my hair in times of need, you do it all. You do it ALL. Even before I ask, even before I KNOW that I need something, you do it. I cannot tell you how much stress you take away from my life, how much comfort and joy you bring me, and more than anything, how happy my heart is when I am around you. I am so lucky to not only have you on my work team, but to be able to call you my friend. Let’s travel the world together. I love you!
Shout out to Sasha Erramouspe and Gabby Waltz for charlie reading this one. You both brought me so much relief that I had done what I’d set out to do, and your final feedback was like the little bow on top of this story. SORRY FOR MAKING YOU CRY, SASHA, but just know I love you more than whiskey — and we both know that means a LOT.
I have the absolute best editor in the entire world in Elaine York from Allusion Graphics. Thank you, my friend, for always working with my changing timelines, for sending me love notes as you read, and for helping me polish this to a high shine. You are an instrumental part of my team now and for always.
To the most wonderful PR crew: Nina Grinstead, Hilary Suppes, Chanpreet Singh, and the rest of the team at Social Butterfly PR — thank you for always helping me promote the fuck out of my books. Your fresh ideas and constant attention to detail are just some of the reasons I’m happy to have you on my team.
Flavia Viotti is my incredible agent, and I could never thank her enough for all the work she does for me — especially on the foreign and audio market. Thank you for hustling just as hard as I do to make our dreams come true, Flavia. I love you!
A huge shout out to Lauren Perry of Perrywinkle Photography and to Dale, the model on the cover of What He Never Knew. You both made my vision come to life and I am so thankful!
I always have to thank Angie Doyle McKeon for just… well, for just loving me. I always look forward to our conversations about life, love, family, the book industry and more. And I LOVE how passionate you are about reading my books and spreading the word so others read them, too. My little bumble bee forever and ever. I adore you.
Thank you to everyone in my special corner of the Facebook world — Kandiland. Your constant posts of love and motivation keep me going. I love that we have such a safe place to talk about books we love, and I hope we just continue to grow and grow. Don’t ever leave me. I love y’all!