The Last Flight (29 page)

My deepest gratitude first goes to the entire Sourcebooks family: publisher and chief book champion Dominique Raccah; my brilliant and supportive editor, Shana Drehs; the marketing and promotions teams (including Tiffany Schultz and Heather Moore); the talented art and production departments (Heather Hall, Holli Roach, Ashley Holstrom, Kelly Lawler, and Sarah Cardillo); and the formidable sales team. It's been a joy to have met so many of you: Cristina Arreola, Liz Kelsch, Kay Birkner, Todd Stocke, Margaret Coffee, Valerie Pierce, and Michael Leali. Thank you for taking
The Last Flight
into your capable hands and building buzz around the book. It is true that books change lives, but you do too.

A heartfelt thank-you to my beloved agent, Mollie Glick, who stood behind me as I wrestled this book into existence, who believed in it, and in me. And a thank-you to her many assistants (Sam, Emily, Julie, Lola…) who also read and offered feedback and support.

Thank you to my foreign rights team, who have enthusiastically introduced
The Last Flight
to the wider world. And to my film agents, Jiah Shin and Berni Barta, thank you for championing this project in Hollywood. Deepest appreciation also goes to my publicist, Gretchen Koss of Tandem Literary, not only for her brilliance in marketing and promotions, but also for her expert hand-holding. There is nothing better than getting an email from Gretchen that reads “Don't worry about a thing. I've got this.”

The Last Flight
wouldn't be what it is today without the support of my writing partners, Aimee and Liz. You both read multiple versions of this book and saw right from the start what I was trying to accomplish. I adore you both. And a special shout-out to the brilliant freelance editor Nancy Rawlinson who helped push
The Last Flight
that final mile to completion.

Thank you to my beta readers and friends: Amy Mason Doan, Helen Hoang, Julie Carrick Dalton, Lara Lillibridge, Robinne Lee, Jennifer Caloyeras. All of whom said, “You have something here. Keep going.”

Thanks to my lifelong friend Todd Kusserow for talking me through federal drug investigations, burner phones, and explaining how a person might obtain a flawless forged identification package. I love our conversations, our text exchanges, and I adore you. Thank you to John Ziegler, who helped me think through all things airport and air travel. This whole book is based on the possibility that two people could swap tickets at the gate, and John helped me nail that down. And a shout-out to Gloria Nevarez, commissioner of the West Coast Conference and longtime laughing buddy, for chiming in last minute with some very important details about NCAA basketball. It made me painfully aware of how long ago our time together in Berkeley was that I couldn't remember these details myself.

Thank you to the talented and engaging Instagram book reviewer Kate Lane for letting me use her name in the book and for her continued support of
The Last Flight
. I hope I've portrayed someone as smart and as lovely as she is. Make sure to follow her at
@katelynreadsbooks_
because she has the best book recommendations. And my heartfelt gratitude to all the online book champions—the Facebook groups and Bookstagrammers devoted to reading and supporting authors. You make our job promoting our books so much easier and more fun.

Thank you to my parents, whose support and schedule shuffling has given me the time and space to write and publish a second book. And to my kids, Alex and Ben, who both continue to inspire and amaze me. I love you.

And finally, thank you to the University of California, Berkley, a place I hold close to my heart, and the friends I made there (I'm looking at you, Joan Herriges and Ben Turman). I loved revisiting my time at Cal and portraying what I love best about it on the page. Go Bears!

Born and raised in Santa Monica, California, Julie Clark grew up reading books on the beach while everyone else surfed. After attending college at University of the Pacific, she returned home to Santa Monica to teach. She now lives there with her two young sons and a goldendoodle with poor impulse control. Her debut novel
The Ones We Choose
was published in 2018 and has been optioned for television by Lionsgate.

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