The Mix-Up by Holly McCulloch
Acknowledgements
What a year (and a bit) it has been! This whole book was written in the first month of the first lockdown in the UK. It was such a difficult time for everyone; and everyone’s difficulties were often similar but also unique. So my very first thank you has to go to my mum, the best lockdown partner I could’ve wished for (apart from Ozzie). I wouldn’t say we kept each other sane, but we certainly kept each other company! I love you mostly.
And as I said last time, it might be my name on the front cover, but in reality, many more names deserve to be up there right beside mine. First and foremost – Agent Becky. What an absolute star. Thank you for always being on my side. Thank you for understanding my rambles. Thank you for indulging me in longer than necessary conversations about Below Deck. I would gladly work on a superyacht with you.
To the whole dream team at Transworld, thank you for being there for me and choosing to support me and my rambles. In particular I would like to thank my lovely editor, Sally, who stepped up to the plate after Molly deserted us.* Thank you for being patient with me, for not minding my frequent Ted updates, and for not thinking I am totally barking for insisting that cartoons can be sexy. I would also like to thank Beci for taking my unhelpful cover feedback and understanding what I meant, even though I didn’t really understand what I meant. Hayley – thank you for being such a great source of support (and also for not minding my Ted updates …). Holly – thank you for letting me roll with some of my odder ideas, including insisting that a speed-dating video would be a great promo. And to everyone else on Team Holly at Transworld – Larry, Judith, Josh, Tom, Laura, Hannah, Tony and Phil – thank you. Hopefully one day we can meet in person so I can put actual faces to names, but until then – I really appreciate all you do for me (and everyone else). In a year of madness, I have felt very secure in my publishing home, and you are the ones who have made that happen. Thank you. (*Molly! I joke! Thank you for also stepping up to the plate! Thank you for your lists. Thank you for your championing of me. Thank you for also hating semi-naked cakes. I’m sure our paths will cross again. Maybe at Ozone?)
Personal thanks go to: Kate McCulloch, a great (and very speedy!) first reader; Anna, Lucy and Emily, I can’t wait to see you guys again; Amy Appleby, for your unwavering support and belief in me; my own nanny who is no longer with us, but who continues to have a positive impact on my life; our puppies: the OG Hamley, everyone’s best friend Ozzie and little lion-hearted Ted, for always making me smile; the Debut Author 2020 group (in particular, Gill, Nicola, Kirsten, Molly and Abi), for making this journey a little less isolating; and my lovely readers – I hope you enjoy Paige and her story and as much as (if not more than?) you enjoyed Bea’s.
And lastly, April 2021 marks my ten-year anniversary of being diagnosed with cancer, and Paige’s journey in The Mix-Up was one that I wanted to (and maybe needed to) write. The cancer part of having cancer is one part of the story, but the bigger part of the story is all the supporting characters. Mr Kothari and Dr Goodchild, thank you for taking such good care of me. Your knowledge, skill and care always made me feel very comfortable and secure. I knew I was in good hands, and you made the whole journey a lot less scary. For a lot of the time when I was in hospital I was pretty drugged up, so unfortunately my recollection of names is very poor. However, everyone who looked after me has my thanks. In particular, I would like to shout out the nurse who kept their promise and came to take me for ice cream; the other patients on the ward who all rejoiced more than I did when I could talk again (although I think they soon learnt to wish I was once again silent); the lovely nurse who took such good care of feeding me; and last but by no means least, the guy in the corridor who stopped my mum for me – if I hadn’t been able to watch TV I would have been very, very bored and very, very uncomfortable. I’m sorry I don’t know your names, but I remember your faces and your (very gratefully received) acts of kindness.