Dating After the End of the World - 42

I never thought I would write a book like this, and that’s because this book doesn’t fit within one genre—or even two. Dating After the End of the World is a little bit of everything, and it was a passion project for me. I wanted to challenge myself. I wanted to write something different, something that blurred the lines of genre, something that made you laugh and cry, made your heart pound for one reason or another, something that was adventurous and thrilling and horrifying, something that had heart and humor.

So the first person I want to thank is the one who allowed me to write this weird story, my editor, Anh Schluep. When Anh asked if I wanted to do another book with Montlake and then asked what ideas I had for it, I pitched this one. If you read It’s a Date (Again) , my first romance novel, you know this novel is nothing like that. After I pitched the concept for Dating After the End of The World , I said, “I know it’s weird, but I’m really excited about it.” To which Anh replied, “If you’re excited about it, then we’re excited about it.” So thank you, Anh, for believing in my unhinged postapocalyptic, enemies-to-lovers zombie story and for also letting me run absolutely wild with it.

Thank you to Lindsey Faber for your wonderful editorial insights and for tag-teaming this book with Anh to make it so much better. Speaking of teams, thank you to the entire team at Montlake for all your support and all your hard work.

Thank you to my readers for supporting me across genres, no matter whether I’m writing thrillers, romance, speculative fiction, horror, or whatever this book happens to be. Writing saved me in more ways than one, so really, you saved me, and I can’t thank you enough for that. Special shout-out to my silly gaggle of geese, a.k.a. my Facebook reader group, Jeneva Rose’s Convention of Readers. If you’re not a part of the group, you should join us. It’s a fun, positive little slice of the internet!

Thank you to my dad, who not only demanded a zombie book but in many ways inspired aspects of this novel. Growing up, my dad was a bit of a doomsday prepper—not a good one, though. He mostly just bought lots of canned goods, which were super fun to haul in and then eventually be forced to eat because they were set to expire. So, thanks for that, Dad.

Thank you to my first readers, and by that, I mean those who read an early version of this book and delivered a nice balance of compliments and critiques, so I had the motivation and guidance to polish it into what it is now. Thank you to Delaney Starr, Cristina Montero (sorry, I didn’t change Nate to Kevin, but just imagine that’s his name), Bri Becker, Kent Willetts, Andrea Willetts, Austin Nerge, and James Nerge.

And finally, thank you to my husband, Drew. This book wouldn’t have been possible without you. Actually, none of them would have been possible without you. You believed in me when I didn’t believe in myself, and you encouraged me when I wanted to quit. I’ll be by your side until the world ends—and then I’ll be a little behind you in an effort to sacrifice myself for your well-being. Just kidding. It’s because I’m a slow runner . . . still counts as a sacrifice, though.