We Who Will Die by Stacia Stark - 40
I n high school, one of my favorite subjects was Classics—a deep dive into Ancient Greece and Rome. I was fascinated by the gladiators, the architecture, and the people who were so much like us, yet so different. Years later, I visited Rome as an adult. Walking into the Colosseum was one of those ou...
I n high school, one of my favorite subjects was Classics—a deep dive into Ancient Greece and Rome. I was fascinated by the gladiators, the architecture, and the people who were so much like us, yet so different.
Years later, I visited Rome as an adult. Walking into the Colosseum was one of those out-of-body, pinch-me-’cause-I-must-be-dreaming moments. I struggled to reconcile the grandeur of the space with the brutality it once held. And I couldn’t begin to imagine the courage it must have taken to step onto that sand, knowing it would likely mean an agonizing death.
Looking back, I can see how many paths led to this book. And I’m so incredibly grateful—not just that I get to write this series, but that I get to do this for a living.
To my family, thank you for your love and support—even when I fly all the way home to New Zealand … and spend the whole time working. Thank you to my mum for encouraging me to read at such a young age, and for constant trips to the library where I would max out both of our library-card quotas.
Thank you to my brother, Adam, for listening to endless monologues about the industry, my career, and my books. Your calm, logical perspective has been invaluable during the most stressful moments of my career … and my life.
Thank you to David for your constant support and positivity.
To my agent, Kim Whalen: Thank you for always telling it like it is, patiently explaining the ins and outs of this industry, and reassuring me when my anxiety is driving the bus. I couldn’t ask for a better champion for my books.
To Alessandra Roche, DJ DeSmyter, May Chen, Tessa Woodward, and the entire team at Avon, thank you so much for everything you’ve done for this book, and for being such a joy to work with. And to my copyeditor, Laurie McGee, thank you for your sharp eye and attention to detail.
Words cannot express my gratitude for Laura Schreiber, my incredible editor. Working with you has been truly amazing, and I’m so grateful for the way you believed in this book from the beginning—and then helped me shape it into everything it was meant to be.
To Rebecca Hilsdon and Jorgie Bain at Penguin Random House—thank you for everything you do to get my books in readers’ hands in the UK and Commonwealth.
Thank you to Kerry Rubenstein for the cover design!
To Cristina Roman: Choosing to work with my bestie was the best decision of my career, and I’m so, so grateful that the universe put us in the exact same place at the exact same time in Guatemala all those years ago. Thank you for handling the hard stuff, the messy stuff, and the time-consuming stuff so that I can focus on writing. Thank you for your incredible ideas, your contagious enthusiasm, and your commitment to focusing on the good.
To Savannah Schmitt, thank you for everything you do—so much of it behind the scenes, but always noticed and appreciated.
To Laura Weatherly, Nora Phoenix, Elana Johnson, Lucy Lennox, May Archer, and Ana Ashley … I’m so lucky to be friends with so many intelligent, creative, and badass women in this industry. Thank you for your support, your friendship, and your humor.
To Alexis Calder, thank you for your cool head and support—I’m so glad we get to navigate trad pub life together. And to Penn Cole, thank you for your generous advice, and for your unwavering belief that a rising tide lifts all boats.
To Emma Noyes and Brynne Weaver, I’m so grateful to have met you both, and I can’t wait to spend more time drinking cocktails and having *intellectual* conversations with you.
To Becca Mysoor, thank you for helping me talk through the ever-changing iterations of this book until it became what it was always meant to be. External processing for the win!
Most importantly, to every reader who has taken a chance on one of my books: Thank you, thank you, thank you. I am so incredibly blessed to be able to do this every day. Every word I write is for you.
Finally, many books helped me shape this world, including The Complete Roman Army by Adrian Goldsworthy; Praetorian: The Rise and Fall of Rome’s Imperial Bodyguard by Guy de la Bédoyère; SPQR: A History of Ancient Rome by Mary Beard; Ancient Rome: An Illustrated History by Nigel Rodgers and Hazel Dodge; Populus: Living and Dying in Ancient Rome by Guy de la Bédoyère; The History of the Ancient World: From the Earliest Accounts to the Fall of Rome by Susan Wise Bauer; Gladiator: The Complete Guide to Ancient Rome’s Bloody Fighters by Konstantin Nossov; and The Praetorian Guard: A History of Rome’s Elite Special Forces by Sandra Bingham.