Our Chemical Hearts (26 page)

THE VERY CORE
of this book was born from the July 11, 2014, Nerve article by Drake Baer called “This Is Your Brain on a Break Up.” In particular, the interview with Lucy Brown, a neuroscientist at Yeshiva University, directly inspired Sadie and her career.

Grace's fishpond in the abandoned train station wouldn't exist without the November 30, 2013,
Renegade Travels
article “Exotic Fish Take Over Abandoned Bangkok Mall Basement.” The station itself is loosely based on a beautiful, ghostly, disused one in Sydney, which I totally never ever broke into.

“I have loved the stars too fondly to be fearful of the night,” which Henry references in Chapter 7, is a quote from “The Old Astronomer” by Sarah Williams.

The comedy sketch starring Ricky Gervais and Liam Neeson mentioned in Chapter 9 is from “Episode One” of BBC Two's
Life's Too Short
.

Henry's PowerPoint is based on several hilarious and persuasive examples from Tumblr (“Why You Should Let Me Touch Your Butt,” “Why You Should Let Me Touch Your Boobs,” etc.). However, it draws most heavily from one called “Why We Should Do Sex Things,” which I first saw on Imgur; I can claim very little of its brilliance. To the anonymous girl who wrote the original: I sincerely hope it got you laid.

The line that Henry's father says about Grace in Chapter 17— “Strangeness is a necessary ingredient in beauty”—is a quote by Charles Baudelaire.

I don't know who originally wrote “Stories with happy endings are just stories that haven't finished yet,” but I first heard a version of it in
Mr. & Mrs. Smith
.

“If love could've saved you, you would have lived forever,” the inscription on Dom's grave, is, as best I can tell, by no author I can easily identify.

“If you were a carrot, you'd be a good carrot” and “Purple, because aliens don't wear hats” are ripped straight from the glorious cesspit that is the internet, as are, I'm sure, a dozen other offhand pop culture references I've failed to properly attribute here (my references are out of control).

Please don't hold my wantonness against me.

TO MY AGENT,
Catherine Drayton, for being my first and fiercest ally. If I could list all the synonyms for
grateful
and
fortunate
here, it still wouldn't be enough to accurately convey my thanks.

To the rest of the staff at InkWell Management, particularly Masie Cochran, who read this book first, and William Callahan, for editorial advice that was the very definition of invaluable. Also to the foreign rights squad of Liz Parker, Lyndsey Blessing, and Alexis Hurley, for being so damn good at what you do.

To my editor, Stacey Barney, for, like,
literally everything
. Your insight, your fervor, the depth of your love for Henry and Grace. You make it super hard not to believe in fate and soul mates when my book found its soul mate in you.

Also to Kate Meltzer, for your tireless support, and to the rest of the team at Putnam and Penguin Random House, for welcoming me so enthusiastically to the family.

To Laura Harris from Penguin Australia, for breathing life into Murray and sharing my passion for Taylor Swift.

To Emma Matthewson from Hot Key in the UK—like I said in our emails, ten-year-old me went into cardiac arrest the moment an offer from
you
arrived in my inbox!

To Mary Pender and Kassie Evashevski from UTA, for handling the film rights so brilliantly.

To the readers of my early work who told me I was good when I definitely, categorically wasn't: Cara Faagutu, Renee Martin, Alysha Morgan, Sarah Francis, Kirra Worth, Jacqueline Payne, Danielle Green, and Sally Roebuck. You hardly know how much I needed and appreciated your (terribly misplaced at the time) confidence.

To the whole team at Arc, but especially Lyndal Wilson, for making me a far better writer (and putting up with my frequent shenanigans/disregard for the charter).

To Twitter and Team Maleficent, for being my unwavering cheerleaders: Samantha Shannon, Claire Donnelly, Katherine Webber, Lisa Lueddecke Catterall, and Leiana Leatutufu.

A second shout-out here to the incomparable, indispensible Katie Webber. You lead by example in showing me that the impossible was possible if you only worked hard enough. I am unfailingly proud of you and constantly awed by your dedication to what you do.

To my Cowper Crew, for supporting me through the writing of this book: Baz Compton, Geoff Metzner, but especially Tamsin Peters. Thank you for cups of tea, study corner, chicken soup when I was sick (frequently), and feeding me when I was flat broke (even more frequently). Look how far your little parasite has come!

To my lovely grandmother, Diane Kanowski, who will never read this book because it's far too scandalous, but whom I'm grateful to regardless! Our hundreds of library visits when I was a kid were instrumental in fostering my love of books.

To my parents, Phillip and Sophie Batt, for everything, forever. Putting up with me as a teenager is starting to pay off, right?
Right?
To Mum in particular: there's a line in Pierce Brown's
Morning Star
that says, “Mother is the spine in me. The iron.” I think the same of you.

Above all, thank you to my little sisters, Shanaye and Chelsea, for a hundred midnight drives, Skittles and Pepsi Max, songs played on repeat, not telling Mum that one time I quit my job to write, loving my characters more than I do, and generally being outstanding human beings.

You are my favourite people in the world and this book is unequivocally and wholeheartedly for you.

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