Trust the Focus (20 page)

I wrote this book at the end of 2013, during National Novel Writing Month. I’d been querying for a long time. I didn’t have a book deal or an agent. Frankly, I was a little down about my publishing journey. This business isn’t for the faint of heart, that’s for sure.

But at the time, I had this idea about a young man on a cross-country road trip with his best friend to spread his father’s ashes. But what was the conflict? What was going on? Then it hit me like a ton of bricks—Justin was in love with his best friend. And after that revelation, this book basically wrote itself. I think I wrote about thirty thousand words in two weeks, which is almost half of the book. Justin and Landry poured out of me like a flood. I fell in love with them and I laughed with them and cried with them. They meant everything to me (and still do). They lifted me up when I wasn’t feeling so hot.

And then I got an agent and a publishing deal for a different book I’d queried and Justin and Landry (or JusLan as I call them), were put aside for a while.

But I never stopped thinking about them. I polished them up in 2014 and fell in love all over again. The response when this book went out on submission overwhelmed me, and thank you so much to the InterMix team for loving this book like I do. To see them come to life and to have the opportunity for other people to meet them is a dream come true.

I have so many people to thank for the making of this book. Natalie Blitt, my critique partner and friend, you are a huge reason this book was written. You loved JusLan from the first sentence, and you believed in this book and that meant so much to me. It still does.
You
mean so much to me.

Lucas Hargis, I can’t really express how big of a part you played in this book. I still have the e-mail from you after you read the first chapter: “YES YES KEEP WRITING.” Well, I did. And you encouraged me and you fixed my . . . ahem . . . technical mistakes. And you told me that you believed Justin and Landry belonged together. I hope you think of them every time you smell cinnamon. And I hope you realize how much you mean to me as a friend and fellow writer.

Jen Norwood, your critique of this book was on point and I used a lot of your ideas in the final version. Thank you so much for loving this book.

Amy Pine and Lia Riley—thank you for your encouragement and friendship and handling my many neuroses. You should probably get a medal for that.

Thank you to Vanessa North, Amy Jo Cousins, Sarina Bowen, Ashley Amsbaugh and Nyrae Dawn for all the kinds words, excitement, and encouragement.

To my agent Marisa Corvisiero, thank you so much for working as hard as you did in getting this book a contract. I am so grateful for all you do. You are my rock star.

To my editor Kristine Swartz, thank you for loving this book as much as I do. Thank you for believing in Justin and Landry. You also handle my neuroses well and I’m so grateful for that. Hashtag Juslan.

Thank you to everyone at InterMix, my publicist Courtney Landi, and the art department for this wonderful cover that really
is
JusLan to me.

Thank you to my husband, for believing that love is love and for being proud of me. Thank you to my children for dealing with Mommy’s craziness. Thank you to all my friends, family, and last but not least, Andi—you’ll never be one of the “little people.”

Megan Erickson
worked as a journalist covering real-life dramas before she decided she liked writing her own endings better and switched to fiction. She lives in Pennsylvania with her husband, two kids and two cats. When she’s not tapping away on her laptop, she’s probably listening to the characters in her head who won’t stop talking.

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