Author’s Note
This book was exhausting to write and took a while for me to finish (having a baby in the middle of it might have had something to do with it). So first, an enormous thank you to those who read drafts of The Winner’s Crime or portions of it: Ann Aguirre, Marianna Baer, Kristin Cashore, Donna Freitas, Daphne Grab, Mordicai Knode, Anne Heltzl, Sarah Mesle, Jill Santopolo, Eliot Schrefer, and Robin Wasserman. You always had the right words to keep me going and to make this a better book.
Such is also true for people who talked with me about knotty plot problems or thorny emotional questions, or worldbuilding ones. Thanks to everyone at Kindling Words, for excellent talks, advice, and comments that helped me piece together The Winner’s Crime at a stage when I knew where I was going but not what I was doing. I especially thank Franny Billingsley, Judy Blundell, Sarah Beth Durst, Deborah Heiligman, Rebecca Stead, and Nancy Werlin. In Parisian cafés, Coe Booth and Aviva Cashmira Kakar helped me shape Tensen into the sneaky character he became. Also in Paris, at the Broken Arm café, Pamela Druckerman and I mulled over Arin, the bookkeeper, and the queen. Leigh Bardugo and I had an awesome conversation about guns, and Mordicai Knode contributed on separate occasions. He also told me about Quipu Code after reading an early scene about Favor-Keeping. Lunch with Sarah MacLean resulted in a plot point that I’m thrilled about but can’t share (Book 3 spoiler, sorry!). Kristin Cashore brainstormed with me on so many points that it’s hard to list them all. Robin Wasserman is probably the person you can thank (or blame) for this being a trilogy to begin with. Barry Lyga, aka my torture expert extraordinaire (he asked to be called that. Or something like that), suggested I go after Thrynne’s fingers in the prison scene, and Kristin Raven, a doctor, gave very useful (and gory) information about how those fingers would look. She also confirmed my instinct that the general’s abdominal wound could be “packed.” Miriam Jacobson, a scholar and pianist, gave me (as she put it) “le mot juste” for a piece that Kestrel plays: an impromptu. Mordicai and Jenny Knode were consulted about ideas for the map. High praise to Keith Thompson for his artistry in representing this world. My husband, Thomas Philippon, is always my most crucial adviser when it comes to sorting out ideas, and he’s especially great about anything to do with the military or horses.
My goal for this trilogy has been to read one ancient Greek or Roman text while writing each book. This time it was Herodotus’s The Histories, which gave me some ideas about how to represent the East. I should also admit that I had the temerity to take a metaphor from Shakespeare and reshape it to suit my fancy for a particular line in the scene by the canal (hint: it’s from Much Ado about Nothing).
Thank you to all the librarians, booksellers, and bloggers who have championed The Winner’s Curse. It’s been a real pleasure to get to know you in person and online. Your enthusiasm is so infectious—and appreciated.
Macmillan Children’s Publishing Group! I’m one lucky woman. I’m very grateful to everyone who has supported me and this series. My amazing editor, Janine O’Malley. My intrepid publicist, Gina Gagliano. My designer of heart-stopping covers, Beth Clark. And a whole marvelous cohort of people: Nicole Banholzer, Simon Boughton, Anna Booth, Molly Brouillette, Angie Chen, Jennifer Edwards, Jean Feiwel, Jennifer Gonzalez, Liz Fithian, Katie Halata, Angus Killick, Kathryn Little, Karen Ninnis, Joy Peskin, Karla Reganold, Caitlin Sweeney, Claire B. Taylor, Mary Van Akin, Allison Verost, Mark Von Bargen, Ksenia Winnicki, and Jon Yaged.
Charlotte Sheedy, my agent, is a dream, and I thank her and Mackenzie Brady and Joan Rosen.
Sometimes people ask me what the secret is to writing books, and my very serious reply is “good child care.” Thanks to my babysitters, parents, and in-laws: Monica Ciucurel, Anne Heltzl, Shaida Khan, Georgi MacCarthy, Sharon Singh, Marilyn and Robert Rutkoski, and Jean-Claude and Christiane Philippon.
My older son, Eliot (now five and a half), has an idea about why I sit in front of the computer instead of taking him to the Natural History Museum. My younger son, Téo (two years old), has only the sense of some great injustice and betrayal. Boys, I always miss you when I’m not with you, and I love you both best.
About the Author
Marie Rutkoski is the author of The Winner’s Curse, The Shadow Society, and the Kronos Chronicles, which includes The Cabinet of Wonders. She is a professor at Brooklyn College and lives in New York City. Learn more about her at marierutkoski.com or sign up for email updates here.