Clancy of the Undertow Read online

  ‘Then you wouldn’t have been able to wreck my car.’

  Angus raises his empty bottle and I bump it with my fist.

  ‘To the future,’ he says.

  ‘To the future,’ I say. ‘And whatever’s after that.’

  ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

  This book was a strange convergence of luck, timing and people being very patient with me, so I would like to sincerely thank:

  My wonderful family, especially my parents Paul and Judy and my brother Andrew, for always being there for me (and in the case of my brother, lending me money and a laptop right when I needed it most).

  My incomparable editor Mandy Brett, who acted not at all surprised when I brought her a YA book instead of the two other serious adult books I had promised her. Her guidance and advice were, as ever, invaluable.

  The early readers of the book, for their encouragement and advice: Leesa Currie, Hannah Andrews, Rebecca Shaw and Judy Currie.

  The whole team at Text Publishing, who, as a company, actually stop to have a drink with you when you visit them, and are so supportive it hurts. A special thanks must go to Imogen Stubbs for her amazing cover design. I want to be buried with that font.

  My amazing and talented workmates at Avid Reader Bookshop and Where the Wild Things Are, especially my bosses Fiona Stager and Kevin Guy, who show, by example, what pride in your work can really achieve.

  The Eleanor Dark Foundation and all at Varuna, the Writers House, as well as the Marten Bequest Travelling Scholarships for allowing me the time and space to write the first and second drafts of Clancy.

  My wife and best friend, Leesa, who quit her job to follow me halfway around the world so I could sit and write in a small German village. My darling, you continue to amaze me with your intelligence, your humour, your beauty, and your ongoing willingness to remain married to me.

  And finally, I’d like to thank you, the reader, for picking up this book. If it helps just one person understand that being young is being confused, and that things do get better, and that none of us really knows what we’re doing, then this whole process will have been worth it. Also, by reading this final sentence you are now legally obliged to buy the book for five of your friends.