Acknowledgments

There was a long road to the publication of this book, and I would have never gotten here without all the support I’ve gotten along the way.

This book was written on the unceded traditional territories of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations. This land shaped me into who I am, and I am lucky to live here.

To everyone at Entangled who helped make this the best possible book it could be. To Alexander Te Pohe, your faith in this story changed my life. To Molly Majumder, Stacy Abrams, and Hannah Lindsey for stepping in at the last minute and getting everything back on track so quickly. To Bree Archer, for the beautiful cover. To Riki Cleveland, Curtis Svehlak, Meredith Johnson, Katie Clapsadl, Heather Riccio, and everyone who worked behind the scenes, I’m so happy that my manuscript ended up with you.

To Léonicka Valcius, thank you for believing in my work, your expertise, and always being on the ball. We’re just getting started! I look forward to going after all those big dreams together.

To Stephanie Charette, Aliza Greenblatt, Samantha Bagood, Alechia Dow, and Inez Gowsell, thank you for your feedback and wading through these pages when they were still very rough. I learned so much from you.

To Kristan Hoffman, Stephen Watkins, Arley Sorg, John Wiswell, Grace Fong, Kim Tough, Lisa Wong, Inez Gowsell, Tony Strangis, Doug Savage, Loerella and Eric Weitzel, the Viable Paradisers, the 2023Debuts, and the Filipino writing community online, thank you for your company, advice, and encouragement. Some of you read some truly terrible writing, and I salute you.

To Casey Blair, Nicole Lisa, Aliza Greenblatt, Stephanie Charette, Tam MacNeil, Annaka Kalton, Arun Jiwa, Camille Griep, Kevin Riggle, Dawn Bonanno, Debra Jess and Katrina Archer, who showed up with surprise flowers and support when I was going through a difficult time. I’m so lucky that writing brought you into my life. You have my sword forever.

To Jennifer Modglin and Patrick Heagany, for making me fall in love with writing. I wouldn’t be a writer if it weren’t for you.

To my parents for epic movie nights and leaving me in the library. You fueled a lifelong addiction to stories.

To my brother P.S. Barbosa for listening to all my publishing rants. You probably know more about the publishing industry than you care to.

And to my children. Everything I write is for you.