Acknowledgments

It takes far more than a village to bring a book to life. For everyone who has had a hand in this one, and every single person who reads it, my heart sings out to you.

Special thanks go to Aaron Briggs for the brainstorming, cinematic and gaming vision, eagle-eyed continuity detection and action-packed choreography. Without your collaboration, this book would only be half a world, half a story. And blessings to my invincible agent, Nicole Resciniti, whose inspiring contributions, logic, strength, and faith surpass my wildest dreams. You are the best!

Truckloads of gratitude to my brilliant sister, Shawn Wilder, for her endless reading and feedback of version after version after version and the support from the rest of the Wilder clan, Zac and Grayson. To Stephanie Smith and Natalie Costa Bir who read and offered notes in the very early days before the story took flight overseas, and to all the authors who have read and offered quotes, support, and friendship in tough times! Special shout-out to Greg Briggs and Katherine Petersen who proofed tirelessly right up to the eleventh hour, two people who know the difference between fletches and fetches, boson and bosun, among other things!

Gratitude goes to everyone at Entangled Publishing—Liz Pelletier, Heather Howland, Stacy Abrams, and Nancy Cantor for the fantastic structural, line, and copyediting as well as everything else that happens behind the scenes. And to Tera Cuskaden who championed the story right from the start. Deep appreciation as well goes to Heather Riccio, who always makes me smile no matter how stressful things get, Jessica Lemmon, Curtis Svehlak, Bree Archer, and Jessica Turner. You all are champions!

Finally, a special thanks to those who have stood by me in so many ways over decades of writing: Jeannette, Adriene, Jodi, Jean, Ly, Anna, Victoria, Jacque, Greg, Sara, Candy, Jimmy, Helen, Merrie, Traci, and my deep inner circle who cheer me on every day: Aaron, Ochre, Kayla, Kinayda, Son, EJ, and the wildest members of the team, Sin and Ra. I hope you all love this book as much as I do!