Acknowledgements

This book is dedicated to found families for many reasons. I could never have done this without the help of so many people who have become family to me over the years.

Thank you to my publisher Rae, my editor Sam, and the rest of the wonderful team at NineStar Press, for taking a chance on this book full of queerness with a chance of explosions, and thank you to Natasha Snow, for creating the perfect cover, bringing Helos to life.

Thank you to David R. Slayton, one of the very best humans I know and who kept pushing me to be kind, be persistent, and above all, to keep writing. Also for founding the Speculators, our amazing online writing group who may be plotting to take over the world. Helen Corcoran, Liz Freed, David Meyer, Anitra Van Prooyen, Kat Cho, Axie Oh, Rena Barron, Erin Kennemer, Nikki VanRy, and Amanda Blixt, thank you all for commiserating and squeeing along the way.

To Eleanor Boyall, Helen Corcoran, Alice Loweecey, Barbara Ann Wright, and everyone else who suffered through the messy, early drafts of this. Special thanks to Judy Elsley and Sîan Griffiths for letting me swear up a shitstorm in their college writing classes.

A shout-out to my critique partners, the Dark and Stormy Nights: K.F. Silver, who may finally have taught me a thing or two about blocking, J.T. Moore, who made sure I described Damian’s hair right, Terra Luft, who cusses at least as much as I do, and Jenni Wood who fiercely defended me against people insisting on scribbling out all the fucks in this manuscript before reading it.

To the Infinite Monkeys and the Salt City Genre Writers who showed me that a queer author writing hella sweary queer sci-fi indeed has a home in the Utah writing community.

More than a thank you to Tori, who is my sanity check, brings me coffee when I need it most, puts up with my shit, and reminds me to sleep and eat. Love you and I’ll try not to adopt any more cats. Probably.

And finally, thank you to everyone who is reading this book. I couldn’t have done this without the support of each and every one of you. Thank you for being along for this wild ride. I hope you’re ready for more