ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Sometimes I can’t believe I wrote a book. Like, an entire book! Of words! That I wrote! Myself! When and where and how did this happen?! Then I take a moment to think about all the people that made Shadow Frost possible and it makes a lot more sense.

First, I want to thank my editor, Scott Allie. I was so nervous at the prospect of working with someone whose job was to basically roast my writing, but you only did that like, twice. Your hard work and devotion to Shadow Frost truly made it into what it is today, and I will never forget that.

A humongous thank-you to my agent, Richard Curtis, who has gone far above and beyond to support/tolerate me from the very first moment (and for letting me get two milkshakes that one time I clearly only needed one). Thank you to Marco, and David and Matthew for all your help as well! Shout out to my From the Top fam for all of your support. And of course, I definitely couldn’t have done this without my team at Blackstone—Rick, Josh, Josie, Lauren, Mandy, Jeff, Bryan, and many others. You are all absolute angels and I am so grateful for your dedication to Shadow Frost. Also, a very special shout-out to Kathryn G. English. You promised me that I would get the cover of my dreams, and you came through 110 percent with the most gorgeous creation I have ever laid eyes upon. On the note of the most gorgeous creations, colossal thank-you to my freakin’ dad, who hand-drew that freakin’ amazing map of the Mortal Realm at the beginning of the book. Yeah, that’s right. My dad drew that!!! Go look at it again, right now! No offense to you, but my dad definitely wins Best Dad.

Now, where would I be without my mentors? Ms. Clark, you ignited my passion for English. Mr. Wade, Shadow Frost literally would not have begun if not for your class. Ms. Lomp, I think you unintentionally let me write about 50 percent of Shadow Frost during your class instead of practicing the saxophone, so thank you for that. Ms. Greenspoon, I adore you. Veda “Feyda Lachinsky” Kaplinsky, you are my icon in every imaginable way. And a big thank-you to Arsha for all your love. Shout out to Jim for always cheerleading my writing from the very start. Juna, I probably would have burnt out mentally and physically a long time ago without your wisdom and guidance. Thank you to Ms. Lee, the sunshine and candy-provider on all my stormy days, to Mr. Ajerman, for always being there for me with a cup of tea and a hug, and to Christopher, for being a star and introducing me to attack badgers and la jeu de poule and always making me laugh when I needed it most or not at all (by the way, call your mother). And thank you to Professor Berry and Professor Piñango for keeping me sane during my first year at Yale. AH! There are so, so many more. I know who you are, and if you’re reading this, then you know who you are, too. From the bottom of my heart, thank you. Jeez, I’ve had so many awesome teachers. Stay in school, kids.

Right then, moving on. Three years ago, I forced two of my friends to beta the first draft of Shadow Frost. You have my utmost gratitude, Angela “Moomoo” and Adam “Dadam.” Angela, you were so savage most of the time, but Shadow Frost probably would have ended with Asterin becoming a cake chef or something without your sensible suggestions. Massive thanks to Umi for being the best godmother ever to my characters, and Ysa for blazing through the whole draft in like, two days! Love you all.

Trillions of hugs to Thomas and Dorothy, the best kiddos ever, and Yi-heng and Max, the best adults ever. Lowkey, please adopt me.

Time for some more shout-outs to my squad. Amy, my homaka. Emma, a heckin’ fren. Jona, you beautiful, perfect-eyebrowed human. Catherine, who always, always wanted to read what I wrote no matter how crap it was. Tyson, the bestest buddy to ever exist and my human definition of A Canadian™. Hiroko-chan, you precious, artistic gem. Tomas, for everything. Margret, for so, so much chocolate. Elli, you deranged psychopath with more talent in one eyelash than most people have in their whole bodies. Yuja, an untouchable goddess, and Kiki and LX, who have never failed to inspire me in every possible way (except shoe choice). And Miron, who my adoration for cannot be intelligibly expressed in words. I love you guys.

My Yale fam. Mona, the most fierce team of athletes and beautiful friends anyone could ever ask for. Pianists 2018–2019. Wei-Yi and Chris and many others for definitely caring about me more than I care for myself. And to Qiancheng and Jérémie for being the best neighbours/babysitters (of me) in the history of existence.

Also, shout out to Colin Firth and Taron Egerton, who aren’t yet part of my squad, but are kings among men (did you see what I did there?!). Frankly, my writing career began with the two of you. Don’t ask. You are my true heroes.

My most sincere gratitude to Mrs. Hewitt. Your love and support helped me get to where I am today.

V. E. Schwab, Leigh Bardugo, Holly Black, Marie Lu, Sarah J. Maas, Tamsyn Muir, Kelly Sue DeConnick, Rainbow Rowell, Victoria Aveyard, Jennifer L. Armentrout, Marissa Meyer, Alexandra Bracken, Natasha Ngan, Mackenzi Lee, Rin Chupeco, Michelle Kwan, Adam Rippon … all of you have had an immense influence on me and are the unconquerable queens of my life.

AND IF YOU, YES YOU, ARE READING THIS AT ALL, thank you, thank you, thank you! Especially if you’re from Twitter, Instagram, or Goodreads. Or if we met at BookExpo America or BookCon and you loved the Shadow Frost ARC enough that you bought a copy. MANY HUGS FOR YOU.

All my thanks again to the incomparable Emanuel Ax. I could not think of a more wonderful and deserving human being to dedicate my very first book to, and I know that anyone and everyone who knows you at all would agree with me on that without hesitation. Also, you read Shadow Frost when it was just a thirty-page jumble of absolute nonsense … yet loved it (or at least pretended to, haha). The ferocity of your enthusiasm and encouragement for my writing truly motivated me to fight through every struggle until I typed out THE END. I still owe you dim-sum.

And finally … Mum and Dad, thank you for putting up with me for eighteen consecutive years, an honestly Herculean feat. Neither I nor Shadow Frost would exist without you. Literally.