Our agent, Johanna Castillo, at Writers House, is a true Queen of the Resistance and must go at the top of our acknowledgments. Wow, she is the very definition of love, creativity, and strength. We absolutely would not have had this opportunity without her strong vision and ability to keep us in check to get it done. We adore and honor you, queen. You are a changemaker who made our lifelong dreams of being published authors come true. Anytime you call us to have tea in your kitchen, we’ll be there ASAP.
Thank you to the wonderful team at Plume who believed in this four-book series to celebrate these Queens of the Resistance. Special acknowledgments, high fives, dabs, and e-hugs to our brilliant, kind, and badass queen editors, Jill Schwartzman and Marya Pasciuto, and to the Plume team, who kept up the strong sisterhood and encouragement through and through to get this project done! Yes, we can! Thank you to the queens: Amanda Walker, Jamie Knapp, Becky Odell, Katie Taylor, Caroline Payne, Leila Siddiqui, Tiffany Estreicher, Alice Dalrymple, LeeAnn Pemberton, Susan Schwartz, Kaitlin Kall, and Dora Mak—and there were two good-guy allies who need a special shout-out, editor in chief John Parsley, and creative director Christopher Lin. To our publisher, Christine Ball, a strong woman and leader from the moment we met her, we especially love the army you’ve built and the work that you continue to innovate. Thank you!
THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU (in all caps) to our beloved Ava Williams, our research assistant. You didn’t know what you were getting yourself into, LOL, but your positive vibes and hard work held it up the entire time from beginning to end. Thank you for your warm and patient spirit throughout the process.
THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU (in all caps again) to the talented Jonell Joshua for your beautiful images and being a creative who could make it through all the deadlines with precision. You’re the best, girlfriend!
Krishan would like to give a big shout-out to her personal sister circle, the women in her life who took the lead in helping with Bleu on those daylong playdates: my sister, Dominique Marie Bell, Raven Brown-Walters, Renee Brown-Walters, Lenica Gomez, and Zaira Vasco. Special thanks to my crew at WeInspire—JLove, Brea Baker, and Taylor Shaw—and also to my mentors who guide me, especially Adrienne Ingrum, who has been a wonderful fountain of knowledge and inspiration throughout my path. This is for my mom, a Queen of the Resistance from Brooklyn and the Bronx, New York, who left us too soon but whom I felt watching over me from heaven smiling; and her twin, my loving auntie Amina Samad, who always came over with love and hugs to help throughout the process—I love and cherish you both so very much. Thank you to my son, Xavier Bleu Jeune, for being such an awesome growing boy. I love being #BleusMom. My favorite moment in this journey was when you said you wanted to be a “comedic author” (not to be confused with author, okay). I love you. And last but never least, thank you to my copilot, Brenda, for rockin’ this out with me!
Brenda would like to thank her friends on Capitol Hill; without your passion and determination to fight legislatively and strategically in this hard time, our democracy might no longer exist. My struggle for you here was to incline this project toward a true representation of your sacrifice, intellect, and capability. To special friends who helped me hang in there: Kathryn Williams, Cheryl Johnson, Shashrina Thomas, Ingrid Gavin-Parks, Kim Ross, Michael Hagbourne, Joan Kelsey, and the DMV Quartet. Thanks to Bernard Demczuk for opening the Growlery at Giverny West whenever I needed quiet concentration. To the absolute best parents—the late Myrtle Bowers Davis and Robert Lee Davis—who instilled in me the highest integrity, the best education, and the richest experiences. To Rep. John Lewis, without whom my career in politics would never have been possible. Thank you for your unwavering faith in me and unyielding commitment to art, inspiration, creativity, justice, and peace.
Thanks to Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Chairwoman Maxine Waters, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez for your bright, shining lives of public service. Krishan, Plume, and I can only hope that we have begun to return to you just a small part of what you sacrifice so much to give to us all. Hail the Queens of the Resistance.
To our readers, from our hearts to yours, thank you, thank you, thank you for celebrating the Queens of the Resistance series with us!