Before a story becomes a physical book, it is touched by many people through various drafts. Even more people have enriched my life, giving me the tiniest wonders to make a story emotionally true. I am lucky to have them.
My literary agent, Katelyn Detweiler, is an absolute gem—thank you for championing my work and celebrating even the smallest milestones with me. My editor, Mary Kate Castellani, sharpened this book around its edges, making it better and better in each round. Kei Nakatsuka asked a question that led me to rewrite one of my favorite chapters to become even MORE favorite (“marrow”). Thank you both for understanding the story I wanted to tell.
I couldn’t ask for a better team than my incredible publicists Faye Bi and Nicole Banholzer, marketing geniuses Erica Barmash and Lily Yengle, and school and library marketing fearless leaders Beth Eller and Kathleen Morandini. Others at Bloomsbury took special care of this book, too: Donna Mark, John Candell, Phoebe Dyer, Alona Fryman, Erica Chan, Oona Patrick, Laura Phillips, and Nicholas Church. My UK team knocked it out of the park with introducing me to international readers and creating the cover of my dreams. Hannah Sandford, Stephanie Amster, Laura Bird, Mattea Barnes, Thy Bui, and Elena Masci—thank you all.
Booksellers were among the very first to welcome and support me. Alyssa Raymond, Bridey Morris, Carrie Deming, and Rayna Nielsen—your kind words carried me as She Is a Haunting found its earliest readers. Endless gratitude to Children’s Institute, Southern Indie Booksellers Alliance, California Independent Booksellers Alliance, Pacific Northwest Booksellers Association, New England Independent Booksellers Association, Mountains and Plains Independent Booksellers Association, and Midwest Independent Booksellers Association for inviting me to your shows. It’s an honor to meet people so passionate about stories.
My first reader and accountability partner, Lindsay Fischer, saw the absolute worst draft and yet said she could see it as a finished book. Thank you for not immediately unfriending me. My earliest cheerleaders—Alyson Kissner, Kate Dias, and Sarah Mye—are the most generous friends who put up with a whole lot of whining.
I must shout out my writing group, Writers’ Block, and especially Sandeep Brar and Melissa Pinhal, for maintaining a space that is fun, safe, and inspiring. Can’t wait for our next writing retreat!
My next writing community emerged from Author Mentor Match. I owe so much to my mentor Alex Brown, without whom Jade’s ba would’ve built fifty porches and nothing else. Get her book Damned If You Do! Wen-yi Lee, I would haunt any house with you. Hands down, best DM I got on Twitter. A huge thank-you to my workshop buddies at Rainbow Weekend and Tin House, especially instructor Mark Oshiro, for precise critiques and support when I was most unsure.
To my partner, Daniel, the first person who told me to chase my dreams, I love you. You always give me time and space to do what I need to. You are my home.
Almost everything good in me is something I learned from my family. Y’all know who you are but I guess it should be in print too: Andy, Nhan, Tri, and my anh hai Xuyen, whom I miss every single day. My mom deserves pages and pages but I’ll save that for the greeting cards I put through Google Translate to hear her make fun of me. I love you most.
By the time my bà ngoại passed away in the last days of 2020, she knew I was writing a book but not how much of it related to family. I revised much of She Is a Haunting with her and this grief in mind, of everything and everyone I would never know completely. Still, the time with her has been some of the best: playing hide-and-seek in her house, getting (lovingly) yelled at, receiving lipstick-stained kisses on my cheek. I’ll always remember you.
And finally, thank you, reader, for spending a few hours getting lost in this story with me.