Four years ago, the idea for this series fell into my head: two planets and a cast of characters I wasn’t sure anyone else would ever care about. Some very special people played a role in the process of these books becoming real, and I owe each and every one of them my gratitude.
Thank you to my wise agent, Alison Fargis, and my brilliant editor, Eileen Rothschild, for rooting for Clementine all the way to the end. Thank you to Kathy Huck for saying “yes” and helping guide Extraction into the world.
To the awesome publicity, marketing, and sales crew at St. Martin’s, especially to Michelle Cashman and Karen Masnica, thank you for pushing to get these books in front of readers. To James Iacobelli, thank you for designing the incredibly gorgeous covers.
To my parents, thank you for your continued support of my crazy career endeavors. Elisabeth, thank you for reading and loving the series before it was polished. Julianne, thank you for being my bestie and twinsie, and for not hating me for all the times I don’t hang out with you because I’m writing.
To Jennifer, you poetic and noble land mermaid, thank you for your constant friendship, for your late-night phone calls, and for talking me through plot twists in books and real life. No matter how far apart we are, you’ll always be my favorite Galentine.
To Matthew, thank you for listening to me ramble about made-up characters, for driving me to bookstores, for making me laugh on my worst days, and for pushing me to keep writing when I’m afraid I have nothing interesting to say. You’re pretty awesomesauce, Halpert—and yes, you’re usually right.
To the Class of 2k14, Binders, Riley, John, and all my writing buddies, thank you for reminding me I’m not going through this alone.
And finally, to the readers who boarded a ship to Kiel and stuck with Clementine through every battle of her war, thank you. This world in my head comes alive through you. Saraashi.