To my husband, confidant, and partner in all things nerdy, Kevin. Thank you for encouraging me not to wait to pursue my dreams, for the endless hours you willingly gave as I blubbered over things big and small in the journey to prepare this book for publication, and for your love and support. None of this would be possible without you.
To my son, Kylan, thank you for helping me be brave enough to take chances. You have opened my eyes in so many ways. I look forward—with slight trepidation—to the day when you are old enough to read this book.
To my family of origin, thank you for encouraging me to chase my dreams with abandon.
To my grandparents, Gloria and Don, thank you for investing in my dreams and for your faith in me. I wish you were here to scold me about the contents of this book.
To my in-laws, thank you for all the times you watched Kylan so I could play pretend with my characters. This book would have taken a lot longer without you.
To my nerd squad and to Pat, thank you for always endorsing my nerdy eccentricities. Renaissance faires are a stomping ground for inspiration, and found families even more so.
To my friends, Sathya Achia Abraham and Elena McPhillips, thank you both for your friendship and for reading many of my terrible manuscripts before this one. You guys are the real heroes.
To my critique partners, Briston Brooks, Claire Winn, and Cortney Radocaj, without you this book wouldn’t be what it is. Thank you for pushing me to be a better writer.
To my alpha reader and friend, M. L. Tishner, thank you for weeding through the earlier versions of this manuscript and sharing in my excitement throughout this process.
To my other beta readers, Angela Teal and Kevin, thank you for sharing your time and eyes with me.
To Jenna Moreci, Courtney (Lyra Parish/Kennedy Fox), Sacha Black, the Wander Writers group, and so many others, thank you for answering my self-publishing questions. I would be floundering without you.
To my editors, Kaitlyn Johnson (developmental editing), Jenny Sims (copyediting), and Judy Zweifel (proofreading), thank you for your hard work and diligence in editing my work and preparing it for the eyes of readers.
To Kylie Stewart, thank you for sharing your voice with me. It has been amazing to hear how you depict Gwen, Bastian, and Rora.
To Tara Spruit, thank you for bringing my characters to life in your character art.
To David Gardiner, thank you for making me feel like a steampunk goddess in your photoshoot and for the most epic author headshot.
To the fans of iWriterly, thank you for your unending support. Without you, I wouldn’t be where I am today.
To all those not specifically listed in this acknowledgment, thank you for your impact on my life and this story. This was a journey I couldn’t have done without the help of so many.