In Maya and the Return of the Godlings, our heroine has the support of her family, friends, and community throughout her journey. By the same token, I couldn’t have written her story without the support, love, and encouragement from the people in my life. Always thankful to my mother, who read my first manuscript and called me up to rave about it to my absolute delight. Those early days of encouragement helped me get through the doubt and rejection that every writer faces. To my brothers, yes, I’ll admit it, I’m the weird one in the family. There, I said it. Thanks for your love and support.
To Cyril for listening to me read random excerpts from Maya and the Return of the Godlings and my sporadic outbursts of laughter while writing. Thank you for your patience and your support during the ups and downs, both professionally and personally. You’re there for the good writing days and the bad ones. Your dedication to your passion inspires me to never give up on my dream. When I’m so deep in the writing cave that I lose my way, you remind me to come up for air.
To my literary agent, Suzie Townsend, thank you for your encouragement and support. You are a tireless advocate and talented strategist, and I am thankful to have you on my team. Thanks to Joanna Volpe, New Leaf Literary Agency’s fearless leader and mastermind. To Pouya Shahbazian, the best film agent in the known world and my go-to person for the latest on the best movies. To Veronica Grijalva, Victoria Henderson, and Mia Roman for shopping Maya in the international markets. To Meredith Barnes for your wealth of advice and strategy. To Dani, who is always on top of everything. To Hilary, Joe, Madhuri, Cassandra, and Kelsey, thank you for your support.
To my amazing editor, Emilia Rhodes at Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. I am always thankful for your thoughtfulness, sharp eyes, and support. I am lucky to have you in my corner. Thank you for giving me a platform to explore myself through these pages and tell a fun adventure story centering on Black kids, which I never saw when I was growing up.
I am so lucky to have a great team who supports Maya at Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. Thank you to Zoe Del Mar for heading up marketing and Tara Shanahan for publicity. Your work is so key to making sure that people know about the book and getting it into young readers’ hands. To Andrea Miller and the design team who came up with the amazing cover concept for Maya. To Elizabeth Agyemang, Mary Magrisso, Samantha Bertschmann, Ana Deboo, Annie Lubinsky, and Emily Andrukaitis. To Lisa DiSarro, Amanda Acevedo, Taylor McBroom, and the school and library team, I owe you my sincerest gratitude.
Again, so much respect to cover artist Geneva Bowers. You really brought Maya, Frankie, and Eli to life with your beautiful work.
To Mickey Mouse connoisseur Ronni Davis. You continue to amaze me with your energy, kindness, friendship, and humor. Thanks for being there for all the ups and downs and for introducing me to Sephora. It’s always fun to talk about stories and characters with you, and a million other things.
To my ride-or-die friend and critique partner, Alexis Henderson. I am in awe of how incredibly talented you are. Thank you for your unrivaled support and our brainstorming sessions. Your enthusiasm and encouragement have been a lifeline.
To my writing family: Samira, Gloria, Lizzie, Ronni (hi again!), Reese, Mia, Lane, Rosaria, Ebony, Cathy, Nancy, Irene, Nevien, and honorary members Anna and Kat.To the Speculators: David S., Antra, Nikki, Axie, David M., Nikki, Liz, Erin, Alex, Helen, and Amanda. You bring so much joy into the world. David Slayton, you are such an inspiration, and we would definitely have writing meetups if you didn’t live so far away.
Thank you to the countless others who have offered me encouragement and support throughout the years.
The biggest thanks to the booksellers and librarians for championing Maya and the Return of the Godlings. And to the readers who’ve championed my books and sent me nice messages, thank you for everything. I owe so much to Mrs. Okeke. Her passion for literature helped me realize that a Black girl like me could tell stories too.