With this, the final book of the Brimstone Angels Saga, there are so very many people to thank.
Nothing I have done would have been possible without the two best editors a writer could ask for: Susan J. Morris, who let me drag her into a conference room and pitch the story of tiefling twins, who provided an expert ear and eye for every book in between, and who came back to help finish things off; and Nina Hess, who suggested me for the Sundering and who made me ten times the writer I could have been on my own, even if I was occasionally crabby about it. Thank you both so much for everything.
Thank you to those folks who made my job immeasurably easier by lending a sharp eye to a wobbly scene, enthusiasm to an incubating idea, or access to their bank of knowledge: Brian J. Cortijo, Michaelle Forbus, Ari Marmell, Matt Sernett, George Krashos, Corry Boehm, Rhiannon Held, Kate Marshall, and Shanna Germain. Thank you to Mike Schley for such fabulous maps. Thank you to Min Yum, Tyler Jacobson, and Kekai Kotaki for the lovely covers, and to Dina Pearlman for making my words sound wonderful even when they’re too karshoji complicated. Thank you to the other authors of the Realms—Ed, for uncountable emails about uncountable problems big and small and all the solutions; Paul for well-timed pep talks and a beer I still owe you; Richard, my copacetic confidante; Troy, for all those story connections and sticking up for me; and Bob, for all that business wisdom and for punching my imposter syndrome right down.
Unending thanks to my family. To Kevin, for making it possible to write these books, for supporting me through stressful deadlines and Word crashes, book launches and best-seller lists, and for doing the vast majority of the dishes. For Idris, who was born alongside Brimstone Angels, and for Ned, who settled in as I finished The Devil You Know. The very presence of you changed this series from what I first imagined. You can read them when you’re eighteen. Fifteen. We’ll discuss it later.
Thank you to my sister, Julia, who kept her nephew entertained and bought me time to write, and then listened to me talk through too many scenes to count and helped me find the right path. Thank you to my sister, Kristen, for answering many frustrated texts, and my brother-in-law, Mike, for reading more than a few scenes.
Thank you to my mother, Andriea, for being the first one to recognize that maybe I should be a writer and taking care of Idris when I needed some more time. Thanks to my father, Andy, for telling anyone who would listen about his daughter’s new book, and facing out the latest copy in any bookstore in any city he happened to travel to.
And thank you, readers. For all of you who gave these books a try, who told a friend, who wrote a review. For all of you who brought my ideas to your game table, who had me on your podcasts (special thanks to The Tome Show for being the first!), who drew fanart and cared enough to petition me for particular endings (so sorry #TeamLorcan). You made this whole experience amazing.