Acknowledgments

After seven years of writing, you’d think it would get easier. But the struggle is half the fun—what would my little monkey brain do if it couldn’t feel that rush of accomplishment that accompanies solving a complex problem after three weeks of not seeing the simple solution on a nigh-constant basis? What I mean to say, of course, is that writing is a dream, but one of those dreams where you don’t have any pants on and you’re in high school and everyone can definitely probably extremely see your crotch right now. As a career author, I can assure you, it’s okay to not have pants on all the time. Sometimes people will even read what you wrote without pants on!

This little space feels silly sometimes to write in, but it feels less silly when I thank people. A very big thank-you to my agent, Jessica Faust, for being a steadfast presence in my life. A bigger thank-you to my father, Michael, and my mother, Deb, for believing in me with such candid fervor it astonishes me constantly. A wonderful shout-out to everyone at Entangled for bringing this little dream to life, and to Stacy Abrams and Lydia Sharp for being keen-eyed editors to the last word.

And most importantly of all, thank you, the reader, for soaking in these brain-words of mine. You are beautiful and worth every drop of love in this wide universe. Let reading and writing be your guide, your mentor, your muse. Make the magic, be the magic. You are my magic.