It seems like quite a long while ago when I first started on this journey with the Sidekick Squad—I remember wanting to tell a superhero story with LGBTQ+ protagonists, and it’s become so much more. The books I did not have when I was a teen—I wanted them to exist for teens now, especially those in this community who have not have the opportunity to see themselves in fiction, as heroes, as valid.
For Emma’s story, I wanted there to be room in the novel for multiple characters who were at different stages, from characters who were confident and had settled into their identity to characters who were just figuring it out, because people are at different stages in their lives. Emma’s questioning arc, especially where she is on the aromantic spectrum, closely mirrors my own, and in writing this I hope to show a questioning character’s journey who had the opportunity to learn and grow in this way. It took me a long time to understand where I was on the spectrum, and reading characters who were a-spec and questioning helped me understand more my own identity and being demiromantic. I wanted to have a character that could exist in this space for those who were questioning and also to show this journey as a normal experience.
Thank you to the incredible team at Interlude Press: Candy, Annie, and Choi, who from the very beginning believed in this story and gave it a home. The Sidekick Squad would not be here today if it weren’t for that first enthusiastic yes back when I first submitted my first manuscript. Thank you for your endless work and dedication toward nurturing and publishing LGBTQ+ stories. To Annie and everyone on the editorial team, thank you for being such an integral part of this journey. Thank you, Choi, for bringing Emma and the world of the Sidekick Squad to life in such vivid color and design and for all the spectacular details and touches. Thank you to Candy for the incredible support and outreach for these stories and helping them get in the hands of readers everywhere, from libraries to booksellers to reviewers. It truly is an honor to be a part of the IP family and work with so many amazing and passionate people.
Thank you to my agent Thao Le and the team at the Sandra Dijkstra Literary Agency for all your support and optimism, for your inspiration and enthusiasm for my ideas; working together is a dream come true.
For early readers, cheerleaders, and writing partners, whose feedback on this journey has been unmeasurable, I cannot thank you all enough: Claudie Arseneault, Ashley Poston, Karuna Riazi, Erica Cameron, Michelle Pierce, Erica Robledo, Joseph Jess Rey, Nilah Magruder, Amy Spalding, and Jenn Polish. Thank you for your thoughtfulness and bringing multiple perspectives to the table, for your time and support.
To Emma and Bells’ namesakes, thank you for being an inspiration, for all the joyous ins and outs of reading and writing and chatrooms, for your friendship and love. Thank you to Michelle, Katrina, and Em, for all the endless scrolling of love and support and friendship, here’s to what sparks joy. Angie, Becky, Mai, Cal, Beth, Michael, Sylvia, Freck, KT, Leda, Tay, Karen, Mel— thank you so much for all the encouragement, the positivity, and the memes. To Lingfei, the best of friends and best of late-night food runs and movie marathons, thank you for being there. To my LA wolf pack, Chloe and Kate, to old shenanigans and new. Thank you to Diane, Serena, Jeremy, Silas, Rae, and Evelyn for all the wonderful adventures from this year and for your support. Thank you to all the fantastic folks at Inkwell, the Procrastinators, the Sprinters, and the Yellow Gardens: to the endless group chats and love and support of friends, named and unnamed, thank you for being there for me, for sharing your time and energy.
Thank you to the Lambda Literary Foundation and the Writers’ Retreat for Emerging LGBTQ+ Voices, Malinda Lo and all the wonderful 2017 YA cohort: Sun, Kate, Ash, Melissa, Tom, Charlie, Al, Nita, Laura, Miranda, and Joanna. Thank you for such a wonderful and inspiring and creative workshop, and I’m looking forward to seeing all of your published works.
To librarians, educators, and booksellers, thank you for your endless devotion and work and creating opportunities for books like mine to thrive. Thank you to the incredible team at the Ripped Bodice, to Bea and Leah Koch for creating such a creative and nurturing space, and for my fellow writers who made this space a home: Sarah Kuhn, Rebekah Weatherspoon, Jenn LeBlanc, Janet Eckford, and Diya Mishra. Thank you Maryelizabeth Yturralde and Jackie Joe at Mysterious Galaxy for your passion and fostering such amazing events and panels. Thank you Missy Fuego, Kay Ulunday Barrett, Crystal Perkins, Zoraida Cordova, Emily Kate Johnson, Margaret Stohl, Paul Krueger, Angel Cruz, Charlie Jane Anders, Dahlia Adler, Marissa Minna Lee, Osric Chau, Andrea Walter, and Jes Vu for believing in the Sidekick Squad series.
Thank you so much to Julia Ember, Lissa Reed, Rachel Davidson Leigh, Taylor Brooke, Julian Winters, FT Lukens, and Zane Riley for all our journeys and adventures at book festivals and conventions together; thank you for your support, time, and travel. Thank you Rose and Jordan for the incredible creativity and collaboration for FanMailBox; I’m so honored to have the Sidekick Squad featured.
Thank you to all the bloggers and reviewers: You’re so wonderful and dedicated, whether you’re creating websites, organizing bingos and chats, reviewing, creating reclists, or providing thoughtful insight and meaning to books and characters, sharing so much love. I want to shout out to Cece, CW, Corey, Mish, and Kav for all their insight and inspiration. Thank you to all the amazing people out there; your work as a blogger is so appreciated.
To my parents and my brother, thank you for your support, thank you to all my family, blood and found. Writing these books has been a journey, and I could not have done it without so many amazing people to support me. Thank you to the NaNoWrimo writing community, NaNo Los Angeles Coffee House, new friends, and to those who’ve been with me from the very beginning; you are my anchor.
And above all else, thank you—to the readers. For picking up the book and giving it a chance, for reading, for sharing, for gifting it to others—any and all of these—and for being patient and waiting for this book, for the encouraging messages and the tweets and the reclists and the bookstagram shots and the aesthetics and the fanart and the reviews and videos, everything. Thank you so much for being here for the Sidekick Squad. I’m so thankful you’re here on this journey with me and I look forward to sharing the next adventure with you.