alright, I think this will be the acknowledgment section of the book
I’ll give my thanks in roughly chronological order!
The first snippets of this book, I posted online. People said “hey, I like that!” and left funny comments. Being primarily motivated by praise, I wrote some more. On my next post, I got hatemail (“Why do you think YOU can write a book?”). Being secondarily motivated by spite, I wrote a lot more. Without all those online voices, this book wouldn’t exist. So, a massive thanks to everyone who crowdfunded my motivation! You made a difference, and a huge part of this book belongs to you.
But of course, there’s more to this book than the initial draft. It’s impossible to express how grateful I am to Courtney Miller-Callihan, who first saw potential in Sir Cameron, and to Ben Millier-Callihan, who became my agent, and worked with me through the first messy revisions. After applying to over one hundred literary agents and receiving either silence, an automated rejection, or a polite “I don’t know how the hell to categorize or sell this,” I was starting to falter in my belief. That first video call with Ben was like twenty Christmases. I think I mostly just stared blanky at him (out of fear), but inside, I was very, very happy.
And then! Titan Books became my publisher! Leading to another video call where I stared like a goldfish, but had a lot of inner feelings. I’m unbelievably lucky to have gotten Katie Dent as my editor. She did the editorial equivalent of letting me I had my fly down at several points, meaning I got zip it up privately, which is. . . so important. Plot holes? What plot holes. There were never any plot holes. Everyone’s character motivations made sense the entire time, and I’ve never gotten a word wrong. But seriously, the version of the book that Katie helped me grind out is so much more polished and cohesive, and something I’m really proud of. Her influence is all throughout this, and if you liked any part of it, you should be thanking her as well.
The rest of the Titan team also deserve accolades. Thanks to Rachel Vincent for her editorial help! Thanks to Louis Greenberg for the copyediting! Thank you, Richard Mason, for the beautiful interior design, the arrows sticking out the chapter titles are so cool. Thank you to Natasha Mackenzie for the beautiful cover and edge design (again, love the arrows!), and especially thank you for not swimming to Canada to murder me when I got overly enthusiastic with my ideas. And a huge thanks to Bahar Kutluk, Caitlin Storer, and Katharine Carroll, the publicity team responsible for putting this book in front of you.
There are more people behind the scenes, and I apologize for not being able to list you all, but please know how sincerely grateful I am.
I’d also like to thank the zoo of animals that has kept me sane throughout this process. It’s been rough! I’ve had a worsening autoimmune disease that was (until recently) undiagnosed, and have been living like a frog in a pot of boiling water. There have been days where I couldn’t do more than eat and sleep, but always I’ve had little guys in fur and feather suits who make it all seem okay. Thank you to Yennefer, Tallgeese, Wormbecca, and Anzu, my stupid chickens who refused to seek shelter in storms and always needed me to rush outside and shoo them to safety. Thank you to Chiefcake, my giant rabbit who followed me around biting my crutches when I had a broken leg. Thank you to Belphegor, my kitten who grew fur despite everyone (including the vet!) telling me he’d be a bald greasy worm forever. Thank you to Wednesday, who moved out with my housemate, but who would always put his butthole in my face while I was writing. I miss you Wednesday, but I don’t miss that. And thank you to the almighties, Pangur and Grim, who have been here my entire adult life, and who, between the two of them, have four remaining teeth.
Lastly, thank you Mom, for teaching me how to read.
