It goes without saying that publishing is a team effort, and Team BYLTHM is huge. A big thank-you to my incredible agent (and overall extraordinary human), Joanna Volpe, without whom this anthology wouldn’t exist. Yiiiii! Thank you to Sarah Goldberg, Jackie Lindert, Michael Kelly, Danielle Barthel, Kathleen Ortiz, Suzie Townsend, Hilary Pecheone, Devin Ross, and everyone at New Leaf Literary & Media for killing it every day. #TeamNewLeafAllDayEveryDay.
Thank you a million times to Bloomsbury for your unwavering support: Cindy Loh, thank you for your enthusiasm, your vision, and for bringing this project to life. A thousand emojis! Much gratitude to Hali Baumstein, Lizzy Mason, Erica Barmash, Cristina Gilbert, Diane Aronson, Christine Ma, and Rebecca McNally and the Bloomsbury UK team, as well as to Jessie Gang and Jacey for the book design gorgeousness.
To everyone who contributed their writing, I am honored to have worked with you; thank you so much for your time and efforts: Renée Ahdieh, Benjamin Alderson, Sasha Alsberg, Whitney Atkinson, Tina Burke, Soman Chainani, Susan Dennard, Sarah Enni, Catriona Feeney, Jesse George, Zo? Herdt, Kat Kennedy, Samantha Lane, Sophia Lee, Raeleen Lemay, Marissa Meyer, Regan Perusse, Cindy Pon, Christine Riccio, Victoria Schwab, Samantha Shannon, Adam Silvera, Steph Sinclair, Andrew Smith, April Genevieve Tucholke, and Nicola Yoon. The bookish community is magical, and I’m so thankful to be a part of it.
Also, a special shout-out to my critique partner, Tina Burke. Thank you for being in the writing trenches with me, for the critiques and the writing days and über support.
God blessed me with an incredible family. Thank you to my rock, my husband, Lenny Nicholson, who is everything. You see the little dictator in me, and still you love. Thank you to my parents, Mi Suk and Charles Edward Rogers, for all of your love and sacrifice, and for making me who I am. You fed my love of books from the beginning, you gave me my treasured Complete Brothers Grimm Fairy Tales aka The Real Deal, and you constantly renew my faith in humanity. Thank you to my Sissy Poohs, Angela M. Rogers. You really are the best sister in the universe. To my in-laws and my family and friends, thank you and I love you.
Finally, thank you, dear reader, for picking up this book and taking the time to cut open a few black hearts.