An Arcane Inheritance by Kamilah Cole - 44

As it turns out, writing your acknowledgments never gets any less stressful, so bear with me as I try to be brief.

One day, on the bus home from the Bronx Zoo, a girl sat down next to me and asked me about my favorite anime. Twenty-two years later, I am publishing books because that girl, Lauren, became my best friend and believed in me before anyone else did. If I only get one great love in this life, I’m glad it was you. Who needs romance when I have the best friend in the world?

Speaking of the best, I want to thank my agent, Emily Forney. Despite being my sworn enemy, there is no one in this world I could imagine navigating the publishing world with. You are my biggest bully and cheerleader, and I’m constantly in awe of you as a business partner and as a human being. I can’t wait to see what we do next.

I want to thank my editor, Mary Altman, who saw the potential in this book when it was only a proposal and pushed me—and my story—to become stronger with every edit. I look forward to every midnight email and every Zoom conversation derailed by our mutual love of video games and horror movies.

I want to thank the entire team at Sourcebooks and Poisoned Pen Press: Emily Engwall, Mandy Chahal, Hartley Christensen, Nia Saxon, Ash Jon, Erin Fitzsimmons, Stephanie Rocha, Jessica Thelander, Kirsten Clawson, Tara Jaggers, Milly McKinnish, Diane Cunningham, Holli Roach, Manu Velasco, and Aimee Alker.

Chelsea, my love, my light. Thank you for listening to me cry, complain, and otherwise whine about how I couldn’t get this book right, and then about how terrified I was to put it out into the world. Your opinion is always the most important to me when it comes to every story, and it especially means the world to me that you like this one.

Tyler, Jane, and Ebony, this book is dedicated to you three because you were not only my cheerleaders but my reference points to what people wear and drink at those college parties I never went to. I’ve never met three more loyal and inspirational people, and I’m made better just by being in your orbit.

Nadia, Ysa, and Maddie, thank you for contributing your knowledge of political science and what classes that major entails. A second thank-you to Ysa for reading an entire bad draft of this book in, like, two weeks and asking for more Boone.

Thank you to my cat, Sora, who is asleep on my arm as I write this. I will forever be grateful that you joined our family. Thank you to my sister, Dashá; my parents, Colin and Daisy; and my family across the globe. You shaped me into the person I am today, and I like to think that person’s pretty cool.

Thank you to Britt, Riley, Maura, Zach, Mel Karibian, Gina Orlando, Grace Varley, Laura R. Samotin, Taylor Grothe, Terry J. Benton-Walker, Kelly Andrew, Betty Hawk, Page Powars, Tashie Bhuiyan, Chloe Gong, Christina Li, Zoe Hana Mikuta, Margaret Owen, Pascale Lacelle, the entire Debut Chat, Alaa Al-Barkawi, Arzu Bayraktar, Ryan Ram, Amani Salahudeen, Ale Massenbürg, Audris Candra, Nadirah Ashim, and Marwa Sarraj. I just think you’re all neat.

Thank you to the authors who blurbed my book, to the people who hyped my book, and to the readers who bought my book. I couldn’t do any of this without this support, and I’ll never take it for granted.

Finally, thank you to myself. There was a time when finishing even one book felt impossible, and now I’ve published several! Thank you, young me, for never giving up on yourself. I’m so proud to be you.