It is utterly surreal that the duology will be translated into several languages, and I could not be more excited for the editions to come! Much thanks to Katherine Falkoff for helping to bring these stories to other parts of the world, and to the publishers who have given the duology a home.

I speak of dreams coming true, but there are some that I could never have conceived of when I began my publishing journey. It was such a joy to collaborate with FairyLoot on Daughter of the Moon Goddess and Heart of the Sun Warrior. Thank you to the amazing Anissa de Gomery and the wonderful FairyLoot team for these exquisite editions, more beautiful than anything I could have imagined. I will treasure them always, and am grateful to you and your readers.

Thank you also to Fox & Wit, the Mysterious Galaxy Book Crate, Satisfaction Box, Emboss and Spines—I have loved seeing the pictures and unboxings! While I love art, I sadly have no talent in it, and am grateful to all the amazing artists who brought the characters to life in different but stunning ways—among them, Grace Zhu, Rosie Thorns, Arz28, Katie, Xena Fay, Yingting, Marcella, Julia, and to Azurose Designs for the stunning pin.

Writing can be both consuming and isolating. There are times when I barely step outside, when I live and breathe the manuscript. I am thankful for my husband, Toby, for his endless understanding, for being my first reader and harshest critic, for helping me talk through tricky plot points (or at least letting me ramble on unhindered), and to my beloved children, Lukas and Philip, for keeping me tethered in the real world. I would be nothing without my family and I am forever grateful to my mother and father, my sister, cousins, aunts, and uncles. And to Julia and Christian for their support and consideration during my deadlines over the busiest period of my life.

Endless thanks to Sonali Singh and Jacquie Tan for your friendship, for reading my early drafts, for your insightful and unflinching feedback, and putting up with my last-minute panicked messages—you are both my pillars of support! And to my dear friend Eunjean Choi, for being a part of my writing journey from the start, for your kindness and encouragement. To Lisa Deng, for your thoughtful advice on Chinese words and names, for tolerating my many questions. To my friends everywhere, I cannot express how much I appreciate your support of my book, sending me pictures from around the world—and some of you were even kind enough to read it! So much gratitude to the authors I am fortunate to know over the course of this journey, who shared their advice and insight, and who generously read and blurbed the book.