Thank you to everyone at Penguin Random House, including but not limited to: Jen Klonsky, Elise LeMassena, Cindy Howle, Misha Kydd, Brian D. Luster, Ariela Rudy Zaltzman, Amanda Cranney, Suki Boynton, and Natalie Vielkind. I want to send a special shout-out to the publicity, marketing, and sales teams, who make so much of the behind-the-scenes magic happen. And of course, thank you to Alex Cabal and Danielle Ceccolini for creating the cover of my dreams!

To Dr. Effie—I’ll always remember the moment I got to tell you I finally sold this book. Your support meant the world to me.

To Ari, for being one of the first people to believe in How to Succeed in Witchcraft.

A special thank-you to the Dance Complex. I wrote quite a bit of my first draft on my lunch breaks in Studio 7!

I take particular joy in writing characters who have best friends, largely because I’ve had the good fortune of having some of the best humans in the world as my friends. Obviously, my acknowledgments wouldn’t be complete without thanking some of them. Thank you, Paige, my original partner in crime. You’re my blueprint for what a best friend can be; Lex wouldn’t exist without you. A massive thank-you to the Three Liquid Girls, my ride-or-dies. Ivy and Tanya, you have the most beautiful souls. And finally, Caro. So much that I admire about you has inspired parts of this book. Thank you for letting me name a character after you!

I would be remiss if I didn’t also thank the many, many friends of mine whom I frantically emailed drafts of this book to. Chloè-Rose, Rosie, Casey, Athena, Eden—and other people I’m sure I’m forgetting at the moment—I so appreciate your time and attention. I especially want to thank Emma, because I sent you a truly obscene number of drafts of this book. You were the earliest cheerleader for How to Succeed in Witchcraft, and writing my gay little book felt much less lonely because you were there. Thanks for sticking by me all this time.

I have been lucky enough to meet wonderful people in the book world, some of whom have become friends and others who have given me indispensable advice: Ryan Douglass, Jas Hammonds, Namina Forna, Crystal Maldonado, Jessica Lewis, and Alexis Henderson. Thank you for all your support! Building a community during a pandemic is hard, but you all have been so wonderful. I hope to meet more of you in person in the future.

To all the members past and present of my lovely writing groups: Patric, Alyn, Tara, Leyla, Tatiana, Michaela, Vanessa, Peréz, and Jas. You all have nourished my creative spirit in such important ways.

Lastly, I want to send my love to all the survivors out there. You deserve the world.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR