Thank you to my siblings for never just being acquaintances that grew up in the same house, but for being my best friends. Samira Abrams and Kia Saedi, you’ve both always been there to rejoice in the victories with me and support me through the pitfalls. I’m sort of sad that if a pandemic had to happen, it didn’t happen when we were all kids, because I would have loved getting all that extra time together in Maman and Baba’s house. I love you both so much. Thank you to Jake Abrams (the older brother I always wanted) and Abby Saedi (the little sister I always wanted) for completing our family, and always being the best sounding boards.

I’d like to extend a thank-you in advance to my future YA focus group and the next generation of storytellers in our family: Cameron Krisiewicz, Keira Krisiewicz, Mazin Abrams, Ella Abrams, and Kasra Saedi. I love you all, and being your aunt/khaleh is a true joy.

A million thank-yous to my husband, Bryon Schafer. Being trapped in a house with you during lockdown only made me love you more. Thank you for not telling me I was crazy for wanting to write a book two weeks into this whole mess, and for supporting me every step of the way. You are the life raft in my sea of anxiety. Parisa was wrong. True love isn’t being with someone who knows you wax your upper-lip hair and loves you anyway. True love is being with someone who’s totally fine with you not doing any of that shit anymore during a global pandemic. Thank you for being such a great partner and dad. I love you so much.

Bear with me for a quick aside. Everyone who knows me knows that I love awards shows. Back in 2016, the writer Emma Donoghue won a Spirit Award for the screenplay adaptation of her novel Room—and I’ve always remembered her acceptance speech. In it, she shared that when she was pregnant with her first child, another writer warned her that “every baby costs you a book.” Emma admitted that in her experience, “Children do leave you less time to write, but they give you a lot more to write about.” I wasn’t a mom yet, but I thought it was such a beautiful perspective. And now I know it’s also accurate. Ellis and Cyrus, thank you for giving me so much to write about. Watching the two of you grow up has been the joy of my life, and I am forever grateful for all that time we had together when the world shut down. You two are my sunshine, my silver lining, my North Star. We end all our bedtimes the same—with me telling you that I’m sooooooooooooo lucky to be your maman. No sentiment could be truer. I love you both so much.

DISCOVER MORE

Discover Your Next Great Read